Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan handed one other blow to Sweden’s NATO bid, suggesting that his authorities may approve Finland’s NATO membership utility with out its Nordic neighbor.

Finland and Sweden each formally utilized to hitch the 73-year-old protection alliance in Might of final yr, reversing their long-held coverage of nonalignment within the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The 2 have vowed to take their steps ahead in tandem.

Erdogan, angry at Sweden’s government for a number of reasons, is poised to make or break each international locations’ NATO accession plans, as every state’s utility requires unanimous approval from all 30 present members. Hungary is the one nation in addition to Turkey that’s but to approve the Nordic international locations’ bids, which the remainder of the member states need to fast-track.

“We could ship Finland a special message [on their application], and Sweden can be shocked after they see our message. However Finland mustn’t make the identical mistake Sweden did,” Erdogan mentioned throughout a speech on Sunday.

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Russia will roll out a brand new historical past textbook to excessive colleges within the coming months, with college students to be taught concerning the “particular army operation,” as Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine, in line with a report by information company Interfax

The historical past textbooks will cowl Russia’s model of occasions in Ukraine, together with “the entry into Russia” of the Donetsk and Luhansk “Folks’s Republics” in addition to Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, 4 areas that Russia claimed to have annexed final September following spurious referendums.

Russian Minister of Training Sergei Kravtsov mentioned Monday that the brand new textbooks are anticipated to be prepared in March and will seem in colleges from the brand new educational yr, Interfax mentioned, in a report translated by Google.

The historical past books are being created at break-neck velocity as Russia appears to advertise its model of occasions in Ukraine to college students. In December, Education Minister Kravtsov said a working group can be fashioned in an effort to create “unified textbooks on the historical past of Russia” and world historical past.

Ukraine and its Western allies don’t acknowledge Russia’s unlawful annexation of Ukrainian territory and see Russia’s makes an attempt to disseminate Russian tradition and language in these areas and to “Russify” them as one other abuse of Ukraine’s sovereignty.

— Holly Ellyatt

The Kremlin dismissed Boris Johnson’s declare that Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened him with a missile strike.

The previous U.Okay. prime minister claimed in a BBC documentary that he’d had a cellphone name with Putin earlier than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Johnson mentioned within the present that Putin “threatened me at one level, and he mentioned, ‘Boris, I do not need to harm you however, with a missile, it will solely take a minute’ or one thing like that.”

“However I believe from the very relaxed tone that he was taking, the kind of air of detachment that he appeared to have, he was simply enjoying together with my makes an attempt to get him to barter,” Johnson mentioned.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the declare as a “lie” Monday, telling reporters “What Mr. Johnson mentioned just isn’t true. Extra exactly, it’s a lie,” he mentioned in line with an NBC Information translation of the feedback.

“This will likely both be a deliberate lie by Mr. Johnson, after which the query arises as to the explanations for his presentation of such a model of occasions. Or he really didn’t perceive what President Putin was speaking about with him. And on this case it turns into a bit worrying for the interlocutors of our President,” Peskov mentioned.

“However as soon as once more I formally repeat: this can be a lie, there have been no threats with missiles.”

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal mentioned Kyiv needs to hitch the European Union inside two years, setting a really formidable timetable for becoming a member of the bloc.

Speaking to Politico, Shmyhal mentioned “we now have a really formidable plan to hitch the European Union inside the subsequent two years … So we count on that this yr, in 2023, we will have already got this pre-entry stage of negotiations,” he mentioned.

Ukraine has made no secret of its want to be part of the EU and has already utilized to hitch the bloc. It isn’t the one candidate nation. Others, corresponding to North Macedonia and Montenegro have waited over ten years for any progress in their very own respective membership purposes. French President Emmanuel Macron has said EU membership for Ukraine is likely to be a process that will take “decades.”

EU commissioners are heading to Kyiv on Friday to satisfy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Politco famous that their activity will doubtless be “managing expectations” concerning such a good timetable for entry into the EU.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russia advised the US on Monday that the final remaining pillar of bilateral nuclear arms management may expire in 2026 with out a substitute resulting from what it mentioned had been U.S. efforts to inflict “strategic defeat” on Moscow in Ukraine.

Each Russia and the US nonetheless have huge arsenals of nuclear weapons that are at present partially restricted by the 2011 New START Treaty, which in 2021 was prolonged till 2026.

What comes after Feb. 4, 2026, nonetheless, is unclear, although Washington has indicated it needs to achieve a follow-on settlement with Russia.

Requested if Moscow may envisage there being no nuclear arms management treaty after 2026, Deputy International Minister Sergei Ryabkov advised the RIA state new company: “That is fairly a potential state of affairs.”

Ryabkov, Russia’s high arms management diplomat, mentioned the US had lately ignored Russia’s pursuits and dismantled a lot of the structure of arms management.

“New START could properly fall sufferer to this,” Ryabkov advised RIA. “We’re prepared for such a state of affairs.”

His remarks represent a warning to Washington that its continued army help for Ukraine may scupper the ultimate main post-Chilly Struggle bilateral arms management treaty with Russia.

The USA has provided greater than $27 billion in safety help to Ukraine since Russia invaded the nation on Feb. 24, together with over 1,600 Stinger anti-aircraft rocket programs, 8,500 Javelin anti-tank missile programs and over 1 million 155mm artillery rounds.

“Your entire scenario within the sphere of safety, together with arms management, has been held hostage by the U.S. line of inflicting strategic defeat on Russia,” Ryabkov mentioned.

“We are going to resist this within the strongest potential means utilizing all of the strategies and means at our disposal.”

