Live: US VP Kamala Harris denounces Russia’s ‘crimes against humanity’ in Ukraine

Issued on: 18/02/2023 – 09:41

1:51pm: US VP Kamala Harris presents an indictment of Russian war crimes in Ukraine 

US Vice President Kamala Harris used her speech at the Munich Security Conference to present an indictment of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, presenting examples such as targeting civilian infrastructure, rape and the forced displacement of the Ukrainian people. She added that these crimes are being documented and that the perpetrators as well as those who ordered these crimes would be brought to justice. 

She went on to remind people that this war is not just about the US versus Russia or even NATO versus Russia but about defending a rules-based international order, which involves respect for human rights, as is enshrined in the UN Human Rights Charter. 

FRANCE 24’s Nick Spicer reports. 

1:36pm: Russia should pay towards Ukrainian reconstruction, says UK’s Sunak

Western allies should consider how to ensure that Russia pays towards the reconstruction of Ukraine once the war has ended, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Saturday.

Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference, he also said the international community’s response to general Russian aggression had not been strong enough.

12:59pm: Russia has committed ‘crimes against humanity’ in Ukraine, says US

Russia committed “crimes against humanity” in Ukraine, US Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday, with its forces having conducted “widespread and systemic” attacks on the country’s civilian population.

“The US has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity,” Harris said in an address to the Munich Security Conference.

11:13am: EU to team with defence industry to speed up ammunition output

The European Union aims to join forces with the bloc’s defence industry to speed up and scale up the production of ammunition badly needed on the battlefield in Ukraine and to replenish military stocks at home, its chief said on Saturday.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested the bloc should do what it did during the pandemic to prepare for the large-scale production of a COVID vaccine.

“We could think of, for example, advanced purchase agreements that give the defence industry the possibility to invest in production lines now to be faster and to increase the amount they can deliver,” she said.

Von der Leyen underlined that the bloc could not wait for months and years to be able to replenish its own military stocks or send munitions such as 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine.

10:52am: EU’s von der Leyen urges allies to ‘double down’ for Ukraine

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday told a security forum that allies must “double down” on military support for Ukraine, as it fights back against Russian forces. 

“We have to double down and we have to continue the really massive support that is necessary (so) that these imperialistic plans of (President Vladimir) Putin will completely fail,” she told the Munich Security Conference.

10:45am: Poland ready to support Ukraine with MiG jets if broader coalition formed, says PM

Poland is ready to support Ukraine with its MiG jets, but only if a broader coalition is formed with the United States as a leader, Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki said on Saturday.

“Today we can talk about transferring our MiG (jets) as part of a wider coalition and we are ready for that… Poland can only be a part of a much larger coalition here, a coalition with the United States as a leader,” he said.

9:40am: ‘Give Ukraine what they need to win’, says NATO chief

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is expected to tell the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that allies must provide Ukraine what it needs to defeat Russia, as Kyiv pleads for more weapons.

“We must give Ukraine what they need to win and prevail as a sovereign, independent nation in Europe,” he is expected to tell the gathering of world leaders, according to excerpts of his speech seen by AFP.

9:21am: Explosions reported after new missile attack on Ukraine

Two explosions were heard in a west Ukrainian city as the country faced a new Russian missile salvo, local government officials said, with several regions limiting electricity supply as a precaution for potential strikes on the grid.

Two explosions could be heard in the city of Khmelnytskyi, which lies 170 miles (274 km) west of Kyiv, the regional governor said.

Shortly after air raid alerts were issued nationwide on Saturday morning, authorities in several southern and eastern regions of Ukraine warned of possible precautionary power outages to limit damage to the grid in case of a strike.

8:53am: Russian assets worth around $5.7 billion sanctioned in Germany

Russian assets worth around 5.32 billion euros ($5.69 billion) have been sanctioned in Germany over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, the German finance ministry was cited as saying by the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

The newspaper report said the assets belong to Russian entities such the Russian central bank, companies and individuals on the European Union sanctions list. The ministry did not give the value of assets belonging to so-called oligarchs that were frozen, Welt am Sonntag said.

The paper said a new central authority for implementing sanctions is still being set up, citing the ministry, with 36 staff already working there and more being hired.

6:30am: Biden to send message to Putin in Ukraine war anniversary speech

President Joe Biden will be “messaging” Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin when he speaks in Warsaw next week, while hailing NATO‘s unprecedented effort to help Ukrainians save their country as the war reaches the one-year mark.

The White House says Biden will give the speech in Poland – a key US ally and fulcrum of vast efforts to arm Ukraine and receive refugees – on Tuesday.

That’s the same day Putin is set to give his own speech in Moscow, three days from the February 24th anniversary of Russian tanks rolling into Ukraine.

 

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)