Moldova strengthens its security
Moldova on Tuesday announced measures to strengthen its security after a series of Moscow-backed blasts in the separatist region of Transnistria, which raised fears of spilling over from the current conflict in Ukraine. “This is an attempt to increase tensions. We condemn such actions in the strongest possible terms. The Moldovan authorities will ensure that the republic is not drawn into a conflict,” Moldovan President Maïa Sandu said after a National Security Council meeting.
[ 🇲🇩 MOLDAVIE | 🇷🇺 RUSSIE | 🇺🇦 UKRAINE ]
🔸️Ukrainian officials have reported that Russian Task Force units stationed in Transnistria have been put on full combat readiness. https://t.co/8AdB3L6IfK
— (Small) think tank (@L_ThinkTank) April 26, 2022
Kyiv on Tuesday accused Moscow of wanting to “destabilize” the Transnistrian region.
Paris and Washington also reacted in turn. France supports Moldova amid “risks of destabilization,” Foreign Secretary Jean-Yves Le Drian said, while US State Department spokesman Ned Price did not go so far as to blame Moscow for the blasts, as Kyiv does, telling reporters: “We remain concerned about any possible attempt to escalate tensions. »
Germany changes its mind
Germany will authorize the delivery of Cheetah armored vehicles to Ukraine, the defense minister announced on Tuesday, marking a major turning point in the cautious policy Berlin has so far pursued in its military support for Kyiv.
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The 50 anti-aircraft tanks were retired 10 years ago and need a technical upgrade. They do not come directly from the Bundeswehr, but from stocks of the armaments company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW).
The EU fears a nuclear catastrophe
36 years after the Chernobyl explosion caused by the Russian offensive, the European Union has warned of a new nuclear catastrophe in Ukraine and called on Moscow to refrain from any measures against the country’s plants.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of bringing the world “to the brink of disaster” by seizing the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. “The world was once again on the brink of disaster, because for the Russian military the Chernobyl area and the power plant were like normal territory for conducting military operations,” said Zelenskyy.
Putin is not “serious” about negotiations
Ukrainian President Zelensky posted photos of himself with US Secretary of State Blinken and Secretary of State Austin in Kyiv on Sunday, saying their visit “is very valuable and important at this crucial moment for the Ukrainian state.” pic.twitter.com/gwL84RdyPJ
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) April 25, 2022
Vladimir Putin has not shown “seriousness” in his intentions to negotiate with Ukraine to end the conflict, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. “We have seen no sign that President Putin is serious about meaningful negotiations,” Blinken told the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
Guterres calls for a ceasefire
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on his first trip to Moscow since the start of the Russian offensive, called for a ceasefire in Ukraine “as soon as possible”. He also called on Kyiv and Moscow to work with the United Nations to open humanitarian corridors. And he said he was “concerned by repeated reports of possible war crimes” in Ukraine, saying they “require an independent investigation.”
At their meeting in the Kremlin that evening, Vladimir Putin replied that he was still hoping for a “positive result” in the negotiations with Ukraine. He said Moscow-Kyiv talks in Istanbul in March brought a “serious breakthrough”.
A monthly meeting to help Kyiv
The United States and its allies will meet monthly to discuss how to strengthen Ukraine’s military capabilities against Russia, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced after meeting some 40 countries in Germany.
At least 9 civilians killed in shelling
According to local authorities, at least nine civilians died in bomb attacks by the Russian army in eastern and southern Ukraine on Tuesday.
5.3 million refugees