Zelenskiy adviser dismisses China’s peace plan and warns time running out

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has dismissed China’s “unrealistic” proposal to end the conflict.

Beijing should not “bet on an aggressor who broke [international] law and will lose the war”, Podolyak tweeted this morning.

If you claim to be a global player, you don’t offer an unrealistic plan. You don’t bet on an aggressor who broke intl law and will lose the war. It’s not far-sighted. As someone who plans for decades doesn’t play “🇷🇺 3-day games.”
China, the “window of opportunity” is not endless

— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) February 25, 2023

The Chinese government’s 12-point position paper on Ukraine was released on Friday morning, on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion. In it, Beijing called for peace talks while urging all parties to avoid nuclear escalation and end attacks on civilians, in a statement which appeared to maintain its stance that the west was fuelling the conflict and which analysts dismissed as anodyne.

The paper, for which Ukraine was not consulted, was cautiously welcomed by Kyiv. “China started talking about Ukraine, and that’s not bad,” Zelenskiy said during a press conference yesterday.

It seems to me that there is respect for our territorial integrity, security issues.

Podolyak said yesterday that any plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine must involve the withdrawal of Moscow’s troops back to Ukraine’s 1991 borders at the time of the Soviet Union’s collapse.

Key events

Three civilians have been wounded in Russian artillery shelling of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, a senior Ukrainian official said.

Posting to Telegram, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, wrote:

Today, due to artillery shelling of the city of Kherson, three local residents ended up in the hospital. Russian terrorists are fighting the civilian population.

In a separate Telegram, the Kherson regional military administration said two emergency and rescue workers had been injured by Russian shelling.

The two men suffered shrapnel injuries, it said, adding they had been hospitalised and were receiving medical assistance.

Russian troops on the east bank of the Dnipro opened fire on Kherson region 83 times on Friday, hitting a total of 34 settlements, according to Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the regional military administration.

The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, said he held a long conversation with Vladimir Putin yesterday, Reuters is reporting.

Lukashenko told reporters that he and his Russian counterpart touched on various topics in their conversation, without giving further details.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed some elements of a Chinese proposal for a ceasefire in Russia’s war on Ukraine, but said only the country where a war is being fought can be the initiator of a peace plan.

The Ukrainian president said, during a press conference in Kyiv on Friday, that the plan was “an important signal that they are going to participate in this topic”, but warned Beijing against providing Moscow with arms.

China’s Ukraine peace plan ‘important signal’, says Zelenskiy – video

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has said China’s engagement in peace in Ukraine is a “good thing”.

Macron told reporters that he would visit China in early April, in part to seek Beijing’s help with ending the war.

He said:

China must help us put pressure on Russia so that it never uses chemical or nuclear weapons, (an effort) which China has already made, and that it stops its aggression as a precondition for talks.

Here are some of the latest images we have received from the frontline city of Bakhmut in Ukraine.

Ukrainian service members ride a tank in the frontline city of Bakhmut.
Ukrainian service members ride a tank in the frontline city of Bakhmut. Photograph: Reuters
A local resident walks an empty street in the city of Bakhmut.
A local resident walks an empty street in the city of Bakhmut. Photograph: Reuters
A local resident is seen in a broken window in a building damaged by a Russian military strike in Bakhmut, Ukraine.
A local resident is seen in a broken window in a building damaged by a Russian military strike in Bakhmut, Ukraine. Photograph: Reuters

China considering supplying artillery shells to Russia, say US officials

The US has intelligence that the Chinese government is considering providing Russia with drones and ammunition for use in the war in Ukraine, according to US officials.

It does not appear that Beijing has made a final decision yet and there is no evidence that any weapon transfers have occurred, officials said.

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However, negotiations between Russia and China about the price and scope of the equipment are ongoing, CNN has reported. It comes as the Russian army rapidly depletes its ammunition stocks more than a year into its invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow has repeatedly requested drones and ammunition from Beijing, the sources said, and Chinese leadership has been actively debating over the last several months whether or not to send the lethal aid, they added.

US intelligence officials believe China is now leaning towards providing the equipment, despite just yesterday calling for peace talks and urging all parties to end attacks on civilians.

China calls for political resolution to Russian war against Ukraine – video

The sources said the provision of drones and ammunition would likely be for small arms such as handheld weaponry rather than larger artillery.

The aid being considered consists of 122-millimetre and 152-millimetre rounds, which Russia has in dwindling supply as it prosecutes a war largely fought with artillery, the Washington Post has cited US officials as saying.

A senior US administration official said:

China has the capacity to be a game-changer.

If China were to go ahead with the transfer, it would mark the first time Beijing has provided lethal aid in the conflict despite repeated warnings from the US.

Joe Biden said on Friday that he does not “anticipate a major initiative” from China to provide weapons to Russia.

When asked if any future support would cross a red line, Biden said that the US “would respond.”

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, on Sunday said China may be about to provide lethal aid to help Russia in the war in Ukraine.

Blinken told US networks that the US had information China was considering whether to give Russia assistance, possibly including guns and weapons, for the Ukraine war.

Here’s some more on the G20 meeting in India, where finance leaders of the world’s biggest economies have been unable to reach a consensus on how to describe the conflict in Ukraine.

Italy’s finance minister, Giancarlo Giorgetti, said it would be “unacceptable” to soften the wording approved in November at the G20 summit in Bali.

At the time, G20 leaders said “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine” but also acknowledged some countries saw the conflict differently.

In a statement, Giorgetti said:

We cannot call into question what was approved in Bali and any other solution would be an unacceptable setback.

