Ukraine updates: Biden announces new military aid for Kyiv

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto blamed the European Union's executive arm for a blockage of oil supplies to Eastern Europe from Russia via Ukraine.

In June, Kyiv added Russian oil producer Lukoil to Ukraine's sanctions list, preventing the company from delivering oil to refineries in Slovakia and Hungary. Both of the EU members still rely on supplies from Russia through the Druzhba pipeline.

On Friday, the European Commission turned down a request from Slovakia and Hungary to mediate with Kyiv over the sanctions, saying there were no indications the measure had endangered European energy supplies.

"The fact that the European Commission declared that it was unwilling to help to secure the energy supply of Hungary and Slovakia suggests that the order was sent from Brussels to Kyiv to cause challenges and problems in the energy supply of Hungary and Slovakia," Szijjarto said.

A European Commission spokesperson declined to comment on Szijjarto's remarks.

Both Slovakia and Hungary have opposed Western allies' military aid to Ukraine as it fights Russia's full-scale invasion.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is regularly at odds with Brussels, most recently over its refusal to accept asylum seekers under an EU scheme to distribute people seeking refuge in Europe among the member states.

After the EU ordered Budapest to pay €200 million ($224 million) in fines until it brings its policy into line,  a spokesman for Orban said Hungary would pay one-way tickets for migrants and asylum seekers to Brussels.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he briefed Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the need for more air defense support and armored vehicles for the fightback against Russia's invasion.

The pair spoke by phone on Saturday, nearly three weeks into the incursion by Kyiv's forces into Russia's western Kursk region.

Zelenskyy wrote on social media that the two leaders also discussed further defense funding to Ukraine.

Germany has been the second largest contributor of aid to Ukraine after the United States. But in 2025, the EU nation plans to halve the budget for its commitment to the war-torn country to €4 billion ($4.48 billion).

Scholz reaffirmed Berlin's "continued and unwavering solidarity" with Ukraine, despite the budget cut, according to a readout of the phone call published by the chancellor's office.

The readout said Zelenskyy thanked Germany "for its ongoing military support, particularly in the field of air defense."

Russia would "highly likely" see any future presence of European Union military trainers in Ukraine as a "provocation," according to a EU report.

The document was obtained by Germany's Welt Am Sonntag newspaper.

The EU's European External Action Service (EEAS) — responsible for the bloc's foreign relations and security — stopped short of recommending that EU states send trainers to the war-torn country, but did point out the advantages and risks of doing so.

"Ukraine's structural disadvantage compared to Russia in terms of personnel numbers makes high-quality training and equipment very important for Ukraine's military response," the review document said.

"The deployment [of EU soldiers] could be limited to instructors who are based in Ukrainian training centers, far away from the battlefield," the EEAS report mooted, adding that other training could be carried out in neighboring countries.

The review also warned that any deployment of EU troops "could be seen by Russia as [being] actively involved in the conflict and therefore trigger unpredictable kinetic reactions."

They could include drone and missile attacks from the Sea of ​​Azov, Russia and Belarus, but also the explosion of grenades, sabotage and cyber attacks. EEAS called for "robust evacuation plans" if EU trainers were targeted.

EU states have trained around 60,000 Ukraine troops, mostly in Poland and Germany, under the EUMAM mission, launched in November 2022.

Once the current mandate runs out in mid-November, a two-year extension is likely.

Ukraine asked the EU in May to conduct some military training on its territory. While France supports the plan, Germany is reluctant, for fear of being dragged into the conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed several pieces of legislation aimed at severing more ties with Russia into law, including one banning the Russian-linked Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

"[The] Ukrainian Orthodox [Church] today is taking a step towards liberation from Moscow's devils," Zelenskyy said during an address to mark Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union.

Kyiv has been trying to distance itself from the Russian church since 2014 and those efforts have increased since Russia's full-scale invasion unfolded.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church officially broke away from the Russian patriarchy after the war began, but many of its clerics have been accused of staying loyal to Moscow.

Zelenskyy also signed a law ratifying the Rome Statute, a move that will allow Ukraine to join the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Based in The Hague, the ICC has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and ex-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, as well as other Russian officials, over alleged crimes against Ukrainian civilians, which Moscow denies.

Ukraine has previously recognized the ICC's jurisdiction, A full membership of the court is a key part of its hopes to eventually join the European Union.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked his country's Independence Day with a warning to the Kremlin that Russia could not "dictate red lines" to Kyiv over the two-and-a-half-year conflict.

"The sick old man of Red Square, who is constantly threatening with his red button, will not dictate red lines to us," Zelenskyy said in a speech to the nation, referencing Russian President Vladimir Putin's previous threat to possibly use nuclear weapons.

"Russia was seeking one thing: to destroy us... Instead, today we celebrate the 33rd Independence Day of Ukraine and what the enemy brought to our land has now returned to its home."

The Ukrainian leader's address was recorded in the region around Sumy in the country's northeast, from where Kyiv's forces staged an incursion into Russia's western Kursk region on August 6.

Zelenskyy added that Russia would soon "know what retribution is," and vowed that Kyiv would not allow its territory to be turned into a buffer zone.

He said Putin should instead take care that his own country did not become a "buffer federation."

Zelenskyy previously said Ukraine entered Kursk to create a "buffer zone" to prevent cross-border attacks by Moscow’s forces and to force the Kremlin into a "fair" peace deal.

Ukraine said it had attacked a Russian ammunition depot in the southern Russian region of Voronezh. 

"On August 24, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) servicemen successfully struck a field ammunition depot located near Ostrogozk, Voronezh region of Russia," Ukraine's military intelligence agency said.

Kyiv said the warehouse stored some 5,000 tons of ammunition.

News outlet Astra published videos showing several explosions after the depot was hit by a drone. The footage cannot be independently verified.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it had shot down seven drones overnight, including five in Voronezh.

Russia and Ukraine have each exchanged 115 prisoners of war (POWs) in the first deal since Kyiv's forces launched a surprise attack into Russia's western Kursk region nearly three weeks ago.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Russian servicemen swapped were captured in the Kursk region and have been taken to Belarus for medical check-ups before heading home.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a picture on social media with Ukrainian POWs wrapped in the country's blue and yellow flags and hugging each other.

He said that the exchanged servicemen were from the border guards, the National Guard, Navy and
the armed forces.

The United Arab Emirates brokered the deal — the seventh that the Gulf nation has negotiated since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

The UAE foreign ministry said that the total number of captives swapped through its mediation efforts now stood at 1,788.

The exchange also took place on Ukraine's Independence Day. 

US President Joe Biden spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, announcing a new military aid package ahead of Ukraine's Independence Day on Saturday.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who also spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov on Friday, said on social media the package was worth $125 million (€112 million).

In the call with Zelenskyy, Biden reaffirmed Washington's support, which the White House called "unwavering", for Ukraine in its war with Russia. 

The aid package includes air-defense missiles, counter-drone equipment, anti-armor missiles and ammunition, the White House said in its statement.

According to the US State Department, Washington has provided more than $55 billion in military assistance to Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

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