Russia and Ukraine extended their vital grain deal for the world’s diet on Wednesday as war continues to rage, with Washington confirming that a state-of-the-art Patriot air defense battery was damaged.
After mediation by Turkey and the UN, the agreement on the export via the Black Sea of Ukrainian cereals, concluded in July 2022 in Istanbul and which expired Thursday evening, was extended “by two months”, announced Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
This agreement has made it possible to export over the past ten months more than 30 million tonnes of Ukrainian cereals, and to relieve the world food crisis caused by the war.
“This extension is good news for the world,” reacted UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
On the ground, the United States confirmed that a Patriot system had been damaged by an unidentified projectile, but remained operational.
On Tuesday, the Russian army claimed to have destroyed a Patriot battery with a “high precision strike” carried out “by a hypersonic missile “Kinjal””.
Washington announced at the end of 2022 the delivery of Patriot missiles to kyiv, which had been asking for them for a long time.
The Patriots are capable of shooting down cruise missiles, short-range ballistic missiles and aircraft, at a height significantly higher than the defense systems that had been provided up to that point. At least two such systems have been deployed in Ukraine.
Chinese envoy
On the diplomatic front, the Chinese envoy Li Hui met with the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kouleba, before a “possible” interview with President Volodymyr Zelensky, said a senior Ukrainian official, on condition of anonymity.
This exchange would be a first between Mr. Zelensky, who encourages Beijing to put pressure on Vladimir Putin, and a senior Chinese official.
During his meeting with Li Hui, Mr. Kouleba “explained in detail to the Chinese special representative the principles of restoring a lasting and just peace, based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine” , said his ministry.
“He stressed that Ukraine does not accept any proposal that would involve the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict”, he added, while Kiev fears being pushed, in the long term, to accept a compromise. with Moscow.
Li Hui’s journey will also take him to Poland, France, Germany and Russia.
China, a close partner of Moscow, has never publicly condemned the Russian invasion. And during a visit to Moscow in March, President Xi Jinping gave strong symbolic support to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
“Political Settlement”
Beijing in February offered a 12-point plan to end the war, viewed with skepticism by Westerners. According to Beijing, Li Hui, special representative for Eurasian affairs and former Chinese ambassador to Moscow, is supposed to discuss the “political settlement” of the conflict during his tour.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy hailed the “important” role of China in the peace efforts, while Kiev promotes its own formula for the settlement of the conflict involving the return of all the territories occupied by Russia, including Crimea annexed in 2014.
Mr. Li’s visit to Kiev comes just after Mr. Zelensky’s European tour, during which he received the promise of new arms deliveries needed to launch a major counter-offensive.
He was heard on several points – anti-aircraft missiles, attack drones, armored vehicles… – and progressed towards the delivery of Western combat planes, which the Europeans are reluctant to provide.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday “to see that the flow of arms and ammunition to Ukraine is increasing and that the level of tactical and technical weapons supplied is also increasing”.
On the Bakhmout front
On the battlefield, Ukraine claimed to continue to advance against the Russians near Bakhmout by advancing 500 meters in some areas during the day. On Tuesday, it claimed to have taken over 20 square kilometers near this devastated city in the east of the country, the epicenter of the fighting.
If the Russians are in difficulty on the flanks of Bakhmout, they continue their slow progress in the city itself, which they control at more than 90%.
But this local Ukrainian offensive does not seem to be the big attack that kyiv has been promising for months, Volodymyr Zelensky still recently believing that his army “needs more time”.