Joe Biden has said he will discuss sending new weapons to Kiev with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"We'll talk," Biden replied to the following reporters who asked him if he would discuss Ukraine's latest arms requests with Zelensky.
Yesterday the American president answered a resounding "no" to the question of whether he intended to send F16 fighters to the Kiev forces.
The US accuses Russia of not respecting the treaty on the control of nuclear weapons.
The US accuses Russia of not respecting the New Start, the last remaining treaty for the control of atomic weapons between the two nuclear superpowers.
Responding to a request from Congress, the state department has blamed Moscow for suspending inspections and canceled talks but does not dispute that it has increased nuclear warheads beyond the permitted limits.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal confirmed that a Ukraine-European Union summit will be held in Kiev on Friday 3 February
, the day after "intergovernmental consultations" between Kiev and the European Commission which will take place "for the first time in our history".
"The fact that this summit is being held in Kiev is a strong signal addressed to both partners and enemies", Chmygal said in a government meeting, stating "that he expects from the summit a provisional positive evaluation of our efforts for European integration '.
"Political, economic and military support for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia are intended to end the war
, not fuel it."
The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, receiving at the Quirinal Palace Katalin Novák, President of Hungary, on an official visit to Italy, once again reaffirmed Italy's position.
In addition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its political, economic and humanitarian consequences, the topics of discussion at the meeting were bilateral relations, the future of the EU and relations with the USA, migration, the Western Balkans and the persecution of Christians around the world.
Ukraine needs at least 200 Western fighters
to protect its skies, replacing the current Soviet aircraft of various types which are now obsolete.
"Right now, the F-16 is the most likely candidate to replace aging Soviet aircraft."
The request from the spokesman of the Ukrainian Air Force, Yuriy Ignat, comes the day after US President Joe Biden's no on the US supply of F-16s.
And stakes have also come from Europe.
Polish premier Mateusz Morawiecki specified that a decision will only be taken in "full coordination" with NATO, but Berlin is also on the same wavelength as Washington: "It's the wrong time" to discuss it, said the spokeswoman by the German Government Christiane Hoffmann, reiterating Chancellor Scholz's words that in any case "
Blinken's message to Lavorv.
"The Egyptian Foreign Minister gave me the message from the US Secretary of State", Antony Blinken who was in Egypt before arriving in Israel.
This was revealed by Russian Foreign Minister Serghey Lavrov, according to reports from Tass.
The message, adds Lavrov, "contains only invitations to Russia to 'quit and stop', abandon and stop".
No information on a meeting between Putin and Xi.
China and Russia "maintain close contacts at various levels to promote bilateral cooperation between the two countries, contributing to peaceful global development: regarding this visit in particular, at the moment I have no information to share".
Beijing's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning, comments on what was reported yesterday by the Russian Foreign Ministry, which reiterated Putin's invitation to Chinese leader Xi Jinping to travel to Russia in the spring, calling it "a central event" in the relations between Moscow and Beijing.
The invitation was made by Putin in an interview last December 30th
Former Vladimir Putin speechwriter Abbas Gallyamov
says in an interview with CNN that
a military coup is becoming a possibility in Russia.
“The Russian economy is deteriorating. The war is lost. There are more and more corpses coming back to Russia, so Russians will have more difficulties and will try to find an explanation for why all this, by looking at the political process and answering: ' Well, that's because our country is ruled by an old tyrant, an old dictator,'" Gallyamov said, referring to Putin.
For Gallyamov, the coup could come in the next 12 months.
Within a year, adds the political analyst, "when the political situation will change and an unpopular and hated president will be at the head of the country, and the war will be really unpopular, and it will be necessary to shed blood for this, at that time a coup d'état will become a real possibility."
Gallyamov also said he believes Putin could cancel the presidential election scheduled for March 2024.
"Judging by his actions, when he presses on something unnecessarily, he really could cancel the election: without victory over Ukraine, he will have a hard time with the Russians. The Russians don't need him if he's not strong. He could really declare martial law and cancel the election," he told the US broadcaster.
ANSA Agency
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