monies to fund Ukraine, as the war is now in its fourth punishing winter. During a high-level meeting on Wednesday with Ministry of Defence officials, Putin was quoted by state media as describing calls in the West to prepare for war with Russia as “hysteria and a lie”.

However, he emphasised that the Kremlin’s war goals will “undoubtedly” be achieved, adding that 300 territories were “liberated” over the past year. The Russian president repeated Moscow prefers to deal with what it calls the root causes of the conflict through diplomacy, but remains prepared to “achieve the liberation of its historical lands by military means” if the West refuses substantial talks.

The comments come a day before European Union leaders are to gather for a summit to see if they can agree on using some of the 210 billion euros ($246bn) in assets of the Russian central bank in Europe to advance Ukraine’s economic and military needs. “One thing is very, very clear,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers on Wednesday. “We have to take the decision to fund Ukraine for the next two years in this European Council.”  European Council President António Costa, who will chair the summit, has pledged to keep the leaders negotiating until an agreement is reached, even if it takes days. (Aljazeera)