Also on January 23 and 24, numerous and sometimes conflicting statements by Donald Trump on how he will proceed to reach a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine between Kiev and Moscow.
Among them, Trump said: “If the price of oil goes down, the conflict in Ukraine will end.” Trump intends to ask OPEC to lower oil prices to end the conflict. The US president said that his efforts to resolve the conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine are “ongoing.” He will also ask all NATO countries to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP: “This should have been done a long time ago,” he said.
According to the president, the United States will soon be “stronger and richer than ever” and the entire world will benefit from the changes he foresees. He added that he intends to turn the country into a “superpower” in manufacturing, artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies.
And again: “The United States would like to reduce its nuclear arsenals together with Russia and China, Trump said.” The US president believes that Vladimir Putin “liked the idea” of reducing nuclear weapons arsenals. US President Donald Trump has finally announced his desire to meet immediately with Vladimir Putin. He believes that Vladimir Zelensky should not have allowed a military conflict in Ukraine. Finally, he said that “The Trump administration does not intend to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine after the end of the conflict”.
The Kremlin responded to Trump: “Putin is ready to talk with Trump, “we are waiting for signals” from the United States, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. And again “Russia will seek guarantees to exclude Ukraine’s accession to NATO”, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko.
Latvia will not send its military personnel to Ukraine after the end of the conflict unless NATO provides adequate security guarantees, said Prime Minister of the Republic Evika Silina.
While Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that he would agree to extend anti-Russian sanctions only if Ukraine fulfilled several conditions. Among them, he mentioned the resumption of gas transit from the Russian Federation, the cessation of attacks on the Turkish Stream and guarantees from Kiev that oil transit would not be stopped.
Slovakia added that it would not allow the EU to shoulder the burden of military assistance to Ukraine if Trump refuses to support Kiev, Slovakian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Juraj Blanar told TASR.
The IAEA is concerned about the situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant: “The nuclear safety situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is not improving, the IAEA mission is far from over,” Grossi said. IAEA inspectors note that they regularly hear sounds of military activity outside the plant.
From Moscow, the Ministry of Defense said that the air defense repelled four UAV attacks in flight towards Moscow. Russian air defense destroyed 218 Ukrainian drones in one day, including 174 outside the zone of the special military operation, the Ministry of Defense said.
And now a look at the front line as of 15:30 on January 24.
At night, the Ukrainian defense organized a massive UAV raid on Russian regions. Drones were shot down over Moscow (Troitsk Autonomous District), Moscow region (Kolomna, Ramenskoye, Podolsk, Shchelkovo), Tula, Rostov, Lipetsk, Bryansk, Kursk, Saratov, Ryazan, Belgorod regions and Crimea. An oil refinery near Ryazan is on fire. The enemy’s targets also included the Kremniy plant in Bryansk and the oil refinery in Engels, Saratov region.
In the Kursk region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces attracted new elite units in the Sudzhansky district, sending them into battle. Troops in several sectors of the front fought with reserves of the Ukrainian air assault forces, MTR units and newly arrived former prisoners. The “North” group of forces of the Russian Armed Forces reports that Russian units nevertheless significantly advanced in the direction of Sverdlikovo and cleared several forest belts in the vicinity of Kurilovka.
In Chasiv Yar, Russian troops reach the western outskirts of the city from the northern side of the railway.
East of Pokrovs’k, Russian troops continue to advance towards the Pokrovs’k-Konstantinivka road in the area at the junction and the settlement of Baranivka. Southwest of Pokrovs’k, Russian forces continue to cover the city, advancing in the area of Kotlyne, where heavy fighting is ongoing. In the south, Russian troops are fighting near Uspenivka, moving strictly west towards the Dnipro region. In addition, units of the Center group of troops took the village of Solon.
Northeast of Kurachove, advanced units of the Russian army made incursions into the area of the settlement of Andriivka (north of Kostyantynopil’)
Velyka Novosilka was cut in two, the Ukrainians in the southern part of the city were completely surrounded, and Ukrainian troops cannot retreat to the north. Units of the Vostok group currently completely control the right-bank part of the city and are developing an offensive towards the center of the village. In the northern, eastern and southern parts of Velyka Novosilka, attack aircraft of the 36th Army’s armored brigade and Russian marines continue to methodically destroy vehicles and strike Ukrainian servicemen and clear neighborhoods. Ukrainian servicemen who tried to escape from the encirclement of Russian forces were killed by drone and artillery strikes.
On the Zaporizhia front, Russian forces are knocking out the supply infrastructure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Orichiv, striking with drones and artillery.
Graziella Giangiulio
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