Europe

Ukraine Jan 16 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the West on Tuesday to tighten sanctions pressure on Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and to step up its support for Kyiv to ensure that Moscow did not succeed in its war.

Western hesitation in its backing for Kyiv and fears of an escalation in the war with Russia were costing time and lives, and could prolong the fighting by years, he told the World Economic Forum in Davos in an emotional speech.

MOSCOW, Jan 16 (Reuters) - A court on Tuesday sentenced a former senior officer in the National Guard to six years in a prison colony after convicting him of buying equipment unable to protect the bridge which links southern Russia to Crimea, the TASS state news agency reported.

TASS said that Colonel Sergei Volkov had purchased two radar-based air defence systems for 395 million roubles ($4.5 million) which were meant to be able to bring down Ukrainian attack drones by suppressing their signal.

LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defeated an initial right-wing rebellion in his party on Tuesday over legislation to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, refusing to cede ground in a battle that prompted two of his vocal supporters to resign.

The resignations of two Conservative vice-chairmen underlined the deep divisions in Sunak's governing party over legislation he believes is crucial in turning round his party's popularity before an election this year.

DAVOS, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Tuesday the kingdom could recognise Israel if a comprehensive agreement were reached that included statehood for the Palestinians, ambitious talk as the war between Israel and Hamas shows no sign of easing.

"We agree that regional peace includes peace for Israel, but that could only happen through peace for the Palestinians through a Palestinian state," Prince Faisal bin Farhan told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

MOSCOW, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Ukraine's statehood could suffer an "irreparable blow" if the pattern of the war continued, and Russia would never be forced to abandon the gains it had made.

Putin made his televised comments a day after Switzerland agreed to host a global summit at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Putin dismissed "so-called peace formulas" being discussed in the West and Ukraine and what he called the "prohibitive demands" they entailed.

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Police in Estonia arrested a Russian professor teaching at the Baltic country’s most prestigious university on suspicions of spying for Moscow, officials said Tuesday.

Estonian Internal Security Service, or security police, said it launched an investigation into Vyacheslav Morozov, a Russian national and professor of international politics at the University of Tartu, for his alleged involvement in intelligence activity meant to undermine the country’s national security.

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces rebellion from senior lawmakers in his Conservative Party over his stalled plan to send asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda, a controversial and expensive policy that the British leader has made central to his attempt to win an election this year.

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came out swinging Tuesday against Russian leader Vladimir Putin at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos and even had a harsh tone for his allies as war fatigue grows, pressing political and corporate leaders to enforce sanctions, help rebuild his country and advance the peace process.

ABOARD A FRENCH AIR FORCE AWACS (AP) — Off in the distance, Ukraine, fighting for its survival. Seen from up here, in the cockpit of a French air force surveillance plane flying over neighboring Romania, the snow-dusted landscapes look deceptively peaceful.

The dead from Russia’s war, the shattered Ukrainian towns and mangled battlefields, aren’t visible to the naked eye through the clouds.

BERN, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Switzerland on Monday agreed to host a global peace summit on Ukraine at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Neutral Switzerland has previously acted as a broker to resolve conflicts and could now help find a resolution for the war that began when Russia sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

"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."