More US arms arrive in Ukraine
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has welcomed the third dispatch of US arms to Ukraine.
"Javelins in Kyiv! A new cargo of security aid - launchers&missiles - with a total weight of about 80 tons. We expect the arrival of the 4th from the big flock of birds soon. Thanks to our strategic partner," he tweeted.
President says Kharkiv not to be occupied
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Kharkiv will never be occupied by Russia.
He said this in a comment under a video posted on Instagram.
Zelenskyy stressed that the outcome of yesterday's National Security and Defence Council meeting was "not loud decisions for the media space, but important conclusions for society and citizens".
"They sound simple: everything is under control, there is no reason to panic," the president said.
In the comments, one user wrote: "Kharkiv is hopeful. Kharkiv is Ukraine and does not want to be occupied by Russia". The president responded to this phrase by saying: "And it will never be occupied! Never!!! Because Kharkiv is our city with our cool people!!!"
Normandy Four advisers to meet
The political advisers of the leaders of Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia will meet tomorrow, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message.
"Tomorrow there will be a meeting of the Normandy advisers. We are working to have a meeting of the four presidents as soon as possible for the future peace in Ukraine," Zelenskyy said.
"Of course, there are no rose-tinted glasses. There are no childish illusions. Everything is not easy. But there are hope, calmness, composure and working 24/7. And it means that there will be a result. So there will be peace," he added.
No special status for Donbas
German media reports that political advisers of the Normandy Four leaders plan to set the time for talks between Ukraine and the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republic militants to resolve the issue of Donbas's special status are fake, sources in the Ukrainian authorities close to the negotiating process told LB.ua.
"This information does not correspond to reality. It is a fake. Ukraine is not going to do this. And our partners in the Normandy format will not go for this and do not support such a step," the LB.ua interlocutors said.
British sanctions
Britain will not hesitate to toughen sanctions on Moscow and will look to contribute to any NATO deployment if Russia invaded Ukraine, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday, as reported by Reuters.
Criticism of Austria
The former Ukrainian ambassador to Austria, Oleksandr Shcherba, has said that the continuation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project despite the threat of a Russian offensive against Ukraine is a manifestation of indifference.
In an interview with Die Presse, Scherba harshly criticised the Austrian position that sanctions on Russia should not apply to Nord Stream 2.
"To say in the face of a Russian offensive against Ukraine that we will continue the Nord Stream 2 project regardless of what has happened is indifference bordering on treason," he said.
'No threat of full-scale invasion'
Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov is convinced that as of today there are no grounds for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Despite the fact that the Ukrainian and partner countries' intelligence data match, there is a difference in their interpretation.
"Intelligence agencies establish the facts of the Russian armed forces' buildup along our borders on a permanent basis. The facts recorded by our and our partner countries' intelligence agencies absolutely coincide. However, the estimates are somewhat different," Oleksiy Reznikov told journalists on the parliament sidelines.
Propresidential faction head says situation 'hyped up'
The head of the Servant of the People faction, Davyd Arakhamiya, has said that Ukrainians should not be surprised by Belarusian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka's statements about his readiness to support Russia in the war against Ukraine.
In comments to journalists on the sidelines of parliament, he noted that the situation with a possible new invasion is now being artificially stoked up by the Western media.
"Didn't we know two years ago that Lukashenka was a potential second front? There is no such thing now; the situation is being artificially hyped up; it is an information and psychological operation; it is a hybrid warfare. It is partly military, partly information. Now the information component is the main one," he said.
The security situation in Ukraine is under control and not fundamentally different from Russia's military buildup that took place last spring.
To date there is no threat of a new Russian military invasion and it is not predicted for the near future, Arakhamiya said.
Evacuations
As of 24 January, only four states have notified the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry of their intentions to evacuate family members and some of their staff or allow them to leave Ukrainian territory voluntarily. They are the United States of America, the UK, Australia, and Germany, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said.
"The rest of the states, the European Union, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the UN, NATO and representative offices of other international and regional organizations inform the Foreign Ministry that at this stage there are no plans to evacuate or reduce personnel due to the absence of sufficient reasons for such a step," it said.
Donbas
Two Ukrainian servicemen were wounded in combat in Donbas amid five ceasfire violations by the Russian occupying troops, the Joint Forces Operation HQ has said.
Security
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained a group of criminals who were preparing a series of attacks on facilities in the border regions. The large-scale operation took place in Zhytomyr and Kharkiv.
The perpetrators were coordinated by representatives of the Russian special services, the SBU press centre has said.