The day was marked by the start of Xi Jinping’s official visit to Moscow.
Reconciliation between Moscow and Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping began a three-day official visit to Russia on Monday March 20 alongside Vladimir Putin. The Russian President welcomed, at the end of this meeting, the position “balanced” of his Chinese counterpart on the war in Ukraine. He also said he considers “respectfully” the peace plan proposed by China, in which Beijing notably calls on Moscow and kyiv to engage in peace talks. For his part, Xi Jinping hailed the “close relations” between Beijing and Moscow, according to the official Russian translation of his remarks.
Washington calls on “the world not to be fooled”
In reaction to this visit, the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, called “the world not to be fooled by any tactical decision by Russia, backed by China or any other country, to freeze the conflict on its own terms”.
On the European side, as if to signify its support for Ukraine in the face of Beijing’s support for Moscow, the EU has released two billion euros to buy and deliver artillery ammunition to the Ukrainian army. In the process, Washington announced a new tranche of aid, of 350 million dollars, and assured kyiv of its support “as long as necessary”.
Wagner claims to control “about 70%” of Bakhmout
“At present, Wagner’s units control about 70% of Bakhmout and continue the offensive for its complete liberation”assured thehe leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeni Prigozhin, in a letter to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. However, these statements were unverifiable from an independent source.
Yevgeny Prigojine also said he expected a counter-offensive by Ukrainian forces for the end of March or the beginning of April, intended according to him to “cut off Wagner’s units from the main forces of the Russian army”. He therefore asked Sergei Shoigu to “take measures” to prevent this situation from occurring.
EU wants to help countries destabilized by influx of Ukrainian grain
The European Commission has announced that it wants to draw on a crisis reserve to support farmers in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, destabilized by the influx of Ukrainian agricultural imports. This support of 56.3 million euros, financed by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reserve, aims to compensate “economic losses due to increased imports of grains and oilseeds” came from Ukraine “and limit the impact of market imbalances”said the European executive.