The United States still has no evidence that China supplied arms to Russia, but if it did, it would “potentially expand the war to a global scale,” the Pentagon chief warns. Meanwhile, EU leaders are preparing to fly to China to discuss Xi’s peace plan. Von der Leyen and Macron will travel to Beijing in early April. Borrell also announces an upcoming trip to China. For the Spaniard Sanchez, Xi’s plan has “interesting ideas”.
“As a result of the water fall from the Kakhovka reservoir, there is a risk of failure of the cooling systems of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. This could mean a possible scenario of Fukushima in the middle of the European continent because of Russia”. This is supported by Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ruslan Strilets in an update on Facebook. According to the minister, almost 5 million Ukrainians have no access to drinking water, and another 70% of the population may be left without this resource due to Russian bombing.
Kiev is ready to launch a counteroffensive at Bakhmut
Biden: Attacking one NATO member is an attack on all
“An attack against one is an attack against all”: Joe Biden reiterated this, reaffirming NATO countries’ commitment to mutual defense when addressing the Ottawa Parliament on the Ukraine conflict.
“We will put pressure on Putin with sanctions and continue to support Kiev,” Biden said.
China has made a significant commitment to Russia but has not yet supplied Moscow with weapons, Biden said.
Austin: If China arms Moscow, a global conflict looms.
If China decides to arm Moscow, “it would prolong the conflict and potentially expand the war not just regionally but globally,” Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin warned in Beijing.
For its part, Moscow is not thinking of withdrawing, even threatening to go as far as Kiev and Lemberg if necessary: Word of the hawk Dmitry Medvedev.
ANSA agency
Advisor to the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy: “I am very impressed, the Prime Minister speaks with the right emotion” (ANSA)
The focus remains on China’s peace plan, which has meanwhile accused the US of “pouring fuel on the fire” and “hindering” talks. But there is Western or at least European interest in the proposal: This is confirmed by the announcements of the upcoming visits to Beijing by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron. And before that, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is due to meet Xi Jinping in China next week. While, on the one hand, the Chinese proposal now appears to be the basis for working towards a mediated solution to the conflict, Kiev has repeatedly reiterated that various points of the plan fall far short of the peace Ukrainians are seeking, amid growing anticipation of a phone call between Zelensky and Xi. According to presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak, the call is planned, but there are some “difficulties” in organizing it. Beijing, on the other hand, made it clear that it currently has “nothing to share” in this regard.
ANSA agency
Potassium dichromate found in Evira Vikhareva’s blood (ANSA)
Meanwhile, the rain of bombs continues across Ukraine.
Blood continues to flow across the country where at least 10 civilians have been killed and 20 injured in the last day as Russian shelling erupted in various areas, including 5 dead in an attack on a civilian shelter in Kostyantynivka in Donetsk. During the night, Russian troops with drones struck the area of Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyi’s hometown. And the Russian siege continues its takeover of the iconic town of Bakhmut, where about 10,000 civilians, many elderly and disabled, still live in and around the settlement in “catastrophic conditions,” according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Zelenskyy: “CPI representative office will be opened in Ukraine”