Ukraine crisis: Russia has deployed 7,000 more troops to border, US official claims – live

Nato is “deadly serious” about bolstering its eastern flank to counter Russian threats, the UK defence minister Ben Wallace has said.

Speaking ahead of talks in Brussels between Nato defence ministers and their counterparts from Ukraine and Georgia, Wallace said:

We are deadly serious in how we’re going to face the threat that is currently being posed to both Ukraine and potentially to our security.

This is not a joke or a light matter. This is a real challenge to the stability of Europe.

One of the ways we can make sure there is no overspill or escalation is to provide resilience to our partners at Nato and that’s what we’re all doing.

Nato has asked its military commanders to draw up plans to send more forces to its eastern members, amid persistent fears of a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Wallace repeated that Russia was continuing to increase its forces along Ukraine’s border, despite claims of troop withdrawals from Moscow.

We’ll take them at their word but we’re going to judge Russia by their actions and at the moment, the troop build-up continues.

Quotes from APF.

And in case you missed it, here is an interesting profile of the British defence minister by the Guardian’s defence and security editor Dan Sabbagh. Wallace, touted as a future secretary-general of Nato, had a slow rise through the Conservative party, but is now the most popular member of the cabinet among Tory activists.

Shelling has been heard in the area of Donetsk airport and Elenovka village in eastern Ukraine, a witness has told Reuters.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said earlier on Thursday that “multiple shelling incidents” had taken place along the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, where government forces have been facing Russian-backed separatists since the outbreak of conflict in 2014.

Ukraine’s military on Thursday said Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine had fired shells at a village in the Luhansk region, hitting a kindergarten. The military said no injuries were caused.

The Russian-backed separatists had earlier accused government forces of opening fire against them four times in the past 24 hours and said they were trying to establish if anyone had been hurt or killed.

France has stepped up calls for a new security framework in Europe to replace the current “nearly obsolete or irrelevant” arrangements on arms control and transparency about troop movements.

In an interview with the FT, France’s foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said an agreement was needed to ensure long-term stability on the continent, adding that Vladimir Putin had to choose whether “to make Russia a destabilising power” or “the partner, in a new security and stability order in Europe”.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, who met Putin last week, has called for an overhaul of Europe’s security arrangements, while the European Commission has promised to come up with proposals.

In the FT interview, Le Drian set out a three-phase approach to defusing the crisis: verified withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine’s borders; resumption of talks on the Minsk accords to end the fighting in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region; and a new European security framework.

He also said he did not believe Putin’s claims to be unaware of the actions of the Russian mercenary group Wagner in Mali. Wagner has been hired by the ruling military junta and is pushing out French troops deployed there since 2013 to fight Islamist insurgents.

Le Drian said:

I cannot understand how President Putin can be unaware of this situation since they are former Russian soldiers, transported by Russian planes and using Russian weapons.

Given the amount of intelligence available to President Putin and his closeness to the Wagner chief … one must conclude he knows. He says he doesn’t but I don’t believe him.

You can read the full interview here: France urges revamp of Europe’s security order in face of Russia threat

Ryanair, one of the largest foreign airlines in Ukraine, has said it will continue to fly planes in and out of the country.

The chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said it was the company’s “duty and obligation … to support the people of Ukraine as long as there is no war or missiles flying there,” Reuters reports.

Speaking to a conference in Lisbon on Wednesday, he said:

It is important not to panic … People need to get home and people want to leave and fly abroad to the EU … airlines have to provide that service.

The statement is likely to be welcomed by Ukraine’s government, which has complained that warnings of war are damaging its economy and making it impossible to borrow on international financial markets.

Last week the Dutch airline KLM announced it was halting flights to Ukraine, after the Dutch government called on its citizens to leave the country as soon as possible.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has recorded “multiple shelling incidents along the line of contact in east Ukraine” in the early hours of Thursday, Reuters is reporting citing a diplomatic source.

Russian-backed separatists in the region have accused Ukraine of opening fire four times in the last 24 hours. The source of the shelling and the seriousness of the incidents remains unclear.

