Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reinforced a warning on the “difficult” situation in the eastern city of Bakhmut, as Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Belarus’s leader for talks in Beijing.
(Bloomberg) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reinforced a warning on the “difficult” situation in the eastern city of Bakhmut, as Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Belarus’s leader for talks in Beijing.
“Russia does not count people at all, sending them to constantly storm our positions — the intensity of fighting is only increasing,” Zelenskiy said in an evening address as the military sent reinforcements to Bakhmut. The president has signaled that the besieged city may soon be impossible to defend.
Xi told Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko that warring parties must resolve the conflict “via political means” and drop what he called a “Cold War mindset” during the meeting, which was closely watched for signs that Beijing is expanding coordination with Moscow and its supporters in their standoff with the West.
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Key Developments
- Xi Welcomes Russia Ally Lukashenko in Visit Shadowed by War
- India Pushes Russia, China to Join G-20 Consensus on War Wording
- Russian War Unravels Consumer Economy in Ways Pandemic Never Did
- Russia’s Viasat Hack Exposed Satellite Industry’s Security Flaws
- Ukraine Signals It May Be Forced to Abandon Bakhmut to Russians
(All times CET)
Russia Says Still Talking With US on Nuclear Weapons (4:18 p.m.)
Russia and the US are still discussing issues concerning the New START nuclear weapons treaty via “closed channels,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to Interfax.
He didn’t provide details of the contacts in recent days. Russia on Feb. 28 formally notified the US that it is suspending participation in the strategic arms-limitation treaty, as President Vladimir Putin announced last month, he said. Russia hasn’t said whether it will stop data exchanges mandated under that agreement, however.
Allies Ensuring Steady Spare-Parts Supply: Scholz (3:08 p.m.)
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said allies are liaising closely on how to ensure a sufficient supply of military spare parts and that there are enough repair capacities for weapons delivered to Kyiv. Germany and its allies are also looking for ways to boost ammunition production for delivered weapons as well as for those from stocks used in eastern Europe, he added.
“That will remain an ongoing task, because we have said that we will continue to support Ukraine for as long as necessary,” Scholz told reporters after talks in Berlin with Latvian counterpart Krisjanis Karins.
Kremlin Critics Seek Relief for Anti-War Tycoons (1:31 p.m.)
Russian critics of Putin have spent the past year pressing the US and its allies to impose sanctions on thousands of Kremlin officials and business tycoons. Now they want a clear way for those who come out against the war to get off the blacklists.
Exiled businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who spent years in a Russian prison after a conflict with Putin, wrote to the UK Foreign Office this week appealing for sanctions to be lifted from Oleg Tinkov, a self-made billionaire who publicly condemned Putin’s invasion and renounced his Russian citizenship. “I believe the decision to impose sanctions on him was wrong,” Khodorkovsky said in an interview, citing Tinkov’s repeated criticism of Putin’s government.
Ukraine Support ‘Permanent Task’: Germany (1:30 p.m.)
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said his government considers support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion to be “an enduring, permanent task.”
“Over the past 12 months, we have worked intensively at the international level to support Ukraine not only in political and military terms, but also in terms of its financial needs,” Lindner told lawmakers in the lower house of parliament in Berlin. “Ukraine’s resilience must remain greater than the viciousness of Putin’s war,” he added.
Finnish Lawmakers Wrap Up NATO Entry Paperwork (1:08 p.m.)
Finland’s parliament ratified NATO’s treaties as the Nordic nation prepares to join the defense alliance, seeking to put momentum back into the bloc’s enlargement.
Nine months after Finland submitted its application for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization simultaneously with neighboring Sweden, lawmakers in Helsinki on Wednesday signed off on the paperwork, voting 184 in favor of ratification and seven against.
Xi Welcomes Russia Ally Lukashenko (12:56 p.m.)
