According to the newspaper the New York Times, the Pentagon is working to identify the source of leaks of classified documents detailing the strategy of the United States and NATO to support Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion. They were posted this week on Twitter and Telegram and broadcast on government channels, revealed the American daily Thursday, April 6.
These documents date for the oldest from the beginning of March. They mention in particular the timetable for the delivery of weapons or training provided by the West to soldiers in Kiev, the rate at which the Ukrainian forces use the crucial ammunition of the Himars mobile rocket launchers. One of the documents also summarizes the training programs of 12 Ukrainian combat brigades, and indicates that nine of them were being trained at that time by American and NATO forces, and needed 250 tanks and more than 350 mechanized vehicles, reveals the newspaper. Some documents would have been altered in order to minimize Russian losses in particular, according to experts.
American journalist arrested: “useless” to put pressure, according to Russia
The Russian foreign minister warned the American ambassador on Thursday that it was “useless” to try to pressure Moscow over the American journalist from the wall street journal Evan Gershkovich, arrested on ‘espionage’ charges. The latter was remanded in custody on Thursday, March 30, in the Urals pending trial. The journalist and the highly respected wall street journal deny the charges against him. US President Joe Biden has called for his release, also denying the charges.
The new American ambassador, Lynne Tracy, was received on this subject by the Russian deputy minister on Thursday. “He was caught red-handed while trying to obtain secret information, using his status as a journalist as a cover for illegal actions, qualified as espionage”, assured Sergei Ryabkov. Thus, “the media hype around this case in order to put pressure on the Russian authorities and the court which will have to decide the fate of Evan Gershkovich is useless and senseless”, added his ministry in a press release.
His arrest, the first of a foreign journalist on such serious charges since the USSR, comes in the context of increased repression in Russia against the press since the offensive against Ukraine, which has greatly strained relations between Moscow and Washington.
The Russian army in the heart of Bakhmout
Russia has “most likely” advanced into downtown Bakhmout, according to the British Ministry of Defence. The latter indicates in his daily update that Russian soldiers appear to have made significant gains in the city center, “and seized the western bank of the Bakhmutka River. The main supply route from Ukraine to the west of the city is probably seriously threatened”.
Cereal negotiations between Turkey and Russia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Turkey on Thursday for talks on the Ukrainian grain export deal, AFP sources said. He must give a joint conference with his Turkish counterpart, then meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey has asked Russia for a 120-day extension of the grain agreement (in accordance with the original agreement) to allow grain to be exported from Ukraine – the world’s largest exporter – through the Black Sea. Russia, which threatens not to respect it, already considered having extended it “as a gesture of goodwill for sixty additional days”, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This agreement, negotiated by Ankara and the United Nations in July 2022, has so far enabled the export of more than 25 million tonnes of cereals.
Turkey, a member of NATO, maintains a privileged position with Russia, and is trying to persuade Russia and Ukraine to resume peace talks, hoping to take advantage of diplomatic efforts made over the past year. “Despite the complication of the international situation, the Russian-Turkish political dialogue, mainly at the level of the heads of the two states, continues,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued before the start of the Russian minister’s visit. .
According to Lula, Ukraine may have to give up Crimea
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suggested on Thursday that Ukraine cede the Crimean peninsula to Russia to end the war, saying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “cannot want everything”. Vladimir Putin “cannot seize the territory of Ukraine. Perhaps we will discuss Crimea. But what more he invaded, he must think about,” Lula said during a meeting with journalists in Brasilia. “The world needs tranquillity. We have to find a solution,” he added.
Ukraine refuses to negotiate with Moscow without the prior withdrawal of Russian troops from all of its territory, including Crimea annexed by Russia in 2014. Lula formulated a proposal at the end of January, with still vague outlines, of mediation in the conflict in Ukraine by a group of countries. The Brazilian president is due to present this project to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing next week. The Brazilian head of state said he was “confident” about the chances of success of this project, hoping that the group of countries “will be created” on his return from China.