Ukraine-Russia war latest: Russia responds to Poland's claim it could host nuclear weapons

Ukraine has sidelined US Abrams M1A1 tanks - partly because Russian drones can detect them and launch attacks, two US military officials have said.

Washington agreed to send 31 Abrams to Ukraine in January 2023.

Kyiv spent months arguing that the armoured vehicles, worth about $10m each, were vital in targeting Russian positions.

Since then, however, Moscow has begun to use more surveillance drones and hunter-killer drones, making it more difficult for Ukraine to protect the tanks.

Five of the 31 Abrams have already been lost to Russian attacks. 

The proliferation of drones on the Ukrainian battlefield means there "isn't open ground that you can just drive across without fear of detection", a senior defence official told reporters.

For the moment, the tanks have been moved away from the front lines.

The US will work with the Ukrainians to reset tactics, said Admiral Christopher Grady, joint chiefs of staff vice chairman.

A Swiss parliamentary committee has backed a £4.4bn aid package for Ukraine.

It is part of a broader package of measures designed to improve Switzerland's domestic security.

A further £8.8bn has been approved for the Swiss army.

Parliament said the funding was both for Switzerland's security and for "peace in Europe".

The money for Ukraine will be used to help with reconstruction.

Switzerland has been under pressure from Western allies to do more to help Kyiv.

Right-wing nationalists in parliament, however, have pressed for the country to retain a strictly neutral stance, militarily.

Switzerland is due to host an international conference in the coming weeks which will look at how peace might be brought to Ukraine.

The United States is expected to announce about $6bn (£4.8bn) in military aid to Ukraine today.

The package is likely to include munitions for Patriot air defence systems, US officials said.

Also on the list will be counter-artillery radar, tactical vehicles, drones, counter-drone systems and artillery.

Funding will come through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which pays for longer-term contracts with the defence industry.

There could be a delay of months or even years before the weapons arrive.

However, another $1bn package of weapons and equipment approved by the White House earlier this week is likely to arrive in Ukraine quickly because those items - air defence munitions and large numbers of artillery rounds - are already in stock.

Both packages are possible now that a new $61bn (£49bn) programme of funding for Ukraine has been passed by Congress following a long delay. 

President Joe Biden signed it into law on Wednesday.

Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, will hold a virtual meeting of defence officials from Europe and the wider world later. 

Known as the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, it has been meeting monthly for the last two years.

Welcome back to our coverage of the Ukraine War. 

For a summary of yesterday's main events, please see the post below.

We are pausing our live coverage of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Today, Russia threatened to target NATO nuclear weapons and facilities if they were deployed in Poland.

Deputy foreign minister Sergey Ryabkov told the state-run TASS news agency that joint NATO nuclear missions near the Russian border would be considered a threat to its security.

"Let alone permanent deployment [that] hotheads in Warsaw are speaking about," he adds.

It followed Poland's president saying this week that "we are ready" to host the nuclear weapons of NATO allies in response to Russia moving its own to neighbouring Belarus.

Ukraine fires US missiles for first time

Meanwhile, Sky's partner network NBC News reports that Ukraine has already used long-range ballistic missiles from the US against Russia twice this month.

The Army Tactical Missile System - dubbed ATACMS – was used twice against Russian forces in occupied Crimea and Ukraine.

But Russia's US ambassador Anatoly Antonov said the transfer of ATACMS was "impossible to justify," and added: "Aren't local politicians afraid of drowning in the quagmire of conflict?

"Washington will not be able to get out of the horrible swamp that has absorbed the blood of ordinary soldiers."

Belarus calls for peace

Belarus' Aleksandr Lukashenko said conditions for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are "ripe," but warned the risk of military incidents with Kyiv was "quite high".

He claimed that about 120,000 Ukrainian servicemen are stationed on the border between Ukraine and Belarus.

His comments came hours before Belarus claimed - without evidence - that it stopped an attack on Minsk by drones that were launched from Lithuania.

