Ukraine-Russia war latest: No decision on sending German tanks despite pleas from Zelensky

A pledging conference in Germany ended without a commitment by Western allies to send more battle tanks to Ukraine, despite a call from President Volodymyr Zelensky to speed up the delivery of military support in his country’s struggle against Russia.

So far among the Nato allies, only the UK has agreed to send tanks, in the form of 14 British Army Challenger 2s.

There had been hopes that Germany would authorise the release of its Leopard 2 battle tanks, which are potentially available in far greater numbers.

Ukraine’s defence minister has said he had “a frank discussion” with Germany’s defence minister about the supply of Leopard tanks.

Oleskii Reznikov added that the talks would continue after Western allies in Germany did not reach agreement to supply tanks to Kyiv.

Germany, which makes the Leopard tanks, would have to approve any transfer.

Russians in St Petersburg and Moscow have been laying flowers at improvised memorials to the victims of a Russian missile attack on a nine-storey apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Tuesday, after calling off search operations, that 44 people were confirmed dead from Saturday’s attack, including five children, and that 20 people were still unaccounted for.

On Friday evening, dozens of bunches of flowers and several cuddly toys were arranged around the base of a monument to Ukrainian national poet Taras Shevchenko in central St Petersburg. One ribbon read “Forgive”.

Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group has denied it is recruiting Serbs to fight in Ukraine, a day after activists filed criminal complaints against the organisation in Belgrade.

Among those identified in the complaints were Russia’s ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, and Aleksandar Vulin, head of Serbia’s state Security and Information Agency.

“I do not recruit Serbs,” Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a statement, saying he had never head of Botsan-Kharchenko or Vulin.

Earlier this week Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic said Russia should halt its efforts to recruit Serbs to fight alongside Wagner forces. He said Russian websites and social media groups were publishing advertisements in the Serbian language in which the Wagner group called for volunteers.

Taiwan has learned important lessons from Russia’s war in Ukraine that would help it deter any attack by China or defend itself if invaded, the self-ruled island’s top envoy to the US.

Among the lessons: Do more to prepare military reservists and also civilians for the kind of all-of-society fight that Ukrainians are waging against Russia.

“Everything we’re doing now is to prevent the pain and suffering of the tragedy of Ukraine from being repeated in our scenario in Taiwan,” said Bi-khim Hsiao, Taiwan’s representative in Washington, on Friday in an interview with The Associated Press.

“So ultimately, we seek to deter the use of military force. But in a worst-case scenario, we understand that we have to be better prepared,” Ms Hsiao said.

Ms Hsiao spoke at the quiet, more than 130-year-old hilltop mansion that Taiwan uses for official functions in Washington.

The Leopard 2 tank is regarded as one of the West’s best. Given that Ukraine has been using Soviet-era tanks up until now, it would be a big step-up in capability, particularly in terms of range of firepower and manoeuvrability:

The United States will impose additional sanctions next week on Russian private military company the Wagner Group, which officials say has been helping Russia’s military, the White House says.

National security spokesperson John Kirby, who said the US Treasury Department would designate Wagner as a significant transnational criminal organisation, added: “In coordination with this designation, we will also impose additional sanctions next week against Wagner and its support network across multiple continents.

“These actions recognise the transcontinental threat that Wagner poses, including through its ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity.”

The UK government prides itself on having been led Western efforts in supplying Ukraine with aid to fight Russia’s invasion. Emily Atkinson reports on the military aid Britain has provided:

A bipartisan delegation of three US senators visiting Kyiv blasted the delays to Western tank supplies to Ukraine, one of them warning of an impending “major counter-offensive” by Russia.

The delegation, comprising Republican Lindsey Graham as well as Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Sheldon Whitehouse, met Volodymyr Zelensky, who asked for “investment, not charity”, according to Mr Graham.

The Republican singled out Germany as he expressed his frustration over a lack of tanks sent to Kyiv by Western allies, including the United States.

“I am tired of the s***show of who is going to send tanks and when they are going to send them,” he said. “To the Germans: send tanks to Ukraine, because they need the tanks. It is in your interest that Putin loses in Ukraine.”

Protesters have demonstrated outside the German Chancellery in Berlin demanding the country send Ukraine Leopard battle tanks.

The crowds, many of them expatriate Ukrainians living in Germany, chanted “Free the Leopards”.