Shelling has occurred many times during the last eight years of conflict, but the latest reports only heighten tensions.

The Russian army has said 10 military convoys with “large, heavy and dangerous loads” have left Crimea, the Interfax news agency has reported. Citing the press service of the Southern Military District, the Russian agency said the convoys had finished training exercises.

Western politicians and intelligence agencies are deeply sceptical about Russian troop withdrawal claims; Nato’s secretary general has said the military buildup continues.

Hello, this is Jennifer Rankin, taking over the liveblog from Samantha Lock. I’ll be bringing you the latest news on the Ukraine crisis, with EU leaders due to hold emergency talks in Brussels, while Nato defence ministers conclude their meeting.

Before I hand over to my colleague, Jennifer Rankin, here is a quick recap of all the key developments so far:

• Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine accused Kyiv government forces of using mortars to attack their territory, in violation of agreements aimed at ending the conflict.
• Ukraine has denied the accusations. A duty press officer of the Ukrainian Joint Forces Operation said its troops were fired upon but did not retaliate.
• Britain has finished its military training activities in Ukraine and the only remaining UK troops in the country are there to protect the ambassador, Britain’s armed forces minister, James Heappey, said on Thursday.
• The Conservative chair of the House of Commons defence select committee, Tobias Ellwood, says it is now too late to send Nato troops to defend Ukraine but allies could still impose a no-fly zone.
• Vladimir Putin could drag out the Ukraine crisis for months in an attempt to challenge western unity, the British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has said.
• Britain’s defence intelligence chief made a series of rare public comments late on Wednesday, adding to the west’s scepticism that Russia is committed to de-escalating any conflict.
• Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has thanked Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, for his support.
  

Britain has finished its military training activities in Ukraine and the only remaining UK troops in the country are there to protect the ambassador, Britain’s armed forces minister, James Heappey, said on Thursday.

Britain had supplied defensive weapons and training personnel to Ukraine.

Heappey told the BBC early on Thursday morning:

Within Ukraine itself, there is a small force that remains for the purposes of protecting the ambassador and her team.

Beyond that, all of our training activity alongside the Ukrainians has been ceased and we’ve been very clear throughout that there will be no UK involvement in any conflict in Ukraine.”

The Conservative chair of the House of Commons defence select committee, Tobias Ellwood, says it is now too late to send Nato troops to defend Ukraine but allies could still impose a no-fly zone.

“This is a serious moment and we’re being tested,” he told Sky News’s Kay Burley from Kyiv.

Ellwood added that Nato allies should stop “hiding behind” the fact that Ukraine is not a Nato member as an excuse not to send Nato troops to defend Ukrainian territory.

Vladimir Putin could drag out the Ukraine crisis for months in an attempt to challenge western unity, the British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has said.

Truss wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper:

We must not be lulled into a false sense of security by Russia claiming that some troops are returning to their barracks, while in fact the Russian military build-up shows no signs of slowing.

There is currently no evidence the Russians are withdrawing from border regions near Ukraine.

We must have no illusions that Russia could drag this out much longer in a brazen ploy to spend weeks more – if not months – subverting Ukraine and challenging Western unity. This is a test of our mettle.”

Truss will visit Ukraine and Poland for talks with her ministerial counterparts before attending the Munich Security Conference with Nato foreign and defence ministers on Saturday.

Britain’s defence intelligence chief made a series of rare public comments late on Wednesday, adding to the west’s scepticism that Russia is committed to de-escalating any conflict.

In case you missed it, Lt Gen Sir Jim Hockenhull said more Russian armoured vehicles, helicopters and a field hospital were spotted despite the Kremlin’s assertion it has withdrawn troops.

We have not seen evidence that Russia has withdrawn forces from Ukraine’s borders. Contrary to their claims, Russia continues to build up military capabilities near Ukraine.

This includes sightings of additional armoured vehicles, helicopters and a field hospital moving towards Ukraine’s borders. Russia has the military mass in place to conduct an invasion of Ukraine.”

US officials have described as “false” Russian claims that it is withdrawing troops. And Nato’s secretary general said on Wednesday that Russia was still building up its forces.