Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo addresses the statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a plenary session of the chamber in the Federal Parliament in Brussels on Thursday, March 31. (Virginie Lefour/Belga/Reuters)
If you catch up on the latest developments in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, you should know the following:
From Mariupol: Denis Pushilin, the head of the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic, has ordered the formation of a municipal government for the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to a decree published on the DPR chief’s website on Thursday, Russia’s state news agency TASS reported on Thursday .
The city lies within the borders of the Donetsk region of Ukraine. The city was under the control of the Ukrainian government before the war, but the Russian government – which recognized the DPR’s independence in late February – considers the entire region part of the separatist republic.
Meanwhile, the evacuation corridor in Mariupol agreed by Ukrainian and Russian officials and announced on Thursday was “insufficient” to allow civilians to be rescued “under the right conditions,” France said.
Rubles for Russian gas: According to a newly signed decree, gas buyers from “unfriendly countries” must open ruble accounts with Russian banks and pay from them, President Vladimir Putin announced. France, Germany and Britain said they would not pay for Russian gas in rubles.
Russia withdraws from Chernobyl: The site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986 and the surrounding area fell into the hands of Russian troops in the first week of the war in Ukraine. But in a Telegram post Thursday, Energoatom, the state-owned company that oversees Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, said Russian troops have announced their intention to leave Ukrainian personnel and hand over control. The US is also seeing Russian forces “pulling down” from Chernobyl and from north and north-west of Kyiv, a senior US defense official told reporters on Thursday.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the Belgian government for help with “weapons, sanctions, membership of the European Union,” adding, “Perhaps the future will soon pay off for you.” promote invasion of Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Says Russian Troops ‘Not Retreating, Repositioning’: At a press conference in Brussels on the Secretary General’s 2021 annual report, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that according to intelligence services, “Russian units are not withdrawing but repositioning themselves. Russia is trying to regroup, resupply and reinforce its offensive in the Donbass region. At the same time, Russia is keeping the pressure on Kyiv and other cities…we can expect additional offensive actions that will bring even more suffering,” Stoltenberg said.