March 21, 2023 12:43 p.m
Ukrainian drone attack on Russian border area
Ukrainian forces have used drones to attack an oil pumping station in Russia’s Bryansk region near the border with Ukraine. The governor of the region announced this on his Telegram channel, adding that no casualties were reported.
March 21, 2023 12:40 p.m
The EU has paid Ukraine new aid for 1.5 billion
The European Commission today disbursed a second tranche of €1.5 billion to Ukraine as part of a macro-financial assistance package of up to €18 billion.
The support, he said in a statement, will help Ukraine continue to pay salaries and pensions and keep essential public services running, such as hospitals, schools and shelters for displaced people. It will also enable Ukraine to ensure macroeconomic stability and restore destroyed critical infrastructure such as energy, water systems, transport networks, roads and bridges. The payment will be made after the Commission has verified that Ukraine has made satisfactory progress towards the implementation of agreed policy conditionality and reporting requirements aimed at ensuring transparent and efficient use of funds. Ukraine has made important progress in strengthening the rule of law with the appointment of a new head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Financial stability has been enhanced by advances in better supervision of state-owned banks. The functioning of the gas system will be improved thanks to the election of a Naftogaz board of directors, and there will be a better climate for business thanks to easier requirements for licenses and permits. A first payment of 3 billion euros from this package had already been made in January. The Commission will continue to provide financial assistance to Ukraine at a rate of €1.5 billion per month for the remainder of 2023.
March 21, 2023 12:12 p.m
China: “Russia is open to peace talks”
After Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia, Beijing’s contacts with Moscow will contribute to peace. Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in the daily briefing that “Russia has carefully studied China’s position paper on the political solution to the crisis in Ukraine and is open to peace talks.” President Vladimir Putin said: “Russia appreciates China’s consistent stance on advocating fairness, objectivity and balance on major international issues. China will continue to make Sino-Russian relations a priority.”
March 21, 2023 12:09 p.m
In December, the last phone call between Scholz and Putin
Most recently, Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin last December. Scholz himself said it at the Ständehaus event last night in Düsseldorf, as reported by the Rheinische Post. Scholz explained that the Russian President sometimes translated less than during his phone calls with Putin because he already understood the Chancellor’s words and on other occasions he spoke directly in German. The phone calls with Putin, Scholz said, lasted up to an hour and a half. The Chancellor stressed that his talks with Putin were always in agreement with Germany’s allies. “It’s not like I’m texting and asking, ‘Would you like to talk again?’ Despite the different opinions, the phone calls are always polite, Scholz said again and explained that Putin calls each other “they”.
March 21, 2023 11:55 am
The Japanese Prime Minister has arrived in Kiev
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in Kiev by train from Poland. According to a video broadcast on Japanese public television, the Japanese prime minister was greeted at the Kiev train station by Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister, Emine Japarova.
March 21, 2023 11:34 am
War in Ukraine, China: “We never supplied weapons, the US should stop pointing fingers at them”
China “is neither the creator nor part of the crisis in Ukraine, nor has it supplied arms to either side of the conflict.” Responding to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s criticism of Beijing’s diplomatic cover-up of Moscow, State Department spokesman Wang Wenbin said that “the US is not qualified to point the finger at China, much less blame it.” In addition, Wang added in the daily briefing, “They say they want to keep the peace, but people don’t see any effective steps,” while “everyone sees that the US continues to supply weapons to the battlefield.”
March 21, 2023 11:17 am
Ukraine, China: “We maintain communication with everyone involved”
China is maintaining “communication with all parties involved” in the Ukraine crisis, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said, without mentioning a possible talk between President Xi Jinping and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy. China will continue to take “an objective and fair position” on the matter and “work with the international community to play a constructive role in political resolution,” Wang added during the daily briefing. “China’s position has always been clear and can be summed up in one sentence, which is to promote peace and talks.”
March 21, 2023 10:17 am
Beijing: “Japanese Prime Minister in Kiev? We need de-escalation, not the other way around.”
“The international community should stick to the right direction of promoting peace talks and creating the conditions for a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine, and not the other way around,” said Wang Wenbin, spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, when asked about the surprise visit Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Kiev just as Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Russia. “We hope Japan can do more to de-escalate the situation and not the other way around,” Wenbin said.
March 21, 2023 10:11
Xi: “Russian-Chinese relations will remain a priority”
Beijing will continue to make Russian-Chinese relations “a priority,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said in Moscow.