A movement under high tension. Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to the Kherson region in southern Ukraine to meet with the military. At the same time, its Minister of Foreign Affairs was in Brazil and told President Lula that he wanted to end the conflict as soon as possible. The G7 has promised to sanction any country helping the Russian war effort. Update on the war.
Putin visiting Kherson
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Kherson and Lugansk regions, respectively in the annexed south and east of Ukraine. The goal: to meet the soldiers who are deployed there as part of the Russian operation launched more than a year ago, the Kremlin announced on Tuesday. The statement does not specify when this trip took place, but it indicates that the Russian president congratulated the soldiers on the occasion of the Orthodox Easter holiday, which was celebrated on Sunday. The leader offered them “copies of the icons”.
This is Vladimir Putin’s first trip to the Kherson region since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February 2022. “It is important for me to hear your opinion on the situation, to listen to you, to exchange information,” the Russian president said, according to a video released by the Kremlin. And to wish them a happy Easter.
G7 vows to make countries helping Russia pay ‘high price’
G7 foreign ministers promised on Tuesday that countries providing assistance to Russia for its war in Ukraine would pay “a heavy price”, in a statement issued after a meeting in Japan. The senior diplomats also want to strengthen the application of the sanctions already taken against Russia and considered “unacceptable” the announcement by Moscow of its intention to send nuclear weapons to Belarus.
The Brazilian state, a sounding board for Russian propaganda?
Lula in Lavrov’s hand? The White House strongly criticized Brazil on Monday after President Lula accused the United States this weekend of prolonging the conflict in Ukraine, after a trip to the Emirates and China. “In this specific case, Brazil is echoing Russian and Chinese propaganda without taking the facts into account,” said John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, a body directly attached to the American president.
Answer: “I don’t know how or why the spokesman for the White House National Security Council came to this conclusion. But I don’t agree in any way,” Mauro Vieira told reporters in Brasília , where President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday.
Russia says it repelled Ukrainian infiltration attempt
Russia said on Monday it repelled a Ukrainian attempt to “illegally” infiltrate its territory via the Bryansk border region, ten days after reporting a similar incident. “The intruder exploded on a mined protection line, which was created by the Russian armed forces to prevent infiltration into Russian territory and ensure the safety of residents of border settlements,” the region’s governor said on Telegram. , Alexander Bogomaz.