Tag: Kremlin
Kremlin Vows Victory in Ukraine as Refugees Swell to One Million
ODESSA, Ukraine — Russian forces advanced deeper into southern Ukraine on Thursday, appearing intent on seizing the country’s entire Black Sea coast, as the number of people fleeing Ukraine reached one million just a week into Russia’s invasion and bombardment of cities and towns.
Defiant Ukrainians, bolstered by a huge influx of weapons from NATO countries, have put up surprisingly effective resistance, while Moscow’s forces have run into a host of logistical problems, according to Western military and intelligence assessments.
‘Ukrainian’ separatists are Russian citizens – POLITICO
With the world braced for war, Russian President Vladimir Putin has personally demanded that the Ukrainian government negotiate directly with separatist leaders in the occupied areas of eastern Ukraine. In the absence of such discussions, he said, implementing the Minsk peace accords is “impossible.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has declared that direct talks with the so-called People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are a “red line” that his government will not cross, calling the separatists “terrorists.” Instead, Zelenskiy has pushed
In Ukraine, even peace accords can be a Russian weapon – POLITICO
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In their frenzied diplomatic effort to dissuade Russia from a new invasion of Ukraine, Western leaders are pinning renewed hope on the long-stuck Minsk peace accords.
The Minsk agreements, first negotiated in 2014 and 2015, were intended to bring an end to the war with Russian-backed separatists, then raging in eastern Ukraine.
But the pact is fiercely disputed and flawed, with ambiguous provisions open to conflicting interpretation and serious contingencies unplanned for.
Since
With Russian guns pointed at Ukraine, West and Moscow dive into talks – POLITICO
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GENEVA — U.S., European, and NATO officials are adamant the intense week of diplomatic meetings with Russia is a dialogue, not a negotiation.
But with upwards of 100,000 Russian soldiers quite literally pointing guns at Ukraine, with tanks and other heavy weaponry massed on the border, and President Vladimir Putin openly threatening military action if his demands for security guarantees are not met, this week’s talks have all the markings of a hostage
Europe remembers its forgotten war – POLITICO
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PISKY, Ukraine — Machine gun fire pulsed in the distance as Elgard, a 23-year-old junior lieutenant in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, walked a muddy road lined with bombed-out houses in this wrecked, abandoned village on the edge of Donetsk, the regional capital held by pro-Russian separatists.
Clutching his Kalashnikov at the ready, Elgard, who goes by the call signal “Svan,” pivoted instinctively at an intersection and scanned for danger in the direction of