Ukraine war: Rishi Sunak says UK stands ‘ready to support all allies’ to provide fighter jets to Kyiv ‘now’
Rishi Sunak has said the UK stands “ready to support all allies if they can provide fighter jets to Ukraine now”.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, he said the UK was already “leading” on training Ukrainian fighter jet pilots and reiterated his call for allies to “double down” in support.
Earlier, Mr Sunak said it was “entirely reasonable” for NATO to provide longer-range weapons to Ukraine so it could “have a counter-offensive that moves Russia outside of its own country”.
When asked if the UK would send weapons that could target Crimea, which was annexed by the Russians in 2014, he said NATO must help Kyiv gain a decisive advantage on the battlefield with heavy tanks, air defence, artillery and long-range weapons.
Ukraine war – latest: Putin’s imperial goals beyond Ukraine ‘clear’
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
PM promises long-range weapons for Ukraine
“Those are all the things that will allow Ukraine to defend itself and repel Russian aggression,” Mr Sunak said.
“And, indeed, yes, to have a counter-offensive that moves Russia outside of its own country. I think that’s entirely reasonable and we should be fully behind Ukraine in that ambition, and want that ambition to succeed.”
Mr Sunak gave a speech to world leaders at the conference, telling them: “Our collective efforts are making a difference. But with every day that passes, Russian forces inflict yet more pain and suffering.”
“Now the only way to change that is for Ukraine to win,” he added.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Putin is trying to ‘exhaust the West’
He revealed that the UK and its allies were working to give Ukraine “advanced air defence systems” and would help it to train and build the air force it needs to defend itself.
“Together we must help Ukraine to shield its cities from Russian bombs and Iranian drones.”
“Of course, the United Kingdom stands ready to help any country provide planes that Ukraine can use today. But we must also train Ukrainian pilots to use the most advanced jets,” he said.
The prime mister also said that the whole world must hold Russia to account and that “to win the peace, we also need to rebuild the international order on which our collective security depends”.
“First, that means upholding international law,” he said. “The whole world must hold Russia to account. We must see justice through the ICC for their sickening war crimes committed, whether in Bucha, Irpen, Mariupol or beyond, and Russia must also be held to account for the terrible destruction it has inflicted.”
He added: “Second, the treaties and agreements of the post-Cold War era have failed Ukraine, so we need a new framework for its long-term security.”
Read more:
Ukraine will need fighter jets to see off Russian threat, Poland’s president says
Adam Parsons: NATO’s focus is on heavy weapons and training – not sending fighter jets
Ukraine’s backers struggle to keep up with demand of munitions in race against Russia
Military analyst Sean Bell: Invasion has shattered Russia’s illusion of invincibility
A new NATO charter should be set up to help protect Ukraine from future Russian aggression, he said.
Mr Sunak concluded by saying that “what’s at stake in this war is even greater than the security and sovereignty of one nation. It’s about the security and sovereignty of every nation.
Irpin was the focus of intense Russian attacks lasting day and night for many weeks
“Because Russia’s invasion, its abhorrent war crimes and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric are symptomatic of a broader threat to everything we believe in.”
Meanwhile, the American vice president Kamala Harris told the conference that America had determined Russia had committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine, and said “justice must be served” to those responsible.
“Russian forces have pursued a widespread and systemic attack against a civilian population – gruesome acts of murder, torture, rape, and deportation,” Ms Harris said, also citing “execution-style killings, beatings, and electrocution”.
“Russian authorities have forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of people, from Ukraine to Russia, including children,” she added. “They have cruelly separated children from their families.”
As a former prosecutor and head of California’s Department of Justice, Ms Harris said she understood “the importance of gathering facts and holding them up against the law”.
“In the case of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, we have examined the evidence, we know the legal standards, and there is no doubt,” she said. “These are crimes against humanity.”
Harris told the forum: “Let us all agree – on behalf of all the victims, both known and unknown, justice must be served.”
“No nation is safe in a world where one country can violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of another, where crimes against humanity are committed with impunity, where a country with imperialist ambitions can go unchecked,” Harris added.
