Live: Kyiv hosts EU leaders for summit on bloc membership, new Russia sanctions

6:00am: Ukraine’s allies pushing IMF to approve loan of $14-16 billion, according to Financial Times

Ukraine’s allies are pushing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to finalise plans for a multibillion-dollar lending programme, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

IMF representatives are planning to meet Ukrainian officials in mid-February to advance discussions over a loan that could range from $14 billion to $16 billion, the report said, citing officials familiar with the talks.

5:28am: Ukraine summit to deliver on some issues, disappoint on others

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and several other high-ranking European officials arrived in Kyiv by train on Thursday to demonstrate support for Ukraine as the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of its neighbour approaches. Senior members of the EU’s executive met with their Ukrainian counterparts following their arrival, and von der Leyen and the chairman of the 27 EU national leaders, Charles Michel, will convene talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday.

Zelensky on Thursday called for more punitive measures against Russia by the European Union, but new sanctions the bloc is preparing for the anniversary are set to fall short of his government’s demands.

“We reached a very important mutual understanding,” Zelensky said of Thursday’s talks. “That only together – a strong Ukraine and a strong European Union – can we defend the life that we value, and through our further integration, provide energy and motivation for our people to fight on regardless of obstacles and threats.”

While the EU backs Ukraine and supports democratic and economic reforms there, it declines to offer a fast track to membership while Ukraine is at war. EU officials have listed multiple entry requirements, from political and economic stability to adopting various EU laws. The process is likely to take years.

12:00am: Germany approves Leopard 1 tanks delivery to Ukraine

The German government has approved the delivery of Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine from industrial stocks and is in talks over purchasing back 15 Gepard tanks from Qatar to send to Kyiv, German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Friday.

The delivery of the Leopard tanks to Ukraine could happen anytime once the tanks are repaired, the newspaper reported, citing government sources.

Several German officials discussed with Qatar’s foreign ministry a possible purchase of 15 Gepard tanks that Doha had bought to secure the World Cup stadiums, the newspaper said, adding that Berlin was trying to get more ammunition from Qatar. “The Gepards have proven themselves very well in the war in Ukraine. If we could get more from partners here, that would definitely help the Ukrainians,” new German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

10:35pm: Putin’s ‘extraordinarily delusional’ on Stalingrad speech

Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s speech at an event marking the Soviet victory over Nazi forces in Stalingrad, in which he said that Russia is threatened by German tanks like it was during the Second World War, was “extraordinarily delusional”, said FRANCE 24 chief foreign editor Robert Parsons. “Let’s remember Russia invaded Ukraine […]; it is Russian troops, Russian tanks, Russian aircraft that are on the territory of Ukraine.”

Ukraine is defending itself with “weapons supplied by the West, but it’s not the same as to say Ukraine [is] attacking Russia”, Parsons underlined.