G20 ‘failing to reach consensus on war in Ukraine’

A meeting of finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of Twenty (G20) leading economies in Bengaluru, India, will likely end today without a joint communique, because there was no consensus on how to describe the conflict in Ukraine, according to delegates.

The US and its G7 allies have pushed to demand the communique squarely condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the meeting, US treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, said:

I think there has to be a statement in the communique condemning Russia’s war. It’s something that I think is absolutely necessary.

Russia, which is a member of the G20, refers to its actions in Ukraine as a “special military operation”, and avoids calling it an invasion or war.

India has been reluctant to be caught between Ukraine’s western allies and Russia and other countries supporting Moscow, such as China. The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, kicking off the meetings on Friday, avoided mention of Ukraine.

India and China were also among the nations that abstained on a UN vote to call for Russia to immediately and unconditionally withdraw from Ukraine.

India is pressing the meeting to avoid using the word “war” in any communique, G20 officials have told Reuters. A senior source said negotiations over the communique were difficult, with Russia and China blocking proposals by western countries.

Explosions have reportedly been heard in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine, according to Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the exiled city’s mayor.

The explosions were reported in the location of a large Russian military personnel cluster, he said.

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Andriushchenko, posting on Telegram, wrote:

The sounds of explosions along the line of Yalta village / Yuryivka village (location of a large concentration of occupiers) in Mariupol district are reported. We verify the reports. Air raid alert was announced in Ukraine, but occupiers are struck.

“It’s a good trend,” he added.

Ukraine’s armed forces have in recent days claimed strikes on Mariupol, previously thought to be outside the effective range of Ukrainian missiles, Kyiv Post has reported.

Nataliya Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s armed forces, on Thursay said:

At this stage, we can only state that inaccessibility is a very relative concept. What is considered so remote that it is unreachable, is not always so. The direction of Mariupol is no longer completely unreachable for us.

Thousands of tickets for the Eurovision song contest are to be allocated to Ukrainians who have been forced from their homes and are living in the UK.

The international music show will take place at the M&S Bank Arena Liverpool in May after the city was chosen to host the competition on behalf of the 2022 winner, Ukraine, which is unable to host the event after the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra, who were triumphant at last year’s competition in Turin, Italy, will perform during this year’s show.
Ukrainian folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra, who were triumphant at last year’s competition in Turin, Italy, will perform during this year’s show. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

As part of the UK’s commitment to honour Ukraine at the song contest, about 3,000 tickets will be made available to displaced Ukrainians so they can attend the live shows.

The UK government has also announced £10m in funding to “help ensure the event truly showcases Ukrainian culture” on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the country.

The money will support Liverpool city council and the BBC’s partnerships with Ukrainian artists and performers to create a show “celebrating music and how it unites people from around the world”.

Read the full story here:

Zelenskiy adviser dismisses China’s peace plan and warns time running out

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has dismissed China’s “unrealistic” proposal to end the conflict.

Beijing should not “bet on an aggressor who broke [international] law and will lose the war”, Podolyak tweeted this morning.

If you claim to be a global player, you don’t offer an unrealistic plan. You don’t bet on an aggressor who broke intl law and will lose the war. It’s not far-sighted. As someone who plans for decades doesn’t play “🇷🇺 3-day games.”
China, the “window of opportunity” is not endless

— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) February 25, 2023

The Chinese government’s 12-point position paper on Ukraine was released on Friday morning, on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion. In it, Beijing called for peace talks while urging all parties to avoid nuclear escalation and end attacks on civilians, in a statement which appeared to maintain its stance that the west was fuelling the conflict and which analysts dismissed as anodyne.

The paper, for which Ukraine was not consulted, was cautiously welcomed by Kyiv. “China started talking about Ukraine, and that’s not bad,” Zelenskiy said during a press conference yesterday.

It seems to me that there is respect for our territorial integrity, security issues.

Podolyak said yesterday that any plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine must involve the withdrawal of Moscow’s troops back to Ukraine’s 1991 borders at the time of the Soviet Union’s collapse.

Polish Leopard tanks handed over to Ukraine

The New Voice of Ukraine’s Euan MacDonald has shared a clip showing the formal handover of the first Polish Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

The video shows Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, with his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal, attending the official transfer of Polish Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine in an undisclosed location in the country.

It comes after Morawiecki yesterday confirmed that four Leopard tanks had been delivered to Ukraine.

Standing alongside Volodymyr Zelenskiy during his visit to Kyiv, Morawiecki said:

Poland and Europe stand by your side. We will definitely not leave you, we will support Ukraine until complete victory over Russia.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Mateusz Morawiecki at a joint press conference following their talks in Kyiv.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Mateusz Morawiecki at a joint press conference following their talks in Kyiv. Photograph: UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SER/AFP/Getty Images

Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here again, taking over from Mark Gerts to bring you the latest developments from the Russia-Ukraine war. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.

Ukraine’s military said Russia had doubled the number of ships on active duty in the Black Sea on Friday and predicted this could be a preparation for more missile strikes.

Russia’s navy has regularly launched missiles from its Black Sea fleet as part of an effort by Moscow to target Ukrainian critical infrastructure and power-generating facilities.

“In the Black Sea, the fleet of warships has doubled compared to this morning – it is now eight ships,” the military command in the southern region said in a Facebook update.

“Against a background of enemy aviation activity of a certain kind, this may indicate that a missile attack as well as drone strikes are in preparation,” it said.

One of the vessels is a frigate armed with eight Kalibr missiles, it said. Last Saturday Ukraine said Russia launched four Kalibr missiles from the Black Sea, two of which were shot down.

Russia’s Black Sea fleet is based in the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.




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