Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 335 of the invasion

German defence group Rheinmetall could deliver 139 Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine if required, a spokesperson for the company told media group RND. Germany is coming under intense pressure from Ukraine and some Nato allies, such as Poland, to allow Kyiv to be supplied with German-made Leopard 2 tanks for its defence against Russia’s invasion.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said Germany is not blocking the export of Leopard 2 tanks. Pressure is building on Germany to supply its tanks after failing to take a decision at a keenly anticipated international defence summit at the US military base of Ramstein in south-west Germany on Friday. The re-export of tanks manufactured in Germany has to be approved by its economic ministry.

Borrell also outlined the EU’s new military aid package to Ukraine worth €500m, after the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers met in Brussels on Monday. The package was approved along with a further €45m for the EU’s military training mission for Ukraine. Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, said his country would not block the EU move.

The German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock’s comment on Sunday that her country would not “stand in the way” of Poland sending Leopard tanks to Ukraine has caused some confusion in Berlin. For now, it remains unclear whether her remarks are indicative of a shift in the government’s position or merely a Green party attempt to correct chancellor Olaf Scholz’s bungled communications strategy.

Poland has reiterated that it is ready to send tanks to Ukraine without Germany’s consent. The Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said his government would seek permission from Berlin to send its Leopard tanks to Ukraine, but described that consent as of “secondary importance”. But a German government spokesperson said Berlin had not received a request from Poland or any other country to authorise such a transfer.

The Kremlin has warned that the people of Ukraine will “pay the price” if the west decides to send tanks to support Kyiv. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the splits in Europe over whether to provide tanks to Kyiv showed there was increasing “nervousness” within the Nato alliance. Peskov also dismissed Washington’s announcement that it was planning to impose sanctions on the Russian private mercenary Wagner Group.

Russian forces continue to “endure operational deadlock and heavy casualties”, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. An MoD intelligence update also said new disciplinary measures introduced by Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s chief of the general staff and newly appointed commander in Ukraine, had been met with “sceptical feedback”, in particular in response to the decision to ban soldiers from wearing beards.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that changes would be announced imminently in the government, the regions and in the security forces after allegations of corruption nearly a year into Russia’s invasion. Zelenskiy did not identify in his nightly video address the officials to be replaced. “There are already personnel decisions – some today, some tomorrow – regarding officials of various levels in ministries and other central government structures, as well as in the regions and in the law enforcement system,” Zelenskiy said.

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said Moscow was willing to negotiate with Ukraine in the early months of the war but the US and other western nations advised Kyiv against it. Lavrov was speaking during his visit to South Africa, where he met with the foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, a month before the South African military is set to host a joint military exercise with Russia and China on its east coast.

Russia has said it is downgrading diplomatic relations with the Nato member Estonia, accusing Tallinn of “total Russophobia”. Russia’s foreign ministry said this was in response to an Estonian move to reduce the size of the Russian embassy in Tallinn. In solidarity with Estonia, Latvia has announced it will downgrade its diplomatic ties with Russia and inform its Russian ambassador to leave the country by 24 February.

Germany has begun to move its Patriot air defence systems into Polish territory, close to the Ukrainian border, where they will be deployed to prevent stray missile strikes. Berlin’s offer to deploy three of its Patriot units in Poland came after two men were killed by a stray Ukrainian missile that struck the Polish village of Przewodow in November.

Andrey Medvedev, a former commander of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group who recently fled to Norway, has been apprehended by police, he told the Guardian on Monday. Medvedev’s Norwegian lawyer, Brynjulf Risnes, said that the police decided to apprehend Medvedev on Sunday evening after a “strong disagreement” with the former Wagner soldier over living conditions at the safe house where he had been living since he arrived in Norway.

It is “too early” to talk about a potential 2024 re-election bid for Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has said. The Russian president “has not made any statements on the matter”, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. In 2021, Putin signed a law that will allow him to run for the presidency twice more in his lifetime, potentially keeping him in office until 2036.

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said he will not support Sweden’s Nato membership bid after a protest in Stockholm at the weekend that included the burning of a copy of the Qur’an. Protests in the Swedish capital on Saturday have heightened tensions with Turkey at a time when Sweden needs Ankara’s backing to gain entry to the military alliance.