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Kremlin Says Any New Longer-Range US Rockets Will Escalate Ukraine Conflict

This photograph taken on January 31, 2023, shows a destroyed building in Bogoyavlenka (alternatively spelled Bohoyavlenka) on January 31, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
This photograph taken on January 31, 2023, shows a destroyed building in Bogoyavlenka (alternatively spelled Bohoyavlenka) on January 31, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
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Kremlin Says Any New Longer-Range US Rockets Will Escalate Ukraine Conflict

This photograph taken on January 31, 2023, shows a destroyed building in Bogoyavlenka (alternatively spelled Bohoyavlenka) on January 31, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
This photograph taken on January 31, 2023, shows a destroyed building in Bogoyavlenka (alternatively spelled Bohoyavlenka) on January 31, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that longer-range rockets reportedly included in an upcoming package of military aid from the United States to Ukraine would escalate the conflict but not change its course.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told reporters that there were no plans for Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold talks with US President Joe Biden.

The US package of military aid, worth $2.2 billion, is expected to include longer-range rockets for the first time, two US officials briefed on the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

Such rockets would allow Ukraine - which has said it plans to retake all of its territory by force, including annexed Crimea - to strike deeper into Russian-held territory.

Asked about the new aid package, the Kremlin's Peskov said:

"Yes, this is a direct way to escalate tensions, to increase the level of escalation, we can see that. It requires us to make additional efforts, but - once again - it will not change the course of events. The special military operation will continue."

Putin sent tens of thousands of Russian troops into Ukraine in February last year. He has said the operation was needed to protect Russia's own security and to stand up to what he has described as Western efforts to contain and weaken Moscow.

Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of waging an illegal war designed to expand its territory.

‘Bounty payments’

The Kremlin also welcomed a Russian company's offer of "bounty payments" for soldiers who destroy Western-made tanks on the battlefield in Ukraine, saying it would spur Russian forces to victory.

The Russian company Fores this week offered 5 million roubles ($72,000) in cash to the first soldiers who destroy or capture US-made Abrams or German Leopard 2 tanks in Ukraine.

Peskov said Russian troops would "burn" any Western tanks that were delivered to Ukraine, adding the bounties were extra encouragement for Russian soldiers.

"This testifies to the unity and the desire of everybody to contribute as best they can, one way or another, directly or indirectly, to achieving the goals of the special military operation," he added.

"As for these tanks, we have already said they will burn. With such incentives, I think there will be even more enthusiasts."

The Western-made tanks - far more advanced than anything used by Ukraine or Russia in the conflict so far - are unlikely to arrive at the frontlines in eastern and southern Ukraine for several months.

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World

Danish Leader Says Her Country Can't Negotiate on Sovereignty and She's Told that Wasn't the Case

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks at a press conference along with Chairman of Naalakkersuisut, Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen as they make a statement about the current situation, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Prime Minister's Office in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 13, 2026. Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks at a press conference along with Chairman of Naalakkersuisut, Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen as they make a statement about the current situation, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Prime Minister's Office in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 13, 2026. Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS
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Danish Leader Says Her Country Can't Negotiate on Sovereignty and She's Told that Wasn't the Case

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks at a press conference along with Chairman of Naalakkersuisut, Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen as they make a statement about the current situation, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Prime Minister's Office in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 13, 2026. Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks at a press conference along with Chairman of Naalakkersuisut, Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen as they make a statement about the current situation, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Prime Minister's Office in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 13, 2026. Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS

Denmark’s prime minister insisted that her country can’t negotiate on its sovereignty on Thursday after US President Donald Trump said he agreed a “framework of a future deal” on Arctic security with the head of NATO, and she has been “informed that this has not been the case.”

Trump on Wednesday abruptly scrapped the tariffs he had threatened to impose on eight European nations to press for US control over Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. It was a dramatic reversal shortly after he insisted he wanted to get the island “including right, title and ownership.”

He said “additional discussions” on Greenland were being held concerning the Golden Dome missile defense program, a multilayered, $175 billion system that for the first time will put US weapons in space. Trump offered few details, saying they were still being worked out, The Associated Press reported.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement that security in the Arctic is a matter for all of NATO, and it is “good and natural” that it be discussed between the US president and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. She said that she had spoken with Rutte “on an ongoing basis,” including before and after he met Trump in Davos.

She wrote that NATO is fully aware of Denmark's position that anything political can be negotiated on, including security, investment and economic issues — “but we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty.”

“I have been informed that this has not been the case,” she said, adding that only Denmark and Greenland can make decisions on issues concerning Denmark and Greenland.

Frederiksen said that Denmark wants to continue engaging in constructive dialogue with allies on how to strengthen security in the Arctic, including the US Golden Dome program, “provided that this is done with respect for our territorial integrity.”

World

US Envoy Witkoff Says Ukraine Peace Talks Down to One Issue

FILE PHOTO: US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a press conference upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, during the so-called 'Coalition of the Willing' summit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, January 6, 2026. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a press conference upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, during the so-called 'Coalition of the Willing' summit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, January 6, 2026. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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US Envoy Witkoff Says Ukraine Peace Talks Down to One Issue

FILE PHOTO: US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a press conference upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, during the so-called 'Coalition of the Willing' summit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, January 6, 2026. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a press conference upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, during the so-called 'Coalition of the Willing' summit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, January 6, 2026. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

US envoy Steve Witkoff on Thursday said "a lot of progress" had been made in Ukraine peace talks and that negotiations were down to one last issue.

The United States has held talks with Russia, and separately with Kyiv and European leaders, on various different drafts of a ‌plan for ‌ending the war ‌in ⁠Ukraine, but ‌no deal has yet been reached despite Trump's repeated promises to clinch one, Reuters said.

"If both sides want to solve this, we're going to get it solved," Witkoff told an audience at the World Economic Forum ⁠in Davos.

"I think we've made a lot of progress", ‌he added.

US President Donald ‍Trump a day ‍earlier told the Davos forum that ‍the leaders of Russia and Ukraine would be "stupid" if they failed to come together and get a deal done.

Witkoff said he was headed to Moscow later in the day. He spoke in an ⁠impromptu appearance a breakfast meeting on the future of Ukraine, with panelists including NATO Secretary Mark Rutte and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.

Rutte expressed confidence that Trump was committed to Ukrainian independence and sovereignty. "I have never doubted this," Rutte said.

"What we need is to keep our eyes on the ball of Ukraine. Let's not ‌drop that ball", he added.

World

Philippine President Marcos Hit with Impeachment Complaint

Lawmakers Sara Elago, Antonio Tinio and Louise Co show the impeachment complaint against Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos at the House of Representatives on Thursday. TED ALJIBE / AFP
Lawmakers Sara Elago, Antonio Tinio and Louise Co show the impeachment complaint against Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos at the House of Representatives on Thursday. TED ALJIBE / AFP
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Philippine President Marcos Hit with Impeachment Complaint

Lawmakers Sara Elago, Antonio Tinio and Louise Co show the impeachment complaint against Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos at the House of Representatives on Thursday. TED ALJIBE / AFP
Lawmakers Sara Elago, Antonio Tinio and Louise Co show the impeachment complaint against Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos at the House of Representatives on Thursday. TED ALJIBE / AFP

Members of Philippine civil society groups filed an impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand Marcos on Thursday, accusing him of systematically bilking taxpayers out of billions of dollars for bogus flood control projects.

Rage over so-called ghost infrastructure projects has been building for months in the archipelago country of 116 million, where entire towns were buried in floodwaters driven by powerful typhoons in the past year.

Thursday's filing, endorsed by the Makabayan bloc, a coalition of left-wing political parties, accuses Marcos of betraying the public trust by packing the national budget with projects aimed at redirecting funds to allies, AFP said.

A copy of the complaint was filed at the House of Representatives' Office of the Secretary General "in accordance with House rules", petitioners said Thursday, though the official was not present to receive it herself.

"The President institutionalized a mechanism to siphon over ₱545.6 billion ($9.2 billion) in flood control funds, directing them into the hands of favored cronies and contractors and converting public coffers into a private war chest for the 2025 (mid-term) elections," a summary of the filing seen by AFP says.

It also accuses the president of directly soliciting kickbacks, a charge that relies heavily on unproven allegations made by a former congressman who fled the country while under investigation.

"The President's involvement in the grand scheme of corruption makes impeachment necessary to hold him accountable. The people have been robbed repeatedly and systematically," the summary says.

Marcos has consistently noted that he was the one who put the issue of ghost projects center stage and taken credit for pushing investigations that have seen scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers implicated.

But complainant Liza Maza told reporters on Thursday she believed the moves were only intended to deflect blame.

"We think the investigation he initiated is just a cover-up," she said. "Because the truth is, he is the head of this corruption."

Thursday's complaint is the second filed against Marcos this week, after a local lawyer brought a case citing last year's arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Court of former president Rodrigo Duterte, as well as unproven allegations of drug abuse.

Under the Philippine Constitution, any citizen can file an impeachment complaint provided it is endorsed by one of the more than 300 members of Congress.

Dennis Coronacion, chair of the political science department at Manila's University of Santo Tomas, told AFP on Thursday the new complaint was unlikely to go far in a Congress packed with Marcos allies.

"This ... has a very slim chance of getting the approval of the House Committee on Justice and (even less) so, in the plenary, because the president still enjoys the support of the members of the House of Representatives," Coronacion said.

In 2024, a trio of complaints was filed against Vice President Sara Duterte. The cases ultimately led to her impeachment early last year by the House of Representatives and an abortive Senate trial that saw the senior body send the case back.

The country's Supreme Court later tossed the case, ruling it violated a constitutional provision against multiple impeachment proceedings within a single year.