European Union leaders will try on Thursday to convince Viktor Orbán to agree to a plan to ensure stable funding for Ukraine, but are also ready to provide money to Kyiv without Budapest if the Hungarian prime minister does not budge. The plan is to help cover Ukraine’s needs for 2024-2027 with €33 billion in loans and €17 billion in grants. The money will come from the EU budget to ensure stable financing of Kyiv.

All information about the war in Ukraine – day 708 – LIVE on HotNews.ro:

07:15Armenia joined the International Criminal Court, Russia says it is a “hostile” decision.

“The Rome Statute (founding the ICC) officially entered into force for Armenia on February 1,” Egish Kirakosyan, a representative of Armenia’s legal affairs department, told AFP, which Russia has already called a “hostile decision.”

07:02 “Who will protect the country when things are serious? Boris Pistorius insists on the introduction of compulsory military service in Germany

06:57 The head of the CIA: “The war of the Russians has already failed, and the vassals of China have come.” It is unusual for the head of the CIA to write a long article to explain his position on the most serious international crisis in which the American foreign policy department is involved. But that is what William Burns did in Foreign Affairs.

01:39 Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay an official visit to Turkey on February 12 and meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a Turkish official said on Wednesday.

00:14 The European Union will not achieve its goal of delivering one million artillery shells to Ukraine within a year, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell admitted on Wednesday.

A brief summary of recent events:

• Putin will have “surprises” on the front lines, says an American official in Kyiv. “Pleasant surprises” await the Russian president and his army on the battlefield in Ukraine, assured Victoria Nuland, number two of the US State Department, during her visit to Kyiv.
• Ukraine’s most formidable commander, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, refused President Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s offer to replace General Valery Zaluzhny, the Chief of the General Staff in Kyiv.
• “Now it’s the enemy’s turn, but this will end and I think we’ll start then.” When the head of military intelligence in Kyiv predicts a new Ukrainian counteroffensive.
• The Crimean Belbek airfield was shot down during an operation by the Ukrainian military on Wednesday, the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force said, and the Russian Defense Ministry said that 20 missiles were shot down over Crimea and the Black Sea.
• Stoltenberg says NATO is a “good deal” for the United States. NATO’s secretary general has again called for continued military aid to Ukraine and called out the Atlantic alliance in a message clearly aimed at the American public in the midst of an election year. Stoltenberg does not believe that Trump’s return to the White House will weaken NATO
• Violent attack by the head of the Central Committee of Russia on Maya Sanda. The fact that the authorities in Chisinau have not yet responded to Moscow’s request for the opening of polling stations for the March presidential elections of the Russian Federation has outraged Russian officials.
• The UN International Court of Justice overwhelmingly rejected Ukraine’s terrorism case against Russia. Why the ICJ refused to rule on the downing of MH17. On Wednesday, the court also ruled that Russia violated the UN anti-discrimination treaty by failing to protect Ukrainian-language education in Crimea.
• US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday during a meeting with several members of the European Commission that “we cannot allow Ukraine to run out of money.”
• The Russian Il-76 military transport plane, which crashed last week in the Russian border region of Belgorod, was shot down by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft system using the American Patriot system, Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.
• The Moscow State Duma adopted at its plenary session after the third, final reading, a draft law that allows confiscation of property and assets of persons guilty of “discrediting” the armed forces and other activities “against state security.”
• “We need military Schengen.” The agreement on the rapid transfer of troops and military equipment to NATO’s eastern flank was signed by the three major powers.
• The EU seems to be giving in to Viktor Orbán’s demands. European Union leaders will propose holding an annual debate on Thursday on a planned 50 billion euro aid package for Ukraine
• Russian banks posted record profits last year, the Central Bank of Russia announced on Wednesday, which also said it was “somewhat surprised” by the situation.
• Loud explosions were heard in St. Petersburg overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, at least one of which appeared to be at an oil refinery. The Russian mass media gave an implausible explanation of the incident.

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• Wednesday’s events related to Russian aggression were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro