Pentagon says first group of Ukrainians completed training at US base in Germany
From CNN's Oren Liebermann
The first group of Ukrainian soldiers completed training at a United States base in Germany, the Pentagon said. A second group is already underway in the five-week course that will teach the troops maneuver, medical and basic soldier training.
The first group of 635 Ukrainians wrapped up the course at Grafenwoehr Training Area, according to a statement from Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, where the US conducts its own combined arms and maneuver training. The Ukrainian battalion also trained on the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle.
More on the training: The training began in mid-January, part of an expanded US program to prepare Ukrainian forces to fight. Previously, the US had offered smaller-scale training on individual weapons systems, such as HIMARS rocket launchers. The transition to battalion-level training marked a significant expansion of the US effort to train and prepare Ukrainians for a long-term war.
A second group of 710 Ukrainian forces has already begun training at Grafenwoehr, Ryder said. The troops will train on the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle and the M109 Paladin, a self-propelled howitzer that the US recently announced it will send to Ukraine.
In addition, another 890 Ukrainian troops will begin training on Stryker fighting vehicles next week.
1:15 p.m. ET, February 17, 2023
US should give Ukrainians "everything they need to win this thing," House Foreign Affairs chair says
From CNN's Andrew Millman
Texas congressman Michael McCaul. (CNN)
Republican Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, who chairs the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Kaitlan Collins on CNN This Morning that the United States should give Ukrainians "everything they need to win this thing."
"We can’t wait," McCaul said while speaking from the Munich Security Conference in Germany. He reiterated Ukraine's call for Western fighter jets and more advanced weaponry ahead of a Russian offensive.
"Time only errs on the side of Putin. It’s his goal to delay this for as long as possible, for many reasons,” McCaul argued, cautioning that “the sooner we can bring this to a closing the better, as we look at the will of the American people and the Congress.”
When asked if he thought the new Russian offensive had begun yet, McCaul responded, “I do think it’s going to start soon. I know that the new general that Putin put in place is there to launch a major offensive,” continuing that “Putin does look at dates. I think February 24th, the one-year anniversary may be a target date. We just heard from the Supreme Allied Commander in a private briefing I had with him, that it could be as late as the springtime, late springtime, for this offensive.”
McCaul said he asked in the aforementioned meeting about more air-to-surface aircraft for Ukraine and US Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s supreme allied commander, “agreed with that assessment, as well as longer range artillery to hit the Iranian drones in Crimea, which currently Ukraine does not have, but they desperately need."
When asked if he believes he could get another round of funding for Ukraine passed in this Congress, McCaul replied, “I believe so. It would have to be bipartisan” he said, because “there are fringes on the far-left and -right who disagree with this conflict and assisting and helping Ukraine win this fight for democracy and freedom, but the majority of the majority still support this effort."
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to assure the audience at the conference that top Republicans currently in Washington are committed to US global leadership despite a mixed message that may have come from former President Donald Trump, who he didn’t cite by name.
The Kentucky Republican went on to pledge GOP support for NATO, Ukraine, and boosting military spending and argued Republicans are making a stronger rhetorical case day to day about those issues that President Joe Biden is. He also chided European allies and said they must “mirror” the commitment the US is making said they have not been “uniformly generous towards Ukraine.” He urged them to prepare to counter the robust threats coming China and Russia and to quickly admit Finland and Sweden into NATO.
CNN's Ted Barrett contributed reporting to this post.
11:44 a.m. ET, February 17, 2023
US Vice President Harris and France's Macron pledge support for Ukraine at Munich Security Conference
From CNN's DJ Judd
US Vice President Kamala Harris and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands as they meet during the Munich Security Conference on February 17. (Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images)
US Vice President Kamala Harris greeted French President Emanuel Macron ahead of a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference Friday.
The meeting is aimed at highlighting the two nations’ commitment to providing military aid to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion nearly one year ago.
“It is good to see you again, we have talked about so many issues of the moment and future, over the course of our visits,” Harris told the French president. “And to see you again here in Munich, and talk about, as a priority, our commitment, as a partner, to the people of Ukraine and many other issues. This is part of our continuing conversation that is the testament to the friendship and the partnership over many generations, including today.”
