New air attacks hit Kiev and several regions of Ukraine this Thursday, May 18 at dawn, when a Chinese envoy is in the capital to try to obtain a “political settlement” of the conflict. “A series of air attacks on Kyiv, unprecedented in their power, intensity and variety, continues. Kyiv authorities said they destroyed 29 of the 30 missiles launched by Moscow. This is the ninth consecutive air attack on the capital since the beginning of May!”, said the civil and military administration of the capital in a press release.
According to her, cruise missiles were launched by Russian strategic bombers from the Caspian Sea region, and reconnaissance drones then flew over the capital. “All enemy targets in Kyiv airspace have been detected and destroyed,” she said. A fire broke out in a company following a fall of debris, but no injuries were reported, the mayor of the capital, Vitali Klitschko, said on Telegram.
A death in Odessa
On the other hand, one person was killed and two others injured in the port of Odessa, on the Black Sea, during an attack on an industrial site, according to the regional military administration. The military also reported “cruise missile” attacks in the Vinnytsia region in the center of the country, and local media reported explosions in Khmelnytskyi, some 100 kilometers further west. These new attacks occur during a visit to Kiev by a senior Chinese official, Li Hui, special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Moscow, who is supposed, according to Beijing, to discuss the “political settlement” of the conflict.
Li Hui met on Wednesday with the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba, who “explained in detail to the Chinese special representative the principles of restoring a lasting and just peace, based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said. “He stressed that Ukraine does not accept any proposal that would imply the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict,” he added. kyiv fears being pushed, in the long term, to accept a compromise with Moscow, and demands a return of all the territories occupied by Russia, including Crimea annexed in 2014.
Possible meeting with Zelensky
A meeting between Li Hui and President Volodymyr Zelensky is “possible”, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP on Wednesday on condition of anonymity. This exchange would be a first between the Ukrainian president, who encourages Beijing to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, and a senior Chinese official. Li Hui’s journey will also take him to Poland, France, Germany and Russia.
China, a close partner of Moscow, has never publicly condemned the Russian invasion. And during a visit to Moscow in March, President Xi Jinping gave strong symbolic support to Vladimir Putin. Beijing in February offered a 12-point plan to end the war, viewed with skepticism by Westerners. Li Hui’s visit to Kiev comes just after a European tour by Mr. Zelensky, during which he received the promise of new arms deliveries needed to launch a major counter-offensive. He was heard on several points – anti-aircraft missiles, attack drones, armored vehicles… – and progressed towards the delivery of Western combat planes, which the Europeans are reluctant to provide.
The United States also confirmed on Wednesday that a Patriot system had been damaged by an unidentified projectile, but remained operational. On Tuesday, the Russian army claimed to have destroyed a Patriot battery with a “high precision strike” carried out “by a hypersonic ‘Kinjal’ missile”.
Moldova asks to join the EU “as soon as possible”
Moldova wants to enter the European Union “as soon as possible” to protect itself from the Russian threat and hopes for a decision “in the coming months” on the opening of discussions, its president said on Thursday in an interview with the AFP. “We believe that we can only save our democracy by being part of the EU,” said Maia Sandu, a few days before a pro-European demonstration and then an unprecedented European summit in Chisinau. “Russia will continue to be a great source of instability in the years to come and we must protect ourselves,” added the 50-year-old Moldovan leader on the sidelines of a Council of Europe summit which ended Tuesday in Iceland.
The former Soviet republic of 2.6 million inhabitants is organizing its first major summit on June 1, bringing together the enlarged Europe, with the countries of the European Political Community (EPC) and the main heavyweights of the continent. In February, Mrs. Sandu had accused Russia of fomenting a coup to overthrow the power in place in Chisinau. In power since 2020, the leader of Europe’s poorest country called for a large pro-EU rally on Sunday intended to show Moldovan support for membership.