The European Union is set to propose a three-track plan to provide Ukraine with much-needed ammunition in response to some member states’ calls to ramp up the continent’s production capacity.
(Bloomberg) — The European Union is set to propose a three-track plan to provide Ukraine with much-needed ammunition in response to some member states’ calls to ramp up the continent’s production capacity.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reinforced a warning on the “difficult” situation in the eastern city of Bakhmut. “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.
Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Belarus’s leader Alexander Lukashenko to Beijing and said the warring parties must resolve the conflict “via political means” and drop what Xi called a “Cold War mindset.” In a joint statement, the two leaders said they desired peace, but didn’t say how it ought to come about.
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Key Developments
- China, Belarus Issue Vague Call for Bringing Peace to Ukraine
- India Pushes Russia, China to Join G-20 Consensus on War Wording
- Putin’s War Upended Consumer Economy in Ways Pandemic Didn’t
- Gazprombank Swiss Chief Charged Over Cash Ties to Putin Cellist
- Russia’s Viasat Hack Exposed Satellite Industry’s Security Flaws
- Ex-CEO of Ukraine Naftogaz Faces $6.2 Million Bail in Fraud Case
(All times CET)
Xi, Lukashenko Make Vague Call for Peace (4:45 a.m.)
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said they wanted to see peace in Ukraine, though they avoided providing details on how they’d bring the year-old war to an end.
The Foreign Ministry in Beijing said in a joint statement Thursday that they “expressed deep concern over the prolongation of the regional armed conflict and looked forward to restoring peace in Ukraine as soon as possible to avoid escalation of the crisis.”
Chinese state media said earlier that Xi met Lukashenko, an ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, in Beijing on Wednesday — discussions that are being closely watched for signs that China is expanding coordination with Moscow and its supporters in their standoff with the West.
Russian Missiles Hit Near City in Central Ukraine, Governor Says (8:57 p.m.)
Russia launched a missile attack Wednesday evening on areas near Kremenchuk, a city in central Ukraine, hitting civilian and critical infrastructure, regional governor Dmytro Lunin said. Information about casualties and damages was being determined, he said.
Earlier in the day, Russia fired missiles at civilian targets in the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine, wounding civilians, the Defense Ministry said.
EU to Propose Three-Track Plan to Boost Ukraine Ammo (7:43 p.m.)
The European Union is set to propose a three-track plan to provide Ukraine with much-needed ammunition in response to some member states’ calls to ramp up the continent’s production capacity, but the amount of funding remains unclear.
The proposal calls for the immediate transfers of ammunition, particularly 155mm artillery rounds from existing stocks or pending orders, as well as using a joint procurement framework to aggregate orders to European industry, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News. The proposal also envisions ramping up Europe’s industrial capacity to meet current and future demand.
“All three elements are crucial to sustain our support for Ukraine moving forward,” the paper says. “All three tracks need to be pursued in parallel and as a matter of urgency.”
Read the full story here.
Russian Mobile Internet Slows With Sanctions (5:02 p.m.)
Russia’s mobile internet speed fell last month from a year earlier, as sanctions by the US and allies choked off technology imports. The average download speed outside of Moscow fell 7% in February to 18.3 megabits per second as operators were forced to rely on equipment bought before the war began, Denis Kuskov, the head of Russian researcher TelecomDaily, said Wednesday.
The global average download speed was 38 megabits per second in January, and more than 100 countries posted speeds greater than Russia’s regions, according to Speedtest Global Index data.
Russia Says It’s 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 formally notified the US on Feb. 28 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.”
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