Zelenskyy meets Hunt

And the UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv today, days after the UK approved £500m in aid.

Russia says it could downgrade its relations with the US, UK and other Western countries if its frozen assets are confiscated.

Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia would retaliate if plans to use $300bn in assets frozen since 2022 are put into action.

"Lowering the level of diplomatic relations is one of the options, of course", he said according to state news agency RIA.

"Many high-ranking representatives in our government have already spoken about the issues of our financial, economic and material response to this step [confiscation], which we are warning our opponents, as before, not to take.

"We are now studying the optimal form of reaction, where countermeasures include actions against the assets of our Western opponents as well as diplomatic response measures."

The Kremlin previously called the current state of its US ties as "below zero", but no formal downgrade of relations has occurred since the Ukraine war began.

Belarus claims it stopped an attack on Minsk by drones that were launched from Lithuania. 

According to RIA news agency Ivan Tertel, the head of Belarus' security service, said it had carried out "a number of acute security measures" which allowed it to shoot down the drones. 

He provided no evidence for the claims. Lithuania's army says it had not taken any hostile action against other states. 

By Sean Bell, Sky News military analyst 

Poland's president Duda advised earlier this week that Poland would be prepared to host NATO nuclear weapons if required to strengthen the security of NATO's eastern flank following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Poland has historically been vulnerable to European wars, and has increased its defence budget dramatically in response to Russian aggression on the continent.

Russia's deputy foreign minister responded in typically combative manner by stating that any NATO nuclear capability deployed into Poland would be targeted.

However, Russia's threatening rhetoric needs to be placed in to context.

Russia's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine has raised the prospect of a wider European conflict and threatened European security. 

The NATO alliance provides strength in numbers, and Poland's number one priority will be the protection of its people. 

Had Ukraine not relinquished its nuclear weapons in return for guarantees of its territorial integrity - signed by Russia and USA - under the terms of the Budapest Memo in 1994, would Russia have invaded?

Although modern nuclear weapon delivery systems do not need to be placed close to their intended targets - they can be fired thousands of miles - their forward deployment sends a powerful political message. 

President Putin announced his intention to forward deploy nuclear weapons into Belarus in June 2023, and that process was completed last month. 

This provocative initiative was deliberately designed to deter the West from increasing its support for Ukraine.

So, Russia's entirely predictable response to the news that NATO might do the same by forward deploying nuclear weapons into Poland lacks a degree of credibility. 

Russia knows that if the West was to commit fully to Ukraine's defence, Russia would be unable to achieve its strategic objectives.

Russian threatening rhetoric has - to date - tempered Western enthusiasm for engaging further, and we can expect more of the same over the coming weeks as Russia pursues its "Special Military Operation" in Ukraine.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says the conditions are "ripe" for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia as both sides are at a stalemate.

According to Russian state-run news agency TASS, Putin-ally Mr Lukashenko pointed to preliminary talks held in 2022 between Russia and Ukraine as a starting point for negotiations.

Despite this, he also said the risk of military incidents with Kyiv was "quite high", and claimed that around 120,000 Ukrainian servicemen are stationed on the border between the two countries.

He also said "several dozen" Russian tactical nuclear weapons had been deployed in Belarus, as part of an agreement signed last year with Vladimir Putin.

Earlier today, Russia's deputy foreign minister said Russia would target NATO nuclear weapons if they were stationed in Poland.

Poland's defence minister has said the country is ready to help military-aged Ukrainian men get ready to go back to fight Russia.

Kyiv said yesterday that men aged between 18 and 60 will not be able to apply for or renew their passports while living abroad. (see previous post)

Speaking to Polsat News television, minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said Poland is prepared to help send Ukrainian men subject to military service back to Kyiv, without sharing details on how.

"I think many Poles are outraged when they see young Ukrainian men in hotels and cafes, and they hear how much effort we have to make to help Ukraine," he added.

Nearly one million Ukrainian refugees have relocated to Poland since Russia started the war in February 2024.