For his part, Macron thanked Harris for her hospitality during his visit to Washington, DC, last year.
German chancellor warns "to be prepared for a long war"
From CNN’s Duarte Mendonca in London and Claire Calzonetti in New York
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour at Germany’s annual Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on February 17. (CNN)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Friday that it is “wise to be prepared for a long war” in Ukraine, adding that Kyiv's allies will remain together for the duration.
“I think it is wise to be prepared for a long war and it is wise to give Putin the message that we are ready to just stay all the time together with Ukraine, and that we will constantly support the country,” Scholz told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour at Germany’s annual Munich Security Conference.
“The really important decision we should take all together is saying that we are willing to do it as long as necessary, and that we will do our best,” the chancellor said.
Scholz, while avoiding committing to an end target date for the war, said the unity among Ukrainian allies has surprised Putin.
“I'm absolutely sure that Putin never expected that there would be that united Europe, and that there would be that united world. He never thought that the transatlantic partnership would work that good,” he said.
Scholz singled out the United States for their continuous and vital support.
"We just do it together with our friends and partners, and especially with the United States,” Scholz said, adding that he really appreciates his government's “strong alliance” with the US.
On arming Ukraine: Amanpour asked Scholz about the deployment of more German-made Leopard 2 tanks on the ground in Ukraine.
Scholz said more would be deployed “very soon,” together with trained soldiers, but he warned that many of Ukraine’s partners aren’t able to deliver the most modern models of the fighting vehicles.
“I learned many are not able to deliver the most modern things ... but in the ones they are delivering we will give the support as well," Scholz said. "And as you know, there is also a big number of older tanks which we will deliver."
Confronted on concerns over dwindling ammunition stockpiles, Scholz stressed the need for a “permanent production of the most important weapons,” including ammunition.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was also present at Friday's meetings, saying the Munich conference is "more important than ever," given the Russian invasion.
“From the beginning, the security conference has always been a place of understanding and dialogue. What is new is that this is now taking place at the same time as a war of aggression is being waged on European soil by Russia against Ukraine," Pistorius said. "That raises the stakes for the conference even higher."
CNN’s Inke Kappeler contributed to this report from Berlin.
10:47 a.m. ET, February 17, 2023
Bipartisan group of US lawmakers urges Biden to send fighter jets to Ukraine
From CNN's Lauren Fox
An F-16C Fighting Falcon flies by at the Nevada Test and Training Range September 14, 2007. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
A group of five bipartisan lawmakers sent a letter to US President Joe Biden, requesting his administration send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
The effort by members likely won’t change anything or impact the administration’s decisions in what it sends to Ukraine, but it comes just ahead of the one-year anniversary of the war’s start and President Joe Biden's trip to Poland.
The letter was signed by Reps. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine; Tony Gonzales, a Republican from Texas; Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado; Chrissy Houlahan, a Democrat from Pennsylvania; and Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin.
“It is in that spirit of leadership and support that we write to respectfully request that your Administration provide Ukraine with increased air superiority capability, including the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft requested by Kiev, or similar fourth-generation aircraft, as soon as possible. The provision of such aircraft is necessary to help Ukraine protect its airspace, particularly in light of renewed Russian offensives and considering the expected increase in large-scale combat operations,” the letter says.
Some background: Since securing pledges for hundreds of modern battle tanks from Western allies, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has turned his attention to modern fighting planes.
Asked last month whether the US would be providing the US-made F-16 to Ukraine, Biden responded with a flat “no,” though he later said talks with Kyiv about weapon supplies are ongoing.
10:18 a.m. ET, February 17, 2023
Belarus ready to start production of Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack aircraft, Lukashenko says
From CNN's Radina Gigova
Belarus is ready to launch the production of Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack aircraft, which "have proved to be efficient in Ukraine," Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting Friday, according to Belarus state news agency BelTA.
“As I was informed by the government, they are ready for the production of the Sukhoi Su-25 attack aircraft that have proved to be efficient in Ukraine. We are even ready to produce them in Belarus if the Russian Federation provides a little bit of technological support,” Lukashenko told Putin, according to BelTA.