World
Body of missing rabbi Zvi Kogan found in UAE – as Israeli PM says he was murdered in ‘antisemitic terror incident’
The COP29 climate talks have reached a last ditch deal on cash for developing countries, pulling the summit back from the brink of collapse after a group of countries stormed out of a negotiating room earlier.
The slew of deals finally signed off in the small hours of Sunday morning in Azerbaijan includes one that proved hardest of all – one about money.
Eventually the more than 190 countries in Baku agreed a target for richer polluting countries such as the UK, EU and Japan to drum up $300bn a year by 2035 to help poorer nations both curb and adapt to climate change.
It is a far cry from the $1.3trn experts say is needed, and from the $500bn that vulnerable countries like Uganda had said they would be willing to accept.
But in the end they were forced to, knowing they could not afford to live without it, nor wait until next year to try again, when a Donald Trump presidency would make things even harder.
Bolivia’s lead negotiator Diego Pacheco called it an “insult”, while the Marshall Islands’ Tina Stege said it was “not nearly enough, but it’s a start”.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell said: “This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country.
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps.”
The funding deal was clinched more than 24 hours into overtime, and against what felt like all the odds.
The talks were rocked from the start by the incoming presidency of climate denier Mr Trump, the moment Argentina’s team were recalled back to Buenos Aires by their right-wing president and a controversial letter that sent shockwaves through the United Nations.
Pic: AP
The fraught two weeks of negotiations pitted the anger of developing countries who are footing the bill for more dangerous weather that they did little to cause, against the tight public finances of rich countries.
A relieved Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, climate envoy for Panama, said there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.
Just hours ago, the talks almost fell apart as furious vulnerable nations stormed out of negotiations in frustration over that elusive funding goal.
They were also angry with oil and gas producing countries, who stood accused of trying to dilute aspects of the deal on cutting fossil fuels.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Climate-vulnerable nations storm out of talks
The UN talks work on consensus, meaning everyone has to agree for a deal to fly.
A row over how to follow up on last year’s pledge to “transition away from fossil fuels” was left unresolved and punted into next year, following objections from Chile and Switzerland for being too weak.
A draft deal simply “reaffirmed” the commitment but did not dial up the pressure in the way the UK, EU, island states and many others here wanted.
Saudi Arabia fought the hardest against any step forward on cutting fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change that is intensifying floods, drought and fires around the world.
Governments did manage to strike a deal on carbon markets at COP29, which has been 10 years in the making and will allow countries to trade emissions cuts.
‘Not everything we wanted’
👉 Tap here to follow the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts 👈
The UK’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said the deal is “not everything we or others wanted”, but described it as a “step forward”.
“It’s a deal that will drive forward the clean energy transition, which is essential for jobs and growth in Britain and for protecting us all against the worsening climate crisis,” he added.
“Today’s agreement sends the signal that the clean energy transition is unstoppable.
“It is the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century and through our championing of it we can help crowd in private investment.”
Protesters at the summit in Baku. Pic: AP
Read more:
Azerbaijan president hails oil and gas as ‘gift from God’
UN climate summits ‘no longer fit for purpose’
The Azerbaijan team leading COP29 said: “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator.
“We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.”
At least 20 people have been killed and 66 injured in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.
Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dig through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.
The attack destroyed an eight-storey residential building and badly damaged several others around it in the Basta neighbourhood at 4am (2am UK time) on Saturday.
The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut
The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack and has not commented on the casualties.
At least four bombs were dropped in the attack – the fourth targeting the city centre this week.
A separate drone strike in the southern port city of Tyre this morning killed two people and injured three, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The victims were Palestinian refugees from the nearby al Rashidieh camp who were out fishing, according to Mohammed Bikai, spokesperson for the Fatah Palestinian faction in the Tyre area.
Israel’s military warned residents today in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs that they were near Hezbollah facilities, which the army would target in the near future. The warning, posted on X, told people to evacuate at least 500 metres away.
The army said that over the past day it had conducted intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It said it hit several command centres and weapons storage facilities.
Pic: AP
Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.
Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 3,670 people have been killed in Israeli attacks there, with more than 15,400 wounded.
It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.
Read more:
No 10 indicates Netanyahu would be arrested
‘Dozens’ of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike
Meanwhile, six people, including three children and two women, were killed in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.
Some 44,176 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.
US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.
Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports8 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway