Ukrainian servicemen practice combat drills involving a BMP-1 in Donbas, Ukraine as Russia-Ukraine war continues on March 19, 2024.
This was CNBC's live blog tracking developments on the war in Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron delivered an emphatic speech warning that Europe is unprepared for its military and economic challenges, and saying that the Russia-Ukraine war is a "principal danger" for the continent.
Ukraine came under attack from Russian aerial strikes overnight, which hit critical infrastructure in the central region of Cherkasy, local officials said. In the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia, which is occupied by Russian forces, Moscow-installed officials there reported that Ukrainian drone strikes killed two civilians.
CNBC was not able to independently verify the events on the ground.
U.K. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt is in Kyiv meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and will meet with other officials throughout the day. The visit comes a day after U.S. President Joe Biden signed a massive Ukraine aid bill into law, which will provide the embattled country with tens of billions of dollars in more military and financial funding for its fight against Russia's invasion.
Russia expels two Latvian diplomats in retaliatory move
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it was expelling two diplomats from Latvia in retaliation, after the Baltic state ordered a Russian embassy official to leave.
Money Report
Western countries have kicked out hundreds of Russian diplomats since the start of the war in Ukraine, in many cases for alleged spying, and Russia has regularly responded in kind.
— Reuters
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Belarus says it has worked to set up 'non-strategic nuclear weapons' in the country
Belarus has taken steps to stationing "non-strategic nuclear weapons" across the country, Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said Thursday, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
"We have carried out work to place non-strategic nuclear weapons on our territory. This is our effective response to the aggressive policies of states that are not friendly to us. We hope that the leaders of these states will listen and stop escalating the situation," Khrenin said, according to an NBC translation.
"This is not nuclear blackmail or intimidation. This is an opportunity to protect our state, to ensure peace for our people," he added.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday said the country was facing both major internal and external threats, Reuters reported.
Also on Thursday, Russian state news agencies quoted the head of the Belarusian security service as saying that Belarus had thwarted a drone attack on its capital Minsk that originated from Lithuanian soil.
NATO member Lithuania denied the claims, according to Reuters.
Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the Lithuanian National Crisis Management Centre, told CNBC that Belarusian security services have repeatedly said that "pseudo-groups allegedly residing in Lithuania and Poland" aim "to undermine Belarus."
"Such statements by the Belarusian KGB should be seen as a continuous hostile provocation and information attack against Lithuania that has nothing to do with reality," he said.
— Sophie Kiderlin
Russia says it could downgrade diplomatic relations with the U.S. if its assets are confiscated
Russia could downgrade its diplomatic relationship with the U.S. if Washington moves to confiscate its frozen assets, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday.
The U.S. and Western allies including the European Union have been considering using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine and have been debating how and if this would be possible.
"We are now studying the optimal form of reaction, where among the countermeasures there are also actions against the assets of our Western opponents and where there are diplomatic measures of response," Ryabkov said, according to a Google-translation of quotes published by state news agency RIA Novosti.
"Lowering the level of diplomatic relations is one of the options," he added.
— Sophie Kiderlin
Provision of long-range ATACMS proves 'unwavering' U.S. support, ambassador says
Washington's provision of long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine demonstrates its continued strong support for Kyiv, the U.S. ambassador there said in a statement.
"The United States this month provided Ukraine with long-range ATACMS at the direction of the U.S. President. It is another message that our commitment to Ukraine's defense is unwavering," Ambassador Bridget Brink said.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed off on a mammoth spending package that included some $60 billion for Ukraine's military aid. The package, which took a substantial amount of time and political wrangling to get through Congress, comes at a crucial time for Ukraine as its forces struggle to gain more territory back from Russia.
The package for Ukraine includes missiles for air defense systems, Stinger missiles, ammunition for HIMARS, NATO-standard artillery rounds, military vehicles, and additional parts for equipment supplied in earlier deliveries.
— Natasha Turak
Moscow accuses U.S. of trying to create divide between Russia and China
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Washington of trying to create division between Moscow and Beijing, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken begins a trip to China.
"As for the United States' attempts to drive a wedge in relations between Russia and China, the United States is openly talking about this," she said.
Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergey Ryabkov made a similar assertion, quoted in Russian state outlet Tass as saying:
"Washington is looking for ways to shatter Russian-Chinese ties as much as possible. We have seriously expanded cooperation with Beijing in many areas in recent time. It fills U.S. politicians and the Biden administration top officials with bile ... And the visit by the secretary of state should be assessed from the angle of what the United States is ready to do to increase the unabashed and ruthless pressure on China."
The State Department has not commented on the remarks.
— Natasha Turak
France's Macron calls Russia-Ukraine war 'principal danger' for European security
French President Emmanuel Macron gave an impassioned speech in Paris calling for stronger defenses for Europe, and warning that the continent as he knows it "could die" if it doesn't make reforms to face its military, economic and political challenges.
"There is a risk our Europe could die. We are not equipped to face the risks," he said, speaking from France's elite Sorbonne University.
Macron warned against becoming an overly reliant vassal of the U.S., saying that Europe "must show that it is never a vassal of the United States and that it also knows how to talk to all the other regions of the world."
He also called for more support for Ukraine to ensure Russia does not win the war.
"The principal danger for European security is the war in Ukraine, the sine qua non for our security is that Russia does not win this war of aggression."
"There is no defense without a defense industry ... we've had decades of under-investment," Macron said. "We must produce more, we must produce faster, and we must produce as Europeans ... how can we build our sovereignty, our autonomy, if we don't assume the responsibility of developing our own European defense industry?"
— Natasha Turak
U.S. long range missile deliveries to Ukraine will not change the course of war, Kremlin spokesperson says
A U.S. delivery of long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems to Ukraine will not change the course of Moscow's war against Ukraine, but will create additional problems for Kyiv, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
Russia will "get its way" in what it refers to as a "special military operation" in Ukraine, he pledged, according to Google-translated comments carried by Russian state news agency Tass.
The U.S. supplied Ukraine with long-range ballistic missiles for the first time earlier this month, and Kyiv forces have already deployed them twice over the last week, three U.S. officials told NBC News. CNBC could not independently verify this information.
The first strike was said to have taken place 100 miles inside Crimea's border on April 17, with the second launch occurring on Tuesday and targeting Russian forces east of the southeastern Ukrainian town of Berdyansk in the Zaporizhzhia region.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Russian ambassador to U.S. slams Washington's transfer of long-range missiles to Kyiv
Russia's ambassador to the U.S. lambasted the Biden administration's provision of ATACMS, a type of long-range ballistic missile, to Ukraine, saying the supply would fail to defeat Russian forces.
"Local officials 'retroactively' confirmed the fact that extremely dangerous weapons had been sent to Kiev," Anatoly Antonov said in a post on the embassy's Telegram channel, according to a Google translation.
"It is obvious that the transfer of ATACMS to the Zelensky regime increases the threat to the security of Crimea, including Sevastopol, new Russian regions and other Russian cities," he said, adding that Russian forces have already shot down many of the missiles and will continue to do so.
"Neither these missiles nor other weapons can help defeat the Russian Federation ... Washington will not be able to get out of the horrible swamp that has absorbed the blood of ordinary soldiers," the ambassador said.
— Natasha Turak
U.K. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt visits Kyiv
British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, the Ukrainian leader said Thursday.
"I welcomed the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, @Jeremy_Hunt, and thanked him for the UK's largest defense aid package, worth half a billion pounds," Zelenskyy said on the X social media platform, thanking Hunt and the U.K. for their support.
"We paid special attention to the sanction policy. It is important to extend restrictive measures against Russia and make the circumvention of sanctions impossible."
He expressed gratitude for the U.K.'s government and said that Hunt would be meeting Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal later in the day.
— Natasha Turak
Two killed in Ukrainian attack in Zaporizhzhia, Russia-installed official says
Two people were killed following an Ukrainian drone attack in the Moscow-occupied region of Zaporizhzhia, a Russia-installed official said.
"As a result of a hit on a civilian vehicle, a man and a woman were killed, and their four minor children were left orphans," Evgeniy Balitsky said in a Google-translated Telegram post.
He added that emergency services are on site, and the children will be provided with social assistance and psychological care.
CNBC could not independently confirm the report.
Home to the largest nuclear plant in Europe, Zaporizhzhia was among four Ukrainian regions annexed by Russia in September 2022, following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Critical infrastructure hit, six people injured in Cherkasy, regional governor says
A Russian aerial attack impaired a critical infrastructure facility and injured six people in the central Ukrainian region of Cherkasy on Thursday morning, according to regional governor Ihor Taburets.
He reported no casualties to date, adding in a Google-translated Telegram post that 47 residential houses were damaged as a result of the attack blast and consequent debris.
Repair teams are attending at the site of the incident, he said.
CNBC could not independently verify developments on the ground.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Biden signs Ukraine aid bill into law
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed a bill into law that provides billions of dollars of additional aid to Ukraine to help it repel Russia's onslaught, bringing an end to a protracted political battle over urgently needed assistance.
Biden said the first tranche of military equipment would be sent to Ukraine within the next few hours. He described the U.S. aid as an investment not only in Ukraine and Europe's security but also U.S. security.
"America stands with our friends, we stand up against dictators. We bow to no one, to no one. Certainly not [Russian President] Vladimir Putin," Biden said.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was grateful to the U.S. Senate for approving aid to the war-torn country.
Russia, meanwhile, has said its forces will intensify attacks on Ukraine's Western weapons.
— Sam Meredith
In pictures: Russia shows an armored vehicle said to be captured during the war in Ukraine
Photos published via Getty Images on Wednesday showed an armored vehicle said to be captured by Russian servicemen during Russia's war in Ukraine. The display was held at the Victory Park memorial complex in Moscow.
— Sam Meredith
Read CNBC's previous live coverage here:
Biden signs Ukraine military aid package into law; Russian official arrested on bribery charges
