Russia-Ukraine war Live | Russia says nuclear arms treaty with US may end after 2026

Germany's Defense Minister on Monday visited the nation's Armed Forces' Operations Command to inform himself about the Bundeswehr's foreign missions.

Boris Pistorius was welcomed to the Henning von Tresckow Barracks in Schwielowsee near Potsdam by Commander Lieutenant General Bernd Schuett.

Pistorius gained an overview of the Bundeswehr's Operations Command and spoke in video conferences with servicemen and women on selected foreign deployments and missions.

The defense minister would not comment on an ongoing debate over a possible delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine.

Considerations about whether the Bundeswehr would have any aircraft to hand over were "hypothetical questions" to which he would not respond, Pistorius said.

"And by the way, as far as I know, the chancellor has said everything that needs to be said about this," Pistorius added.
 

France and Australia will supply Ukraine with 155mm shells needed for artillery pieces provided by the West since Russia's invasion, defence ministers Sebastien Lecornu and Richard Marles said Monday.

"Several thousand 155mm shells will be manufactured jointly," France's Lecornu said, while Marles said the "multi-million-dollar project" fit into "the ongoing level of support both France and Australia are providing Ukraine to make sure Ukraine is able to stay in this conflict and... see it concluded on its own terms".

New US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy on Monday gave copies of her diplomatic credentials to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and was told that she was expected to closely follow Russian law and not meddle in the country’s domestic affairs, the ministry said in a statement following the meeting.

"It has been stressed that the Russian side expects that the ambassador, as she goes about her activities, will closely follow the requirements of Russian law, respect our norms and customs, adhere to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of the host country," the statement said.

The ministry also said that "in the course of the conversation about some pressing issues of bilateral relations, which have been sharply exacerbated through the fault of Washington, the head of the US diplomatic mission was told the current confrontational policy by the US is counterproductive and has potential for serious negative consequences."
 

Russia’s deputy foreign minister said in an interview published on Monday that it was “quite possible” the New START nuclear arms control treaty with the United States would end after 2026.

“This is quite a possible scenario,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the RIA news agency in an interview.

U.S.-Russia talks on resuming inspections under the New START treaty, which expires in February 2026, were called off at the last minute in November 2022. Neither side has agreed on a time frame for new talks.
 

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has compared the possibility of Russia athletes competing at the Paris 2024 Olympics with German hosting the 1936 games and once more called for them to be banned from the competition.

Last week Ukraine's sports minister Vadim Guttsait said Ukraine would not rule out boycotting the Games if Russian and Belarusian athletes took part. They have been banned in some sports while they are allowed to compete under a neutral flag in others.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), eager to see them back in major competitions, said on Wednesday the Olympic Council of Asia had offered Russian and Belarusian athletes the chance to compete in Asia, giving them a qualification pathway for the Paris Olympics.