Europe

17 Jan 2023; MEMO: Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed issues related to Ukraine and Syria with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a phone call on Monday, the Kremlin has reported.

Putin is said to have criticised the "destructive" policies of the regime in Kyiv "which relies on the intensification of hostilities with the support of Western sponsors increasing the volume of weapons and military equipment being transferred to Ukraine."

17 Jan 2023; MEMO: Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar met his British counterpart Ben Wallace in London on Monday. The two officials discussed regional defence and security issues as well as bilateral cooperation in the defence industry.

Akar is visiting London at Wallace's official invitation. Prior to the meeting at the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall, Akar visited the Turkish Embassy.

BERLIN, January 16. /TASS/: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has accepted Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht’s resignation, Deputy Government Spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said at a briefing on Monday.

"The chancellor respects Lambrecht’s decision and is grateful to her for the great job she did in this complicated and challenging time. The chancellor will soon present his proposal to the president on a potential successor," Hoffmann noted.

When asked if Scholz had accepted the minister's resignation, she answered in the affirmative.

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/: Russian forces destroyed two US-made counter-battery radars in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Monday.

"In the counter-battery warfare, two US-made counter-battery radar stations were destroyed: an AN/TPQ-37 near the locality of Karmazinovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic and an AN/TPQ-50 near the community of Avdeyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

BERLIN, January 16. /TASS/: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz thanked outgoing Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht for her work and pledged that he would not drag out the search for a successor.

"I already have a clear idea of what will happen next [in the context of the search for a new minister], we will announce this in due time," the chancellor said in the city of Ulm on Monday, quoted by the NTV TV channel. According to Scholz, this will happen "very quickly."

LONDON, January 16./TASS/:  British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced on Monday that the UK would supply Ukraine with Bulldog personnel carriers, as well as additional drones and Starstreak air defense systems as part of the military aid package.

BELGRAD, January 16. /TASS/: Attacks on Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija are unacceptable, and the UN should promptly react to them, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said as he met with Caroline Ziadeh, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo and head of the UN Mission in Kosovo, on Monday.

"We consider the increasingly frequent attacks on Serbs, their property and heritage inadmissible, so a timely reaction, as well as condemnation of provocations by the international community, is very important," Vucic's press service quoted the president as saying.

MOSCOW, Jan 16 (NNN-TASS) – Britain’s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, James Cleverly, is among 36 British citizens that have been recently barred from entering Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

BERLIN, Jan 16 (Reuters) - German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht resigned from Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government on Monday, the culmination of growing doubt about her ability to revive Germany's armed forces against the backdrop of the Ukraine war.

Her decision dealt a blow to Scholz at a time when Germany is under pressure to approve an increase in international military support for Kyiv, and Germany's defence capabilities have been called into question after several Puma infantry tanks were put out of service during a recent military drill.

MOSCOW, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that tanks Britain plans to send to Ukraine "will burn", warning the West that supplying a new round of more advanced weapons to Ukraine would not change the outcome of the war.

Since President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, the United States and its allies have given tens of billions of dollars' worth of weaponry including rocket systems, drones, armoured vehicles and communications systems.