Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

Polish President Andrzej Duda said Monday that NATO must urgently increase its defense spending to ensure it does not become the next target of a Russian attack.

Speaking to CNBC, Duda cited unspecified German research which suggests that Russian President Vladimir Putin is doubling down on his shift toward a war economy with a view to attacking NATO in 2026 or 2027.

“The alarm bells are ringing,” he told Steve Sedgwick, according to a translation.

Duda said it was therefore more critical than ever to ramp up the alliance’s military spending to 3%, describing his increased target as “common sense.”

— Karen Gilchrist

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday will try and convince European allies that President Joe Biden’s administration is still committed to supporting Ukraine, even as Washington has essentially run out of money to continue arming Kyiv and few signs that Congress will move to replenish funds.

Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson has so far refused to call a vote on a bill that would provide $60 billion more for Ukraine and the White House has been scrambling to find ways to send assistance to Kyiv, which has been battling Russian forces for more than two years.

Austin will be leading the monthly meeting known as the Ukraine defense contact group (UDCG), held at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, of about 50 allies that have been militarily supporting Ukraine.

The Pentagon said Austin, who is making his first overseas trip since a prostate cancer treatment, will reiterate that Washington is committed to Ukraine. But officials say the lack of funding available is already having an impact on the ground in Ukraine and Ukrainian forces are having to manage scarce resources.

Last week the Biden administration said it would send $300 million in military assistance to Ukraine, but added that it was an extraordinary move after unexpected savings from military contracts the Pentagon had made.

Officials have not ruled out that they could find additional savings, but they say that amount would not be enough to make up for the lack of Congressional action. Experts say that Austin will face a skeptical audience in Europe.

— Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin briefly attended an open-air rally in Moscow on Monday evening at which he told the crowd that the annexation of Crimea and other regions in Ukraine had been difficult but worthwhile.

The rally and concert in Red Square marked the 10th anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. The annexation was a precursor to a simmering conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukraine’s armed forces in eastern Ukraine since 2014, and Russia’s wholesale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Since then, Russia has also illegally annexed four other partially occupied regions in Ukraine, attempting to “Russify” the regions and holding voting there ahead of the three-day Russian presidential election last weekend that Putin won. Ukraine condemned the ballots held on its territory, describing them as illegal.

Putin told a large, flag-waving crowd that the “return” of those other regions to Russia had turned out to be “much more grave and tragic” than Crimea’s, but said that it had been accomplished, Reuters noted.

Putin also told the crowd that rail links had been restored from Rostov in southern Russia to the Russian-occupied cities in eastern and southern Ukraine, and would soon also connect directly with Sevastopol in Crimea.

“Just this morning, I was informed that the railway from Rostov to Donetsk to Mariupol and Berdyansk has been restored. We will continue this work. Soon trains will pass directly to Sevastopol. And this will be another alternative road to the Crimean bridge,” he said, in comments translated by Reuters.

— Holly Ellyatt

Debate around military aid to Ukraine is deepening the cracks in Germany’s administration — but despite “extremely unusual” public rifts, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to prevail.

The question at the heart of a months-long dispute is whether Germany will send Ukraine long-range Taurus missiles, which can independently locate and destroy a target after being released by a carrier.

Scholz has firmly rejected Kyiv’s request for these missiles — but he looks increasingly isolated in this position.

One key concern is that Ukraine may need on-the-ground help from German soldiers to work the Taurus missiles — a red line for Scholz.

According to leaked discussions by senior army chiefs reported by German media, there are very few copies of the complex data needed to program Taurus missiles. It means that Germany itself would likely lose access to the material if it handed those over to Ukraine, making it a potentially risky move.

Read more on the story here: Germany’s refusal to send ‘Taurus’ missiles to Ukraine is highly contentious — but won’t break the government

— Sophie Kiderlin

Pictures show the aftermath of shelling in multiple Ukrainian towns that have been attacked by Russia in recent days.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was upbeat after winning a fifth term in power in Russia’s presidential election over the weekend.

He chose his victory speech to supporters and the Russian press to make his first public remarks on the death of his political nemesis, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, mentioning his name for the first time in years.

When asked by NBC’s Keir Simmons about the death, Putin responded by calling his death a “sad event” and claiming he had been prepared to involve Navalny in a prisoner swap with the West.

Click here to read more on this story: Putin talks about his nemesis Navalny’s death for the first time as he basks in election win

— Holly Ellyatt

The European Union pronounced that Russian presidential elections took place in an “ever-shrinking political space” that violated civil and political rights, after Vladimir Putin secured another six-year term.

“Russian authorities have continued to increase the systematic internal repression by cracking down on opposition politicians, civil society organisations, independent media and other critical voices with the use of repressive legislation and politically motivated prison sentences,” the EU said in a statement out Monday.

The circumstances in which the elections were held “deprived Russian voters of a real choice and heavily limited their access to accurate information,” the bloc added, while also condemning presidential votes carried out by Russia in occupied territories of Ukraine.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Vladimir Putin’s sweeping win in Russia’s presidential vote over the weekend was a “unique” result, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, defending the electoral process from Western accusations.

In Google-translated comments reported by Russian state news agency Tass, Peskov said that foreign statements questioning the legitimacy of the election were “absurd,” noting that he expected international congratulations for Putin’s victory to continue pouring in for more than one day.

The European Union has criticized the circumstances under which Putin secured over 87% of the popular vote, stressing a restrictive political environment and a lack of genuine opposition in the electoral race. It also refused to acknowledge the polls held in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.

— Ruxandra Iordache