“You once raised the question of cooperation in aircraft production in the Eurasian Economic Union," Lukashenko said, according to BelTA. "So I should tell you that the Belarusians are already producing up to a thousand component parts for the MC-21 [Russia's medium-range narrow-body passenger aircraft] and Sukhoi Superjet 100 [Russia's short-range narrow-body passenger aircraft]."
"We have three factories: two military and one civilian. They used to be repair shops. Today they produce component parts,” Lukashenko said, according to BelTA.
The two met Friday at Putin's official residence in Novo-Ogaryovo in the Moscow region, according to the Kremlin.
Speaking at a small gathering of journalists from international media, including CNN, at Minsk’s Palace of Independence, Lukashenko ducked questions from international media about his country’s complicity in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and instead blamed the West for escalating the conflict by sending weapons to Ukraine.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen and Zahra Ullah contributed to this post.
10:31 a.m. ET, February 17, 2023
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urges allies to "act quickly" to deliver tanks to Ukraine
From CNN’s Duarte Mendonca in London and Claire Calzonetti in New York
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks at the 59th Munich Security Conference on February 17, in Munich, Germany. (Sven Hoppe/picture alliance/Getty Images)
Allies with the resources to deliver tanks to Ukraine should act quickly, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, adding that Berlin would provide great assistance to encourage their partners.
“I see this as an example of the kind of leadership which everyone is entitled to expect from Germany, and I expressly offer it to our friends and partners.” Scholz said.
In addition to supplying weapons, ammunition, training for soldiers and other military goods, Scholz said Germany has supported Ukraine by providing more than one million Ukrainian refugees with full access to labor market, schools and universities.
This is the "responsibility which a country of Germany's size, location and economic clout has to shoulder in times such as these,” Scholz said.
However, Scholz also warned that there needs to be “a balance between providing the best possible support for Ukraine and avoiding an unintended escalation.”
“I believe we will do well to carefully weigh up all the consequences of our actions and closely coordinate all key steps among the allies," he said. "Despite all the pressure to take action — and that undoubtedly exists in this key question — caution must take priority over hasty decisions.”
10:14 a.m. ET, February 17, 2023
"There is no alternative to Ukrainian victory," President Zelensky tells Munich Security Conference
From CNN’s Alex Hardie in London
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appears on the screen during the Munich Security Conference, in Munich, Germany, on February 17. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told world leaders at the Munich Security Conference on Friday that “there is no alternative to Ukrainian victory" as he continued to lobby for his country's admission to the EU and NATO.
“There is no alternative to Ukraine in the EU. There is no alternative to Ukraine in NATO. There is no alternative to our unity,“ Zelensky said via video.
People, Europe and freedom cannot be the “subject of compromise,” he added.
Zelensky told leaders that he hopes that in upcoming years, the conference will be held in post-war conditions where Ukraine is free.
The Ukrainian leader also provided his assessment on Russian President Vladimir Putin's strategy, saying “it’s obvious that Ukraine is not going to be his last stop. He’s going to continue his movement all the way — I don’t know — including all other states that at some point in time were part of … the Soviet bloc.”
8:46 a.m. ET, February 17, 2023
Zelensky urges world leaders to "hurry up" with agreements, delivery and decisions
From CNN’s Alex Hardie
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged leaders Friday at the Munich Security Conference Friday to “hurry up” with agreements, delivery and decisions.
“We need to hurry up. We need the speed, the speed of our agreements, speed of our delivery to strengthen […] speed of our decisions to limit Russian potential. There is no alternative to speed because it is the speed that the life depends on,” Zelensky said at the conference via videolink.
“Delay has always been and still is a mistake. While we negotiate how to strengthen our defense with modern tanks, the Kremlin is thinking, thinking about ways to strangle Moldova,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky opened the conference with other world leaders set to speak including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Remember: In recent weeks, Zelensky and other top Ukrainian officials have been pushing for fighter jets, arguing they need them urgently to defend against Russian missile and drone attacks. Earlier this month, the Ukrainian government officially asked the Netherlands for American-made F-16 fighter jets.