Belarus “fully supports the initiative put forward by you,” Lukashenko told Xi in Beijing, according to state-run news agency Belta. He was referring to China’s proposals for international security, many of which were echoed in its cease-fire initiative for Ukraine released last week. That plan was quickly dismissed by Kyiv and its allies in the US and Europe.
“China’s stance on the Ukraine crisis has been consistent and clear,” Xi told Lukashenko. “We must stick to the direction of resolving the issue via political means, abandon the Cold War mindset.”
Read More: Xi Welcomes Russia Ally Lukashenko in Visit Shadowed by War
Poland Blames Russia for Cyberattack (10:56 a.m.)
Poland’s top cybersecurity official blamed Russia for an attack that disrupted the work of a government tax website. A temporary distributed-denial-of-service attack, or DDoS, knocked offline the podatki.gov.pl portal early on Tuesday, according to Janusz Cieszynski, a government official in charge of cybersecurity.
“The Russians are responsible for yesterday’s attack, it must be made clear,“ Cieszynski told broadcaster Polsat News in an interview on Wednesday. “We have information that makes it very likely that this is the adversary.”
Russia to Be ‘Pragmatic’ Over Output Cuts (10:25 a.m.)
Russia will take a “pragmatic approach” when deciding on potential cuts in oil output beyond March, according to First Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin.
This month Russia plans to cut oil production by 500,000 barrels a day in retaliation for Western sanctions, including price caps on its crude and petroleum products. The reduction is equivalent to about 5% of the nation’s January output, which reached around 10.86 million barrels per day.
India Pushes Russia, China on G-20 Consensus on War Wording (9:55 a.m.)
India is seeking to convince Moscow and Beijing to go along with a consensus on describing Russia’s war in Ukraine, similar to the one reached by leaders of the Group of 20 nations last year, a senior official with knowledge of the matter said.
Efforts are on to bridge differences ahead of the meeting of G-20 foreign ministers starting later Wednesday, the official said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private.
Ukraine to Send Additional troops to Bakhmut (8:10 a.m.)
The decision on reinforcements was taken by the top commander in charge of Ukraine’s ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, during his visit to the city at the end of last week, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said said on television late Tuesday.
Russia suffers significant troop losses in the area, even as its forces outnumber Ukraine’s, she said. Zelenskiy has said previously that Ukrainian forces would not hold Bakhmut “at any cost and with everyone dying.”
In his nightly address, Zelenskiy said Ukraine is “preparing for the return of our warriors to actions for the liberation of our land,” after he recounted details of a regular meeting earlier with his top military commanders on the situation across the whole of the front.
Russia Toughens Penalties for Criticism of War (8:00 a.m.)
Russia is introducing stricter punishment for critics of its war in Ukraine, threatening up to 15 years in prison for spreading “fake” information or publicly discrediting participants in the invasion — including for the first time irregular volunteer forces.
The speaker of the lower house of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, said the new penalties should receive approval in the chamber on March 14 in a statement on his Telegram channel.
Under current legislation passed soon after last year’s invasion began, those convicted of spreading “fake” news about the Russian armed forces face up to 10 years in jail, or 15 years if their action has “grave consequences.”
Baerbock Warns China on Drone Exports (4:15 a.m.)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Chinese drone exports to Russia would violate international law. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China has a special responsibility, Baerbock told public broadcaster ARD.
That means China “may not send drones to an aggressor, a state, a president, who leads a war of aggression which violates international law,” she said. “We are investigating that and make clear every day that such a support is not within the framework of international law.”
Transnistria Calls Up Reservists for Training (4:15 a.m.)
Defense officials in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria called up reservists for three months of training starting Wednesday, according to Russian state media.
The separatist region hosts Russian military units and Soviet-era ammunition depots. Moldovan President Maia Sandu last month called for “maximum vigilance” after she accused Russia of planning to destabilize the country and overthrow her government.
The announcement in Transnistria suggests participation in the drills is voluntary. The last time such training was conducted was in April.
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