Russia Ukraine war live: Children to be evacuated from Russian border as Kremlin limits Black Sea fleet movements

Defence secretary Lloyd Austin yesterday vowed that the US will continue to support Ukraine’s war effort against Russia, even as Congress remains stalled over funding to send additional weapons to the front.

“The United States will not let Ukraine fail,” said Mr Austin, addressing more than 50 defence leaders from Europe and around the world who are meeting at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. “This coalition will not let Ukraine fail. And the free world will not let Ukraine fail.”

The meeting comes a week after US defence officials found and used $300m in contract savings to fund a new package of military aid for Ukraine, pulling weapons from Pentagon stocks.

During the session, leaders from other nations promised new aid for Ukraine. German defence minister Boris Pistorius told reporters that Germany will provide ammunition and armoured and transport vehicles worth about $542m.

“We are helping Ukraine with what it needs most in its defence against Russian aggression,” Mr Pistorius said, adding that the aid includes 10,000 rounds of ammunition from the German Army, or Bundeswehr, stocks that would be delivered to Ukraine very soon, as well as 100 armoured vehicles for the infantry and 100 transport vehicles.

Asked whether he still sees the Americans as a reliable ally considering the ongoing delay in funding approval by Congress, Mr Pistorius said, “I have no doubt about the reliability of the Americans.”

Russian president Vladimir Putin will travel to China in May for talks with Xi Jinping, in what could be the Kremlin chief’s first overseas trip of his new presidential term.

While Western governments on Monday condemned Putin’s re-election as unfair and undemocratic, China, India and North Korea congratulated the veteran leader on extending his rule by a further six years.

“Putin will visit China,” one of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. The details were independently confirmed by four other sources, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, reported the wire agency.

Another of the sources said Mr Putin’s trip to China would probably take place in the second half of May. Two of the sources said his visit would come before Xi’s planned trip to Europe.

The Kremlin, when asked about the Reuters report, said information on Mr Putin’s visits would be released closer to the date.

“Several presidential visits and several high-level contacts are being prepared at the moment,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “We will inform you as we get closer.”

Watch again as US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made his opening remarks at the Ramstein US Air Base on Tuesday (19 March).

Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson has so far refused to call a vote on a bill that would provide $60 billion more for Ukraine and the White House has been scrambling to find ways to send assistance to Kyiv, which has been battling Russian forces for more than two years.

Askold Krushelnycky talks to soldiers on the front line around the city of Kupiansk as they face an increasingly intense assault by Russia, including glide bombs that can destroy bunkers. Kyiv’s forces are fortifying their defences with razor wire, trenches and metal ‘dragon’s teeth’ to ensnare any tanks that seek to break through

The European Union’s top diplomat says he’s pressing ahead with a plan to use the profits generated from billions of euros of Russian assets frozen in Europe to help provide weapons for Ukraine

The British Embassy in Ukraine has been forced to deny rumours that King Charles III has died after Kremlin-approved state media channels, some with millions of followers on social media, began spreading the fake news.

The first false claims appeared out of nowhere on the Telegram messenger service on Monday afternoon. A photoshopped image with the Buckingham Palace logo on the top read: “The following announcement is made by royal communications. The King passed away unexpectedly yesterday afternoon.”

Monday’s date was then posted on the bottom of the fake letter, which appears to have been modelled on the palace’s announcement of the late queen’s death that said: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.”

An orphan who became a posterchild for Moscow’s deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia said he was instructed by officials to recite pro-Kremlin talking points for television cameras and threatened with beatings.

Eighteen-year-old Denys Kostev is one of 4,000 orphans and children without parental care who have been unlawfully taken to Russian-controlled territory following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Reuters investigated the fates of Kostev and more than 50 other orphaned Ukrainians taken from the Ukrainian city of Kherson. Kostev emerged as a regular participant in a stream of pro-Russian videos filmed and shared widely online.

Donald Trump has falsely claimed that the US funds “90 to 100 per cent” of Nato as he suggested the US would defend fellow alliance members from attack – if they paid their bills.

Although the US does account for the majority of Nato defence spending, the figure is approximately 70 per cent. And when it comes to direct contributions – money provided by members to cover organisational costs – the US contributes 16 per cent of the total, the same as Germany.

On Tuesday morning, something remarkably unremarkable happened: The House and Senate Appropriations committees and congressional leadership announced they had crafted a deal to keep the government open for the rest of the fiscal year.

Congress had already passed six congressional spending bills earlier this month. But the final six were always going to be tougher to pass, specifically because of the fact that it would include funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which would give hard-right Republicans the ability to extract demands from the White House and a Democrat-controlled Senate.

US officials stressed Tuesday that newly-approved legislation providing billions of dollars in funding for three strategically important Pacific island nations is an important sign of American commitment, which comes amid warnings China is actively trying to pry them away from Washington’s sphere of influence.

The renewal of funds for the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau — known collectively as the Freely Associated States — had been held up for months by broader infighting in Congress over budgetary issues, even though they enjoyed widespread bipartisan support.