Latest Developments in Ukraine: Jan. 20

For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in Russia’s war on Ukraine. All times EST. 3:11 a.m.: Russian energy giant Gazprom will ship 25.1 million cubic meters of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Thursday, Reuters reported, citing Gazprom on Thursday. Russian gas exports to Europe via pipelines plummeted to a post-Soviet low in 2022 as deliveries to its largest customer plunged because of the conflict in Ukraine and suspected sabotage that damaged a major pipeline. Gazprom had reduced flows to 32.6 mcm via the Sudzha metering point on Tuesday, down almost 8% from the previous several days. The company had shipped gas via Ukraine at between 35.4 mcm and 35.5 mcm over Jan. 6-16, having exported more than 40 mcm per day for most of the second half of last year and the first three days of 2023. Ukraine's state gas transit company said that Russian gas nominations, or requests from customers, were seen at 35.2 mcm via the Sudzha metering point Friday, signaling a possible partial recovery in supplies. 2:10 a.m.: The head of U.S. asset management firm BlackRock said Thursday that Western investors will be "flooding" Ukraine postwar and the country could become "a beacon to the rest of the world of the power of capitalism," Agence France-Presse reported. Larry Fink, one of the world's most influential investors, told a Ukraine-themed event in Davos that he estimated the country would need $750 billion in reconstruction funds and aid "if the war stopped relatively soon." "I do believe, emotionally, those who truly believe in a capitalistic system will be flooding Ukraine with capital," Fink added. "And I'm not talking about philanthropy. There's going to be a lot of philanthropy. I'm truly talking about if we can rebuild Ukraine, it can be a beacon to the rest of the world of the power of capitalism," he said. He said he had spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to express his firm's interest in taking part in reconstruction efforts. Ukraine's reconstruction needs were estimated at $349 billion by the World Bank in September, but a bank official has said the figure will be revised up this year. 1 a.m.: The Joint Coordination Center reports that four vessels left Ukrainian ports Thursday carrying a total of 229,749 metric tons of grain and other food products under the Black Sea Grain Initiative. And four more transited through the maritime humanitarian corridor under the Black Sea Grain Initiative heading toward the Ukrainian ports of Yuzhny, Odesa, and Chornomorsk. Currently, 38 vessels are waiting for inspection: 10 of them waiting to move into Ukrainian ports and 28 loaded with cargo waiting to sail to their global destinations. 12:02 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy said his government was expecting "strong decisions" from defense leaders of NATO and other countries meeting on Friday to discuss boosting Ukraine's ability to confront Russian forces with modern battle tanks, Reuters reported. The meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany is where future weapons supplies will be discussed, particularly of Germany's Leopard 2 tanks used by armies across Europe. Berlin has veto power over any decision to export the tanks, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government has appeared reluctant so far to authorize that for fear of provoking Russia. Some allies say Berlin's concern is misplaced, with Russia fully committed to war, while Moscow has repeatedly said Western weapons transfers would prolong the conflict and increase suffering in Ukraine. Ukraine and Russia have both relied primarily on Soviet-era T-72 tanks, which have been destroyed in their hundreds during the war that Russian President Vladimir Putin started last Feb. 24. Some information in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

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