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Russia-Ukraine war live: Moscow cuts oil supply to Poland – as it happened


Russia cuts oil supplies to Poland, says oil firm

Poland’s largest oil company, PKN Orlen, has stopped receiving oil via the Druzhba pipeline from Russia, its chief executive officer, Daniel Obajtek, has said.

Posting to Twitter, Obajtek said:

We’re effectively securing supplies. Russia has halted supplies to Poland, for which we are prepared.

Skutecznie zabezpieczamy dostawy surowców. Rosja wstrzymała dostawy ropy do Polski, na co jesteśmy w pełni przygotowani. Z Rosji pochodziło już tylko 10% surowca i zastąpimy go ropą z innych kierunków. To efekt dywersyfikacji, którą przeprowadziliśmy w ciągu ostatnich lat.
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— Daniel Obajtek (@DanielObajtek) February 25, 2023

Orlen said it could fully supply its refineries via sea and that consumers would not be affected by the halt.

The Druzhba pipeline, which supplies oil to Poland and Germany, as well as to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, was exempted from EU sanctions to help countries with limited options for alternative deliveries.

Russian oil accounts for about 10% of Polish supply after Warsaw cut imports after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

Key events

Good evening, we will now be closing this live blog. You can read more of our Russia-Ukraine war coverage here.

A protest in Berlin against sending weapons to Ukraine drew 10,000 people on Saturday, Reuters reports.

The “Uprising for Peace” was held around the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin, a day after the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The event was partly organised by politician Sahra Wagenknecht, a member of Germany’s left-wing Die Linke party.

People take part in a protest against the delivery of weapons to Ukraine in Berlin, Germany.
People take part in a protest against the delivery of weapons to Ukraine in Berlin, Germany. Photograph: Christian Mang/Reuters

Signs at the protest bore statements such as “Negotiate, not escalate” and “Not our war”. The demonstration’s website reads: “We call on the German chancellor to stop the escalation of arms deliveries. Now!…Because every day lost costs up to 1,000 more lives – and brings us closer to a 3rd world war.”

Police deployed 1,400 officers to keep the peace and enforce bans on military uniforms, Russian and Soviet flags, Russian military songs and right-wing symbols. A police spokesperson said the protest was peaceful and there was no sign of right-wing groups in attendance.

German finance minister Christian Lindner reacted to the demonstration by tweeting: “Whoever does not stand by Ukraine is on the wrong side of history.”

Hungary signals new delay in approving Finland and Sweden’s Nato bid

Hungary has indicated a further possible delay in ratifying Finland and Sweden’s bid for Nato membership, as Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff said a vote may take place in the second half of March, Reuters reports.

“Parliament will put this on the agenda on Monday and start debating the legislation next week,” Gergely Gulyas, Orbán’s aide, told a press conference.

“Based on Hungarian procedure, adopting legislation takes about four weeks, so it follows that parliament can have a vote on this sometime in the second half of March, on the week of March 21.”

The ratification process has been stalled in Hungary’s parliament since July. A legislative agenda published this week on the parliament’s website indicated a final vote on the Nato applications could occur on the week of March 6.

On Friday, Orbán aired concerns from ruling party lawmakers, including what he described as Finland and Sweden spreading “outright lies” about the health of democracy and rule of law in Hungary.

Russian mercenary boss says group captured village north of Ukraine’s Bakhmut

Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, said on Saturday that Wagner fighters captured the village of Yahidne, north of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Reuters reported.

Reuters could not independently confirm the statement, which Prigozhin had made in a short audio message.

After six months of heavy fighting, Ukrainian forces were reported to have blown up a bridge near Bakhmut this month in a possible sign of retreat, a move that would give Russia a significant boost. Ukraine has denied it intends to leave Bakhmut.

Summary of the day so far

Its’s 6pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:

  • Three civilians have been wounded by Russian artillery shelling of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, a senior Ukrainian official said. In a separate Telegram, the Kherson regional military administration said two emergency and rescue workers had been injured by Russian shelling. Russian troops on the east bank of the Dnieper River opened fire on Kherson region 83 times on Friday, hitting 34 settlements, according to the head of the regional military administration.

  • Explosions have reportedly been heard in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine, according to Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the exiled city’s mayor. The explosions were reported in the location of a large Russian military personnel cluster, he said. “It’s a good trend,” he added. Ukraine’s armed forces have in recent days claimed strikes on Mariupol, previously thought to be outside the effective range of Ukrainian missiles.

  • Russia appears to have run out of its current stock of Iranian-made drones and will seek to resupply, according to the latest update by the UK Ministry of Defence. The MoD said Russia most likely sees the drones as “useful decoys which can divert Ukrainian air defences from more effective Russian cruise missiles”.

  • The EU has agreed to slap a 10th package of sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, just in time for a self-imposed deadline to mark the first anniversary of the war. The latest round of sanctions tackled the banking sector, Russia’s access to technology that can be used for civilian and military purposes, and advanced technologies, the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell said. Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he expects “decisive steps” against the Russian nuclear industry and the Rosatom corporation, and more pressure on Russia’s military and banking.

