Ukraine updates: UN seeks $4.2 billion for humanitarian aid

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Swiss counterpart Viola Amherd on Monday said they would be organizing a high-level peace summit.

"At the request of the Ukrainian president, Switzerland has agreed to host a summit on the peace formula," the Swiss government said. "Further details are now being worked out."

Zelesnkyy said that Switzerland was providing Ukraine with "not only humanitarian aid but also long-term financial assistance, political support, and sanctions. Today, we discussed a new long-term support program."

Zelenskyy thanked Amherd in a post on X, formerly Twitter, "for agreeing that our teams will begin joint work tomorrow on preparations for the Global Peace Summit at the level of leaders in Switzerland." 

Zelenskyy did not provide a detailed list of the participants of the planned peace summit but appeared to hint who he wanted to attend.

"We are open to all countries that respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity at the peace summit, so draw conclusions about who we invite," Zelenskyy said.

"We would like the Global South to be present ... it is important for us to show that the whole world is against Russia's aggression, and the whole world is for a just peace."

Zelenskyy is visiting Switzerland looking to secure stable support from allies as the war against Russia approaches its second anniversary.

Hundreds of Romanian farmers and truck drivers protested in major cities and near border crossings with Ukraine over numerous complaints including an influx of Ukrainian grain.

Farmers said that high diesel prices, expensive insurance rates and the pressures of cheaper Ukrainian grain imports were damaging their livelihoods.

Trucks and tractors lined the streets leading to Siret and Vicovu de Sus checkpoints on the Ukrainian border. But the Romanian border police said customs formalities were still being processed and completed.

Farmers and truckers are demanding a moratorium on loan repayments, quicker subsidy payments and separate queues for trucks from outside the EU bloc, including Ukraine.

Romania's Constanta port has emerged as a key grain route after Moscow blocked Ukraine's Black Sea ports.

The port shipped 36 million metric tons of grain last year, up 50% from the previous year. Ukrainian grain accounted for roughly 40% of the total, or 14 million tons. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in Switzerland where he is set to join the World Economic Forum in Davos and meet Swiss officials.

"In Bern, I will hold talks with the heads of both chambers of the parliament, heads of the parties and factions, and President Viola Amherd," Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messenging platform.

Top foreign policy advisers from Western countries and Ukraine met in Davos on Sunday to discuss ways to push forward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's peace formula aimed at ending Russia's war on his country.

Zelensky's 10-point plan, which was first presented in late 2022, stipulates the withdrawal of all Russian forces from occupied parts of Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula, the prosecution of Russian war crimes, security guarantees, and reparations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning a visit to neighboring North Korea after an invitation from Pyongyang. 

Moscow turned to the internationally isolated country for support after the West cut ties with Moscow following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

"We hope that the visit goes through and that the Russian president will visit in the foreseeable future," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Russia last year when he and Puitin are believed to have discussed arms deliveries by Pyongyang to Moscow.

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui is currently on a three-day trip to Moscow, where she was scheduled to have talks with her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. Peskov said it was also possible that she might meet Putin.

Some 50 countries recently condemned North Korea's delivery of missiles to Russia and their deployment against Ukraine. 

Moscow said on Monday it has sentenced over 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war for "murder" and "mistreating prisoners."

The defendants received lengthy sentences, some amounting to life in prison. 

"More than 200 Ukrainian military personnel have been sentenced to long prison sentences for committing murder of civilians and mistreating prisoners [of war]," Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia's Investigative Committee, told state news outlet RIA Novosti.

Moscow, which is believed to hold thousands of Ukrainian captive soldiers, will "continue" its efforts to prosecute Ukrainian military staff, Bastrykin said, including "high level officials."

He did not specify whether the soldiers were sentenced in Russia or in Moscow-occupied areas of Ukraine, but state-run outlet RT reported that 242 soldiers were sentenced in occupied Ukraine.

Ukraine said on Monday it shot down two Russian military command aircrafts over the Azov Sea.

Describing it as a "successful" mission against Russia's forces, the Air Force said it downed a Russian A-50 spy plane and II-22 command aircraft.

"I am grateful to the Air Force for the perfectly planned and executed operation in the Azov Sea region!" military chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said on the Telegram messaging app.

There has been no official confirmation from Moscow.

According to the media reports, the A-50 disappeared from the radar after being hit over the south-eastern Ukrainian region of
Zaporizhzhya. 

The Il-22M11 - a modernized version of the Il-22M - is said to have been hit over the Sea of Azov and made an emergency landing in the southern Russian city of Anapa.

There was no immediate official comment from Moscow.

The United Nations needs $4.2 billion (approximately €3.84 billion) to provide humanitarian aid to millions of Ukrainians.

The UN is hoping to reach some 8.5 million within Ukraine and 2.3 million who have fled to eastern Europe.

"A recent wave of attacks underscores the devastating civilian cost of the war, while a bitter winter is ratcheting up the urgent need for life-saving humanitarian aid," the the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the UN refugee agency said in a joint-statement.

About three-quarters of the total, $3.1 billion, is meant to support some 8.5 million people inside Ukraine. The remaining $1.1 billion is
sought for refugees and host communities outside Ukraine.

Some 40% of Ukraine's population, roughly 14.6 million people, will be in need of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine this year, the UN said.

"Hundreds of thousands of children live in communities on the front lines of the war, terrified, traumatized and deprived of their basic
needs. That fact alone should compel us to do everything we can to bring more humanitarian assistance to Ukraine," Martin
Griffiths, the UN's humanitarian chief said. 

Russia's air defense intercepted three Ukrainian missiles over the Russian Kursk region near the border with Ukraine. This was announced by the governor of Kursk, Roman Starovoit, on Telegram. There was no immediate word on casualties or damage.

In recent months, Russian regions on the border with Ukraine have been hit by heavy shelling. The casualties and damage on the Russian side bear no comparison to the extent of the casualties and destruction caused by Russia in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will travel to Switzerland on Monday, as Ukraine tries to secure stable support from allies as the war against Russia approaches its second anniversary.

Zelenskyy is due to "meet the heads of both houses of parliament, party leaders and the President of Switzerland, participate in the World Economic Forum" in Davos, said a statement from the presidency.

The announcement came hours after France and Germany reaffirmed their support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

"We are in full agreement... that we must support the Ukrainians for as long as necessary," French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne told journalists in Berlin, alongside German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

On Sunday, national security advisors from over 80 countries held talks there based on Zelenskyy's 10-point proposals for a lasting and just peace in Ukraine.

The conflicts in Ukraine and in Gaza look set to dominate the annual Davos forum in the Swiss Alps, with Ukrainian officials trying to stave off war fatigue among allies.

dh/wd (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)