UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres meets Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov in Moscow just as an extraordinary summit in support of Ukraine is being held at the American base in Ramstein, in Germany, with defense ministers from 40 countries. Guteress, who will soon be received in the Kremlin by Putin, who in the meantime has heard on the phone with Turkish President Erdogan, is calling for “a ceasefire” in Ukraine “as soon as possible”. He claims to be “concerned” about “repeated violations of human rights and war crimes in Ukraine” and explains that he has proposed “a humanitarian contact group with Russia and Ukraine” to create truly “effective and respected” humanitarian corridors. .
Lavrov retorts by saying that Russia would like “a negotiated peace”, but that “it is Kiev that does not want it”. “Zelensky – observes the Russian minister – has taken back what he had asked for the week before and this saddens us: the Ukrainian side is not interested in the negotiations”. If the Westerners “continue to deliver weapons, the negotiations will hardly have good results.
We are ready to take them back if someone presents interesting ideas “he assures, specifying however that at this stage” it is premature “since Moscow wants” answers to the last variation of the document sent 12 days ago, but which perhaps was not delivered to Zelensky who he said he was unaware of it. “
That peace can be reached through diplomatic channels in a short time, however, is the fact that excludes it. And not only because even at the Ramstein summit, the tone becomes increasingly serious, with the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, who kicks off the ‘League for Ukraine’ and says he is ready “to do much more” to make Zelensky win and with the British Defense Minister authorizing the Kiev offensive on Russian soil with British weapons, but also for the situation that is being created in Transnistria. A series of explosions in the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria, one of which also damaged a Russian broadcaster, spark fears that the conflict in Ukraine could extend to Moldova.
The Kremlin says it is following “closely” the situation in the area, the latest developments of which cause “concern”. While the President of Moldova Maia Sandu convenes the National Security Council. The secretary of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) Vlad Batrincea believes that behind the explosions in Transnistria there is an attempt to drag the country into an armed conflict, something that he would like to avoid at all costs by appealing to the respect of the expected “neutrality” by the country’s constitution. Transnistria, whose independence is not recognized by the international community, separated from Moldova after a brief civil war following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The territory, with a population of around 500,000, is heavily dependent on Russia, which provides free gas and has 1,500 troops deployed.
Meanwhile, the conflict continues to claim victims, exacerbate spirits and create refugees who, according to the UN, should number over 8 million.
According to the armed forces of Kiev, at least 22,100 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. While the spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry Igor Konashenkov, quoted by Tass, argues that the Russian forces last night killed about 500 “enemy nationalists”, including 60 militants from the Donbass nationalist group “and hit with” precision missiles. 4 Ukrainian military targets: two military equipment and hardware production sites and two ammunition depots near Kurulka and Novaya Dmitrovka in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine “.
But the exchange of accusations between the two armies continues unabated with the Ukrainians pointing the finger at the Russians who are allegedly “forcing the male population of Mariupol to participate in the removal of the rubble in the city and dig mass graves in exchange for food”. While the Azov regiment says that Russian forces have launched “in the last 24 hours 35 air strikes on the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, where civilians are also hiding”. And precisely the troops barricaded in the steel mills are now asking to be evacuated to Turkey, rather than to the areas of Ukraine under the control of Kiev, as explained by the leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, according to Tass reports. And this, while the Belarusian Ministry of Defense announces that from today to April 29, the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense will hold a joint exercise with Russian forces in Belarus. On the other hand, at least 55 free trains will depart today from three Ukrainian cities for the evacuation of civilians both for destinations within Ukraine and abroad.
Meanwhile, Poland continues to take sides against Moscow, which today announces that it has imposed sanctions on Russia that include the freezing of assets and the ban on entry for 35 Russian companies and 15 people. While Russia expels three Swedish diplomats. Kiev demolishes the statue at the Arch of Friendship of Peoples built by the Soviets in 1982.
Source: Ansa
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