— Reuters

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson mentioned Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to threaten him with a missile strike in what he described as an “extraordinary” cellphone name earlier than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In an excerpt of a BBC documentary referred to as “Putin vs the West,” Johnson says he spoke to Putin in February 2022, shortly earlier than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Throughout that decision, he mentioned he advised Putin that warfare can be an “utter disaster” and would entail sanctions on Moscow and sure extra NATO troops on Russia’s borders.

Johnson mentioned that after making these factors through the name, during which he mentioned Putin had been “very acquainted,” Putin appeared to threaten him.

“He threatened me at one level, and he mentioned, ‘Boris, I do not need to harm you however, with a missile, it will solely take a minute’ or one thing like that,” Johnson said in the documentary, the BBC reported.

“However I believe from the very relaxed tone that he was taking, the kind of air of detachment that he appeared to have, he was simply enjoying together with my makes an attempt to get him to barter.”

It is not possible to determine whether or not Putin was critical in his remark however relations between the U.Okay. and Russia had been already strained earlier than the warfare, significantly after a Russian nerve agent assault carried out within the U.Okay. in 2018. The U.Okay.’s staunch help of Kyiv has heightened tensions.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russian authorities are doubtless holding open the choice of one other spherical of call-ups underneath its “partial mobilisation” program, in line with Britain’s Ministry of Protection.

In an intelligence replace on Twitter, the ministry cited media experiences final week suggesting Russian border guards had been stopping twin passport-holding Kyrgyz migrant staff from leaving Russia, telling the lads that their names had been on mobilization lists.

Individually, on Jan. 23, the ministry famous that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov mentioned that the decree on the partial mobilization, announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin last September, “continues to stay in drive, claiming the decree remained mandatory for supporting the work of the Armed Forces.”

“Observers had questioned why the measure had not been formally rescinded,” the British ministry acknowledged, including that “the Russian management extremely doubtless continues to seek for methods to satisfy the excessive variety of personnel required to useful resource any future main offensive in Ukraine, whereas minimising home dissent.”

There was mounting hypothesis that Putin may announce one other mobilization wave, given the Russian defense ministry’s recent announcement that it plans to beef up its combat personnel to 1.5 million people, from a present reported stage of round 1.1 million.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed allies for quicker weapons provides as preventing in jap Ukraine, significantly within the Donetsk area, continues to be intense.

“The scenario could be very robust. Bakhmut, Vuhledar and different areas within the Donetsk area are underneath fixed Russian assaults. There are fixed makes an attempt to interrupt by means of our protection,” Zelenskyy mentioned in his nightly video deal with Sunday.

“We’re doing all the pieces to make sure that our stress outweighs the occupiers’ assault capabilities. And it is extremely vital to take care of the dynamics of protection help from our companions,” he mentioned, including that “the velocity of provide has been and will likely be one of many key elements on this warfare.”

“Russia hopes to pull out the warfare, to exhaust our forces. So we now have to make time our weapon. We should velocity up the occasions, velocity up the provision and opening of recent mandatory weaponry choices for Ukraine,” he mentioned.

Ukraine’s allies Germany and the U.S. agreed final week to ship Kyiv dozens of tanks, with different allies in Europe pledging to ship their very own German-made tanks as properly, and the U.Okay. sending British tanks to Ukraine. Ukraine’s ambassador to France, Vadym Omelchenko, said on Friday that 321 Western tanks are set to be delivered to Ukraine.

— Holly Ellyatt

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisted on the weekend that fighter jets wouldn’t be offered to Ukraine, telling a German newspaper that there shouldn’t be a “bidding warfare” over weaponry and that Germany “is not going to enable a warfare between Russia and NATO.”

Scholz reiterated Germany’s objections to sending fighter jets to Ukraine, telling the Tagesspiegel newspaper Sunday that there isn’t any query of doing so.

“The query of fight plane doesn’t come up in any respect,” Scholz mentioned, in line with Politico’s translation of the original story.

“I can solely advise in opposition to coming into into a relentless competitors to outbid one another in relation to weapons programs,” he added.

Germany final week agreed to ship 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine after months of resisting stress to take action. Berlin additionally mentioned it will enable different allies to ship their very own German-made tanks to Kyiv. The U.S. additionally agreed to ship plenty of M1 Abrams tanks.

Ukraine expressed gratitude for the choice to ship tanks however instantly mentioned it wanted extra firepower to counter Russia’s invasion, asking for fighter jets from its allies. One protection ministry advisor advised CNBC he was positive Kyiv would obtain F-16 fighter jets from its allies and that there needs to be no delay over the choice, as there was over tanks.

Over the weekend, one other Ukrainian official mentioned negotiations over the potential sending of assault plane to Ukraine had been “ongoing.”

“Our companions perceive how the warfare develops. They perceive that assault plane are completely essential to cowl the manpower and armoured autos that they provide us,” advisor to the top of the Workplace of the President Mykhailo Podolyak advised the Freedom TV channel Saturday.

“In the identical means, in an effort to drastically scale back the important thing device of the Russian military – artillery, we want missiles. That is why negotiations are already underway, negotiations are accelerating,” Podolyak mentioned in feedback translated by NBC Information.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukrainian tank crews arrived within the U.Okay. over the weekend to start coaching on Challenger 2 tanks that Britain has offered to the nation.

The U.Okay. mentioned it will present 14 tanks earlier in January, forward of the U.S. and Germany asserting final week that they too would supply tanks.

Tank crews will likely be educated to each function and keep the tanks, which will likely be delivered to Ukraine by March.

— Holly Ellyatt