Ukraine will not accept any proposals that would lead to losing territories or “freezing” the conflict with Russia. This was stated by the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in talks with the visiting special envoy of China Li Hui in Kiev.
“Respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine is the basis of a future sustainable and just peace”, emphasized Kuleba, quoted by Reuters and BNR.
The Chinese diplomat is on a tour of Europe, during which he will probe the conditions for ending the war in Ukraine. In the coming days, Li Hui is expected in Moscow, Warsaw, Berlin and Paris. China’s special envoy for Ukraine Li Hui is expected to arrive in Warsaw on Friday
Dmytro Kuleba’s statement comes in response to China’s February 24 peace plan, which says Ukraine’s territorial integrity must be preserved but calls for an early ceasefire at a time when Russia still controls more than 100,000 square kilometers in Eastern and Southern Ukraine.
The Bahmut hotspot continues to be hot
Ukraine’s armed forces said today they had made new progress in heavy fighting near the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, known by Russians as Avdeyevka, and that Russia was continuing to send new units there, including paratroopers, Reuters and BTA reported.
The agency notes that these are the latest claims by Kiev over the past week that Russian forces have been pushed back in some areas around Bakhmut amid months of fighting.
“We are successfully conducting a defensive operation, we are counter-attacking, and during this day our units advanced up to 500 meters in some parts of the Bakhmut front,” Ukrainian military spokesman Serhiy Cherevaty said on Ukrainian television. He said he had seen no signs that Russian forces were running low on ammunition, contradicting statements by the head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, which is on the front lines of the Bakhmut assault.
“The enemy is trying to capture the city at will and is striking with all systems and calibers. There can be no question of any hunger for projectiles,” Cherevati said. “They are moving new units here (to Bakhmut), mainly paratroopers, in an attempt to achieve some intermediate success,” he added.
Moscow has not yet commented on Cherevati’s claims. Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted a statement from the Ministry of Defense as saying that Russian forces continue to fight for the western parts of Bakhmut.
Reuters disclaims that it has not been able to confirm the situation on the battlefield through independent sources.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said yesterday that in recent days, Kiev forces have regained control over territories with an area of about 20 square kilometers around Bakhmut. Today, she reiterated her claim and said the fighting in the city was fierce.
Photo: BTA
Both warring sides reported casualties in today’s hostilities.
Three people, including a 5-year-old boy, were killed by Russian shelling in the Kherson region today, DPA reported, citing authorities in the southern Ukrainian region.
In the attack in the village of Zelenovka, north of Kherson, two people were seriously injured.
People were going shopping in a store when the shelling started.
Russia seized the Kherson region in early March last year – shortly after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the end of September, it declared the Ukrainian region annexed. However, the Armed Forces of Ukraine subsequently retook the part of the district west of the Dnieper River in a counteroffensive.
The leader of the unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), which Russia annexed, Denis Pushilin, reported five killed and 23 wounded in Ukrainian shelling, DPA also reported. Among the injured is a 13-year-old boy.
During that time, six Ukrainian bloggers risked going to jail for videos, which reveal Ukrainian military positions and thus put security at risk.
Ukraine’s secret services have made six bloggers apologize publicly after they released videos of the firing of air defense systems in Kiev that could reveal the location of the installations, DPA reported.
The positions of the Ukrainian air defense systems can be determined from the footage published on social networks.
“I fully admit my guilt, I ask the Ukrainian people for forgiveness and I promise never to commit such actions again,” said one of the bloggers in a video released by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), BTA reports.
Ukraine’s military claimed to have intercepted all Russian missiles fired at Kiev in time on Tuesday. However, according to media reports, at least one of the recently delivered American Patriot air defense systems was hit.
Bloggers can face one to eight years in prison on charges of disseminating military information.
Germany cannot be helpful in the initiative to provide fighter jets to Ukraine, as it is unable to offer pilot training, nor to give Kiev the relevant military equipment, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said today, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
He said this at a joint press conference with British Defense Minister Ben Wallace, visiting Berlin.
Photo: BTA
At the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, Britain announced it was working with the Netherlands to form an international coalition to help Ukraine acquire F-16 fighter jets from its allies.
“It is very important to signal to Russia that as states we have no philosophical principled objections to providing Ukraine with the capabilities it needs depending on the situation on the battlefield,” said Ben Wallace.
“We cannot play an active role in such an alliance … because we have never had the capacity to conduct training, nor the necessary competences, nor the aircraft,” Pistorius said.
He added that Germany will continue to support Ukraine, focusing on tanks and air defense. This includes sending more ammunition and maintaining the vehicles that Berlin has already sent to Kiev.
At the same forum in Reykjavik, where prime ministers and heads of state from European countries gathered, Bulgarian Vice President Iliana Yotova confirmed the country’s position regarding the war against Ukraine and support for the country’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
Yotova declared Bulgarian support for the creation of a Register of Damages in Ukraine caused by the war and signed the final declaration of the IV Summit of the Council of Europe, which reaffirms the organization’s principles of democracy and respect for human rights, supports Ukraine and focuses on Ukrainian children.
Photo: BTA
2023-05-17 18:14:01
#Ukraine #accept #peace #price #losing #territory
