Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy calls for winter aid at NATO

Belgium will allocate €1.7 billion ($1.8 billion) in taxes it collected from frozen Russian assets towards reconstruction efforts in Ukraine.

The country has been collecting taxes on the interest generated by Russian assets that were frozen after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia had around €300 billion in assets frozen by participating countries, most of which is held in Europe.

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo made the announcement at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Brussels on Wednesday.

"The taxes on the interest of these assets should go 100% to the Ukrainian people," De Croo said.

The country had already allocated €600 million to go to Ukraine this year on the same basis, according to a government official.

Ukraine had previously called for all the money to go to postwar reconstruction. However, G7 nations said it would be legally difficult to outright seize the Russian assets and would breach international norms.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said tackling corruption would be key to Ukraine's future, and praised President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's existing anti-corruption efforts.

"Continuing to address these difficult issues will be key to delivering the future that Ukrainians deserve," she said.

Yellen made the comments at the fourth meeting of a high-level roundtable on Ukraine during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

She said this setting reflected "continued condemnation of Russia’s aggression and of the robust international support for Ukraine from its allies and partners."

Ukraine needs $42 billion (€40 billion) in budget support this year and next year, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Wednesday.

The foreign aid would be needed to plug a massive deficit and boost reconstruction efforts.

"We expect support from all our partners, both in equal amounts," Shmyhal said.

"This will allow the government to meet its basic social obligations to pay pensions, salaries to doctors and teachers, and to help those whose homes have been destroyed by Russia."

Russia on Wednesday claimed that its forces have strengthened their positions around the front-line town of Avdiivka.

Ukrainian troops have managed to cling on to Avdiivka since the start of the invasion in February 2022. However, it is not far from the city of Donetsk, which was captured by pro-Russia separatists in 2014.

"Actions from the southern group of forces supported by aviation, artillery fire and heavy flamethrower systems, improved the situation along the front line in the vicinity of Avdiivka," Russia's Defense Ministry said.

Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed head of the occupied Donetsk region, also hailed "progress toward the capture of positions."

"We see trends that the enemy has been retreating... but it is a bit early to say that there is a full-scale withdrawal of the enemy from Avdiivka," Pushilin told state-run media.

Local Ukrainian officials confirmed to the AFP news agency that Russian forces had launched an artillery attack on the town and were fighting incessantly.

Four people were killed after a Russian missile hit a school in the Ukrainian town of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region on Wednesday, officials said.

Children were not among the dead, according to initial reports.

"As a result of the Russian strike, four people died: a 72-year-old man and three women aged 69, 67 and 60," Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on the Telegram messaging app.

He added that two of the victims were staff at the school.

Russian prosecutors have requested a fine of 250,000 rubles (€2,400; $2,000) for veteran human rights defender Oleg Orlov as he stood trial on Wednesday for denouncing the war in Ukraine.

Orlov, co-chair of the Nobel Prize-winning group Memorial, is being tried for an opinion piece in French news website Mediapart.

It was titled: "They wanted fascism, they got it."

Orlov has stood by his words in court and denied the "idiotic" charges.

The fine is a rare lighter form of punishment for speaking out against the Kremlin's military offensive. Other dissidents have been sent to prison.

"Where is it defined that our commander-in-chief [Russian President Vladimir Putin] always rightly understands not only the interests of Russia, but the interests of its citizens?" Orlov asked in his closing speech.

"And if the ideas of a part of Russia's citizens about their own interests don't match those of the commander-in-chief, don't they have the right to talk about this? But in that case, the president is no longer a president, but a spiritual and secular leader... Or are Russia's top officials now infallible, like the Pope?"

The US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has announced new military aid for Ukraine worth $200 million (€189 million).

The package takes Washington's total support for Kyiv to $43.9 billion and includes ammunition for air defenses, artillery and rocket ammunition, antitank weapons and equipment to counter Russian drones. 

Speaking at NATO's headquarters in Brussels, Austin said Washington would stand with Ukraine for "as long as it takes."

Austin spoke as he opened a meeting of the US-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which brings together around 50 countries from around the world interested in supporting Kyiv. 

The US defense secretary said the group's tasks were to ensure Ukraine's needs for the coming months were met and to "continue to develop Ukraine's combat capabilities to ward off future dangers."

The US decision to increase military support for Israel after a surprise assault by Hamas is unlikely to cause material shortages for Ukraine, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius says.

After a meeting of the parliamentary defense committee, Pistorius said Berlin would do "everything we can to ensure support for Ukraine does not crumble" given the recent escalation in the Middle East conflict.

Germany itself is set to ship air defense systems, missiles, tanks, and artillery ammunition to Ukraine as part of the latest $1 billion military aid package announced by Berlin on Tuesday.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told media ahead of a NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels that Russia would seek to use winter to its own ends in Ukraine by attacking energy infrastructure. 

"What we are seeing now is that President Putin is preparing once again to use winter as a weapon of war, meaning attacking the energy system, the gas infrastructure," said Stoltenberg. "We need to prevent that. And with more advanced and increased capabilities for air defense, we can make a big difference."

"Air defense is critical to protect the cities, the economy, the critical infrastructure of Ukraine and that helps them to help themselves, because then their economy can function, then things can work in Ukraine." 

During his visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for more support ahead of the upcoming winter.

In particular, he underlined the need for air defense systems.

"Dear friends, we must win the winter battle against terror," Zelenskyy said on arrival. 

"It's very important that there are priorities. There are air defense systems. These are not just basic words. These are very concrete things and we need them," he said.

"How to survive during this next winter for us is big," Zelenskyy said as he addressed the media ahead of his meeting with ministers. "We are preparing, we are ready. Now we need some support from the leaders. That's why I'm here today."

The Ukrainian leader also called for more ammunition and long-range missiles, which he described as essential.

Referring to the ongoing outbreak of violence in the Middle East, Zelenskyy urged Western leaders to visit Israel "to support people who've been under terroristic attacks, people who are dying now."

A UK-led coalition of European countries is set to provide Ukraine with a 100 million pound ($122.70 million, €115.80 million) package to support its armed forces.

The aid will include equipment to clear minefields.

Britain's Ministry of Defence on Wednesday said Ukraine was "now the most mined country on earth." 

That density of mining has become an obstacle for Ukraine in its counter-offensive this year, and it's thought mine-clearing capabilities might help Kyiv push forward.

The package uses money from the International Fund for Ukraine — a funding mechanism by a group of Northern European countries including Britain, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.

Belgium says it will send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from 2025. 

The country is replacing its F-16s with F-35 fighter jets and its Defense Ministry has said the F-16s are too old for Ukraine to use in battle. However, it is thought they might still be of use, for example in training pilots.

Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder made the announcement on Bel RTL radio.

However, he did not say how many jets would be sent to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived at NATO headquarters in Brussels for a meeting with alliance defense ministers aimed at mustering more support for Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion.

The United States is hosting a gathering of the Ukraine contact group to channel more weapons and ammunition to the country. 

It is expected that Kyiv will update the alliance on the types of weaponry that it most needs as the conflict draws into winter.

After the meeting, the 31 allies and Ukraine are set to take part in the first NATO-Ukraine Council at a defense-ministerial level. 

The forum was formally established in July to allow NATO and Kyiv to discuss matters of common interest and concern.

A number of allies are expected to announce that they will be sending additional weapons and other support to Ukraine.

"A visit to NATO headquarters that will be critical to our resilience this winter," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app.

It is Zelenskyy's first visit to NATO's headquarters since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The Ukrainian leader has also said he plans to hold talks with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

rc/sms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)