  • A meeting of finance chiefs of the Group of 20 (G20) leading economies has ended without a consensus, with Russia and China objecting to the description of the war in Ukraine in a final document. In a statement at the end of the meeting in Bengaluru, the G20 chair India said a statement demanding Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine was endorsed by all members except Moscow and Beijing.

  • Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has dismissed China’s “unrealistic” proposal to end the conflict. Beijing should not “bet on an aggressor who broke [international] law and will lose the war”, Podolyak posted to Twitter. President Zelenskiy has cautiously welcomed China’s peace plan to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but said it would be acceptable only if it led to Vladimir Putin pulling his troops out from all occupied Ukrainian territory.

  • France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has said China’s engagement in peace in Ukraine is a “good thing”. Macron told reporters that he would visit China in early April, in part to seek Beijing’s help with ending the war. “China must help us put pressure on Russia so that it never uses chemical or nuclear weapons,” Macron said.

  • The US has intelligence that the Chinese government is considering providing Russia with drones and ammunition for use in the war in Ukraine, according to US officials. It does not appear that Beijing has made a final decision yet and there is no evidence that any weapon transfers have occurred, officials said. However, negotiations between Russia and China about the price and scope of the equipment are ongoing, CNN has reported.

  • Poland’s largest oil company, PKN Orlen, has stopped receiving oil via the Druzhba pipeline from Russia, its chief executive officer, Daniel Obajtek, has said. Orlen said it could fully supply its refineries via sea and that consumers would not be affected by the halt. Russian oil accounts for about 10% of Polish supply after Warsaw cut imports after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

  • Joe Biden has also ruled out “for now” sending American advanced fighter jets to Ukraine, telling an interview that Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy “doesn’t need F-16s now”. The US president told the ABC on Friday “there is no basis upon which there is a rationale, according to our military now, to provide F-16s” to Ukraine.

  • The president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said he and Vladimir Putin spoke for a long time on Friday. Lukashenko’s remarks to reporters came as China’s foreign ministry confirmed that the Belarusian leader is expected to visit China on 28 February.

  • A former commander of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has been arrested after allegedly attacking a police officer in Oslo, according to Norwegian prosecutors. Andrey Medvedev, who has been living in Norway in January since he fled from Russia, was allegedly detained in the early hours of Wednesday after a fight outside a bar in the Norwegian capital.

  • Thousands of tickets for the Eurovision song contest are to be allocated to Ukrainians who have been forced from their homes and are living in the UK. The UK government has also announced £10m in funding to “help ensure the event truly showcases Ukrainian culture” on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the country.

A month-long fundraising drive in Lithuania to buy air defence radars for Ukraine has raised €14m (£12.4m), organisers said.

Lithuania, a member of both the EU and Nato, has been a major supporter of Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia last year.

In a statement, the Lithuanian president, Gitanas Nausėda, said:

At this crucial moment, we must do all that is possible to guarantee our backing for the Ukrainian people.

The money raised will be used to buy 14 radars, the organisers said.

Lithuanian journalist and volunteer Andrius Tapinas posted to Twitter:

14 000 000 euro from Lithuanians to buy radars to defend Ukraine. In four weeks. That’s it from us. For now. We will be back.

My colleague Dan Sabbagh writes that a large crowd has gathered outside the Russian embassy in London, chanting “Putin, stop the war”.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he expects “decisive steps” against the Russian nuclear industry and the Rosatom corporation, and more pressure on Russia’s military and banking.

His tweet came after the EU’s top diplomats agreed on Friday to slap a 10th package of sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

The 10th 🇪🇺 sanctions package targets russian military industry, propaganda & financial system. The pressure on russian aggressor must increase: we expect decisive steps against Rosatom & russian nuclear industry, more pressure on military & banking.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 25, 2023

A former commander of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has been arrested after allegedly attacking a police officer after being arrested outside a bar in Oslo, according to Norwegian prosecutors.

Andrey Medvedev, who has been living in Norway in January since he fled from Russia, was detained in the early hours of Wednesday after a fight outside a bar in the Norwegian capital, according to the indictment, seen by AFP.

The exact circumstances of the brawl were not specified but, according to the court documents, Medvedev, who was drunk at the time, had resisted arrest and then physically attacked police officers once he arrived at the station.

His trial has been set for 25 April.

Medvedev, 26, crossed the border into Norway on 13 January, where he applied for asylum. Before fleeing, he said that in Ukraine he had witnessed the summary killing of Wagner fighters accused by their own commanders of disobeying orders, sometimes in pairs.

He said he was ready to tell everything he knew about the Wagner group, its activities and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Germany’s finance minister, Christian Lindner, has said it was “regrettable” that China had blocked a G20 communique to condemn Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Lindner, speaking to reporters after a meeting of G20 finance chiefs in India, said:

But for me it was more important that all the others adhered to a clear position of international law, multilateralism and the end of the war.

India: most G20 members ‘strongly condemn Ukraine war’

All members of the Group of Twenty (G20) wealthy economies, except Russia and China, have agreed to “strongly condemn” Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, India has said after a meeting of G20 financial leaders near Bengaluru.

In a statement at the end of the meeting, the G20 chair said the statement demanding Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine was endorsed by all members except Moscow and Beijing.

India stuck to the language used in a declaration last year by G20 leaders in Bali, adding that it recognised that the bloc was not the forum to resolve security issues.

At the last major G20 meeting, in November, leaders strongly condemned the war, warning the conflict was intensifying fragilities in the world’s economy.

India’s statement today said:

The peaceful resolution of conflicts, efforts to address crises, as well as diplomacy and dialogue, are vital. Today’s era must not be of war.

An outcome document published today said there was no agreement on the wording of the war in Ukraine.

Russia cuts oil supplies to Poland, says oil firm

Poland’s largest oil company, PKN Orlen, has stopped receiving oil via the Druzhba pipeline from Russia, its chief executive officer, Daniel Obajtek, has said.

Posting to Twitter, Obajtek said:

We’re effectively securing supplies. Russia has halted supplies to Poland, for which we are prepared.

Skutecznie zabezpieczamy dostawy surowców. Rosja wstrzymała dostawy ropy do Polski, na co jesteśmy w pełni przygotowani. Z Rosji pochodziło już tylko 10% surowca i zastąpimy go ropą z innych kierunków. To efekt dywersyfikacji, którą przeprowadziliśmy w ciągu ostatnich lat.
1/2

— Daniel Obajtek (@DanielObajtek) February 25, 2023

Orlen said it could fully supply its refineries via sea and that consumers would not be affected by the halt.

The Druzhba pipeline, which supplies oil to Poland and Germany, as well as to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, was exempted from EU sanctions to help countries with limited options for alternative deliveries.

Russian oil accounts for about 10% of Polish supply after Warsaw cut imports after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

Belarus’s Lukashenko says he and Putin spoke ‘for a long time’ on anniversary of Ukraine war

Earlier we reported that the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said he had held a long conversation with Vladimir Putin yesterday. We now have some more detail from Reuters.

Lukashenko, a close Putin ally , was quoted as telling reporters earlier today:

I’ll tell you a secret, last night he and I spoke for a long time on various topics.

The Kremlin has yet to provide any statement about the conversation.

Belarus, which shares a border with Ukraine and Russia, allowed Russia a year ago to use its territory as a launchpad for its attack on Ukraine. Earlier this month, Lukashenko said Belarus was ready to do so again.

Lukashenko’s remarks came as China’s foreign ministry confirmed that the Belarusian leader is expected to visit China on 28 February. A spokesperson for the ministry said:

At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko will pay a state visit to China from 28 February to 2 March.

EU approves tenth package of sanctions on Russia

The EU agreed late on Friday to slap a tenth package of sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, just in time for a self-imposed deadline to mark the first anniversary of the war.

Ambassadors met in Brussels after failing to finalise the sanctions package for several days. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, had told Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, that the EU aimed to have the measures in place by 24 February.

The latest round of sanctions tackled the banking sector, Russia’s access to technology that can be used for civilian and military purposes, and advanced technologies, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said.

Borrell warned that the bloc would continue to apply more sanctions, adding that it would “do it for as long as needed, until Ukraine is liberated from the brutal Russian aggression”.

Von der Leyen said the EU was turning up the pressure on those trying to circumvent sanctions.

She said:

We now have the most far-reaching sanctions ever – depleting Russia’s war arsenal and biting deep into its economy.

The sanctions package will add electronic components used in Russian weapons systems retrieved on the battlefield – including drones, missiles, helicopters, as well as specific rare earth materials, electronic integrated circuits and thermal cameras – to the list of banned exports.

It also imposes tighter export restrictions on another 96 entities for supporting Russia’s military and industrial complex, including for the first time seven Iranian entities manufacturing military drones used by Moscow.

Additional restrictions are imposed on imports of goods which generate significant revenues for Russia, such as asphalt and synthetic rubber.

Three civilians have been wounded by Russian artillery shelling of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, a senior Ukrainian official said.

Posting to Telegram, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, wrote:

Today, due to artillery shelling of the city of Kherson, three local residents ended up in the hospital. Russian terrorists are fighting the civilian population.

In a separate Telegram, the Kherson regional military administration said two emergency and rescue workers had been injured by Russian shelling.

The two men suffered shrapnel injuries, it said, adding they had been hospitalised and were receiving medical assistance.

Russian troops on the east bank of the Dnipro River opened fire on Kherson region 83 times on Friday, hitting 34 settlements, according to Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the regional military administration.

The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, said he held a long conversation with Vladimir Putin yesterday, Reuters is reporting.

Lukashenko told reporters that he and his Russian counterpart touched on various topics in their conversation, without giving further details.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed some elements of a Chinese proposal for a ceasefire in Russia’s war on Ukraine, but said only the country where a war is being fought can be the initiator of a peace plan.

The Ukrainian president said, during a press conference in Kyiv on Friday, that the plan was “an important signal that they are going to participate in this topic”, but warned Beijing against providing Moscow with arms.

China’s Ukraine peace plan ‘important signal’, says Zelenskiy – video





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