War in Ukraine | Always far from compromise

Mariupol in an “almost hopeless” situation, Kyiv in the process of being surrounded, numerous telephone calls between heads of state… More than two weeks after the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, still no ceasefire dot on the horizon.

Judith Lachapelle
The Press

Diplomatic channels are open, but dialogue is struggling to be established. On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz both spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and then with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The conversation with Mr. Poutine was described as “very frank and difficult” by the Élysée. Kremlin chief, President Macron’s team reported, spouted ‘lies’ when he spoke in discussion about ‘gross violations’ of human rights by Ukraine’s military, which allegedly uses civilians as “human shields”, according to Moscow.

For his part, Volodymyr Zelensky made rather positive remarks on Saturday to comment on the statements made the day before by Mr. Putin – the latter had mentioned Friday “advances” in the Russian-Ukrainian talks.

During a press conference in Kyiv broadcast on his Telegram account, President Zelensky said he was “glad to have a signal from Russia”.

“We started talking”, and Moscow “no longer simply issues ultimatums”, which constitutes “a fundamentally different approach”, added Mr. Zelensky. According to him, over the past two years, Ukraine has approached Moscow “more than a dozen times”, “without ever having heard that a dialogue could take place. »

“Neither Russia nor Ukraine are currently ready to compromise,” commented in an interview with AFP Oleg Ignatov, an analyst specializing in Russia within the think tank International Crisis Group (ICG), dedicated to the prevention of the war. “Both sides view the military scenario as the main scenario: Ukraine is not losing the war and Russia is not winning it,” he said. “In this situation, the fighting will continue”, believes Mr. Ignatov, considering that “everything will depend on what is happening on the ground”.

Mariupol asphyxiated

And indeed, on the ground, the Russian offensive on the ground has shown no signs of slowing down.

Besieged for 12 days, Mariupol, short of food, is also deprived of water, gas, electricity and communications. An “almost hopeless” situation, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Attempts to evacuate hundreds of thousands of civilians have repeatedly failed.

“Mariupol is still surrounded. What they cannot have by war, [les Russes] want to have it through hunger and despair. As they cannot bring down the Ukrainian army, they are targeting the population,” a French military source told AFP.

In the port city of Mykolaiv, the bombings almost did not stop during the night from Friday to Saturday, affecting in particular an oncology center and an ophthalmological hospital, according to an AFP journalist.

“They fired on these civilian areas, without any military objective”, was indignant Dmytro Lagotchev, the head of the hospital.

The capital, Kyiv, is gripped by Russian forces massed in its eastern and western suburbs. Northwestern suburbs, including Irpin and Boutcha, have already suffered days of heavy shelling, as Russian armor advances from the northeast. Vassylkiv airport, about 40 kilometers south of Kyiv, was destroyed on Saturday morning.

According to the UK Ministry of Defence, Russian forces were 25 kilometers from the capital on Saturday. A column to the north of the city dispersed, reinforcing the idea of ​​an encirclement strategy.

US Adds Weapons

For its part, the White House on Saturday authorized a new arms aid of 200 million dollars for Ukraine to help it defend itself. US President Joe Biden authorized the release of these funds “in defense equipment and services [provenant] of the Department of Defence”, as well as in “military training”, to “provide assistance to Ukraine”.

An announcement that comes as Russia has threatened to target Western arms supplies to Ukraine. In an interview with the Pervi Kanal television channel, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said he “warned the United States” that these “convoys” were becoming “legitimate targets”, citing the portable air defense and anti-tank missile systems.

With Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press

Roman Abramovich sanctioned

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, a major shareholder in the British multinational Evraz, which operates a steel mill in Regina, Saskatchewan, was the target of new punitive measures on Saturday because of his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In England, the Premier League on Saturday ordered the oligarch to cede the reins of the Chelsea club and sell it as soon as possible, after he was sanctioned by the British government. Additionally, a superyacht belonging to him has been spotted in the Adriatic Sea off Montenegro, the Associated Press reported. The country, a member of NATO, has not yet publicly commented on the arrival on its territory of the ship worth an estimated 600 million dollars. Roman Abramovich is said to have owned at least seven of the world’s largest yachts, some of which have since been sold to other oligarchs.