Fights, and international visits. While the mud bogs down part of the conflicts in Ukraine, the Ukrainian and Russian presidents are participating, this Tuesday, March 21, in important diplomatic visits. Volodymyr Zelensky receives Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in a surprise visit, and a first for a Japanese representative since the end of the Second World War.
At the same time, China is continuing its seduction operation with Russia. President Xi Jinping begins a second day of talks with Vladimir Putin. The country wants to appear as a mediator in the war, which continues to rage in Ukraine, while the city of Bakhmout is still the target of intense clashes.
Ukraine attacked an oil pumping station in Russia
Ukraine carried out a drone attack on an oil pumping station in a Russian border region on Tuesday, without causing any casualties, the regional governor announced.
“The Ukrainian armed forces used a drone to attack the territory of the Novozybkov oil pumping station belonging to Transneft. No casualties are to be deplored,” said Alexander Bogomaz, head of the Russian region Briansk, on Telegram.
Wagner claims to control 70% of Bakhmout
The boss of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigojine, said on Monday that his men controlled “about 70%” of the city of Bakhmout in eastern Ukraine, the scene of heavy fighting since last summer. For weeks, the West has been expecting the city, which was populated by 70,000 people before the war, to fall, as Russia is doing its best to try to obtain a victory that is more symbolic than tactical.
Russian troops have advanced in recent weeks north and south of the city, cutting off several Ukrainian supply routes and seizing the eastern part of the city. Despite the threat of encirclement and the disputed strategic importance of the city, Ukrainian officials have confirmed their intention to continue to defend it for as long as possible. At the same time, Ukraine is carrying out counter-attacks, which so far have not been significant.
New day of Sino-Russian talks
President Vladimir Putin assured his counterpart Xi Jinping, visiting Moscow, on Tuesday that Russia was able to supply China’s growing energy needs, while Russian hydrocarbons are sanctioned in the West.
“Russian companies are able to meet China’s growing demand for energy,” Vladimir Putin said during talks with Xi Jinping in the Kremlin. According to him, the goal is to deliver to China at least 98 billion cubic meters of Russian gas and 100 million tons of Russian LNG by 2030.
China is posing as a mediator in Ukraine and in February published a document setting out several principles, such as respect for territorial sovereignty, and calling on Moscow and Kiev to engage in peace talks. But the West judges that Beijing supports Moscow too much to serve as a credible mediator. Recently, Washington even accused the Chinese authorities of considering supplying arms to Russia, which they strongly deny.
In the process, the Russian giant Gazprom announced Tuesday record daily deliveries to Beijing the day before via the “Siberian Force” gas pipeline which runs through the Russian Far East towards northeast China. Asked by AFP in particular about the precise delivery figure, the company indicated “not to provide additional information”.
In Boutcha, the Japanese Prime Minister expresses his “indignation”
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his “deep indignation” on Tuesday after a visit to Boutcha in Ukraine, a city which has been the scene of atrocities attributed to the Russian army.
“As I set foot in Boutcha today and witness all the brutalities that have taken place there, I feel a strong sense of outrage,” said Fumio Kishida, adding that “the whole world is shocked” by these atrocities.
His trip to this country at war was described as “historic” by kyiv. Fumio Kishida has indeed become the first head of the Japanese government to travel to a war zone since the end of World War II.
The West strengthens the means of the International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) obtained on Monday more resources from some forty countries gathered in London to continue its investigations in Ukraine, three days after issuing an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the end of this day “we raised more than 4 million pounds and many non-financial and technical supports”, declared Dominic Raab, the British Minister of Justice, to the maneuver.
“If the noise is inevitable, we should focus on what is really happening and the need for an independent and impartial investigation”, insisted on Monday Karim Khan, prosecutor of the ICC, thanking the countries present for their support, including Japan, Poland and France, Ghana or Spain. Among the countries that have increased their financial support are the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and also the European Union.
The United States announces 350 million dollars, the EU releases 2 billion
The United States will deliver a new tranche of military aid to Ukraine, amounting to 350 million dollars and including in particular ammunition for the Himars rocket launchers, announced Monday the head of the American diplomacy Antony Blinken . “Russia alone could end its war today. Until it does, we will stand with Ukraine as long as necessary,” the secretary of state said in a statement, when Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting Moscow. The delivery, which is also to include Bradley light armored vehicles, shells and anti-tank weapons, comes from funds already allocated by the US Congress.
The European Union, for its part, will release 2 billion euros to provide one million shells which Ukraine needs to counter the offensive by Russian troops and to carry out joint purchases in order to replenish its stocks. “We have the starting signal for concrete measures,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced in Brussels on Monday. “We are embarking on a new path for common purchases,” he said during a meeting with his EU counterparts and the foreign ministers of the 27 member states.