China presented its vision for the “political settlement” of the conflict in Ukraine on Wednesday in Moscow, as the UN secretary general denounced the “affront to our collective conscience” caused by the invasion a year ago. of Ukraine, at the opening of the General Assembly.
Kyiv and its allies, for their part, hope to garner the widest possible support for a resolution to be considered the same day by the UN General Assembly calling for a “just and lasting” peace, a year after the start of the Russian invasion.
“The first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine represents a dark milestone, for the Ukrainian people and for the international community. This invasion is an affront to our collective conscience,” said Antonio Guterres, repeating his fears of an escalation of the conflict.
Russia’s response to the West, through the voice of the Russian ambassador Vassili Nebenzia from the rostrum of the General Assembly, was not long in coming: “In their desire to inflict a defeat on Russia of all possible ways, it is not only Ukraine that they can sacrifice, they are ready to plunge the whole world into the abyss of war,” he said.
The Russian head of state had made an impression the day before by announcing the suspension of the New Start nuclear disarmament treaty signed in 2010, the last bilateral agreement of its kind binding Russians and Americans.
Asked in Warsaw about Vladimir Putin’s announcement of withdrawal from New Start, the American president briefly replied: “serious error”.
Joe Biden was speaking before meeting leaders of NATO countries from Central and Eastern Europe (B9, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland , Romania and Slovakia), in the presence of the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance Jens Stoltenberg.
The latter considered on this occasion that it was necessary to “maintain and intensify” support for Ukraine and provide it with “what it needs to win”.
In a joint statement, the nine countries stressed that they would continue to strengthen their “deterrence and defense posture along the entire eastern flank, from the Baltic to the Black Sea”.
Mr. Biden left Poland after this meeting.
“Our historic lands”
The same day, Vladimir Putin made an appearance for a few minutes at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow where a great patriotic concert was taking place.
“Today, the (military) hierarchy told me that fighting was underway within our historic lands for our people,” he said, on stage, in front of tens of thousands of his compatriots.
He paid tribute to the Russian soldiers deployed in Ukraine who “fight with heroism, courage and valor: we are proud of them”.
“The president really needs our support right now. […] It is going in the right direction,” Vladimir Ziablitski, 59, told AFP, who made the special trip from his region of Kemerovo, 3,000 kilometers from the capital, to attend the event.
On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin delivered a virulent speech, vowing to “methodically” continue the assault unleashed in Ukraine and accusing Westerners of wanting “to finish with us once and for all”.
Joe Biden replied shortly after that the West was “not plotting to attack Russia”.
Wang Yi in Moscow
In Moscow, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was received at the Kremlin on Wednesday after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
This after the United States and NATO expressed concern that the Chinese were preparing, which they denied, to supply Russia with weapons to continue its military operations in Ukraine.
“The Chinese partners shared with us their thoughts on the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, as well as their approaches to its political settlement,” commented the Russian Foreign Ministry after the talks. “There was no question of a separate (peace) ‘plan’,” he noted, however.
Beijing has promised to go public this week with its proposal to end the conflict in Ukraine, in time for the first anniversary of the launch of the Russian offensive in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. “China did not consult us”, has to In this regard, reacted a senior Ukrainian official who requested anonymity in front of several media, including AFP.
He warned that no peace plan should cross “red lines” set by Kiev, which refuses in particular to make any territorial concessions to Russia, which occupies regions in eastern and southern Ukraine , such as the Crimean peninsula.
Wang Yi meanwhile expressed Beijing’s desire to “strengthen the strategic partnership […] and all-out cooperation” with Russia.