Kiyv (AFP) The situation for the Ukrainian forces defending the eastern city of Bakhmut has become increasingly complicated in the past few days, the Russians have now managed to surround the city enough to attack it from both the north and the south.
The Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his army will defend the city for as long as it takes, “privately, a lot of Ukrainian service people believe it’s only a matter of time” before Bakhmut falls.
Russian attack meets ‘angry’ resistance at Bakhmut
According to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia’s Wagner Mercenary Corps, Ukrainian forces are fiercely resisting a Russian attempt to capture the eastern city of Bakhmut and are throwing additional reserves into the battle. .
Ukrainian commanders have recently warned that the situation on the ground is becoming much more difficult as Russia intensifies its attempts to encircle Bakhmut. , will be the first Grand Prize for Moscow in more than half a year.
China and Belarus call for Ukraine ceasefire, talks
The presidents of China and Belarus have joined forces to call for a ceasefire and negotiations to bring about a political settlement to the Ukraine conflict.
The joint call came in a meeting in Beijing between Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
That amounted to an endorsement of a Chinese 12-point peace proposal issued Friday that calls for the territorial integrity of all countries to be respected. This vague proposal does not give any details about what will happen to the territories that Russia has occupied since the invasion, or how the peace process should proceed, and has not garnered widespread support.
Germany increases ammunition production
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced that after a year of military aid to Ukraine, Germany will expand its ammunition production while the defense industry has sufficient spare parts and repair capacity.
Finnish parliamentarians greenlight NATO membership
The Finnish parliament voted overwhelmingly to join NATO before Hungary and Turkey ratified, increasing the chances of joining the alliance before Nordic neighbor Sweden.
The passage of the law does not automatically mean that Finland will join NATO after Turkey and Hungary ratify it, but it does set a deadline for waiting for its neighbors.
The government’s attorney general, Tuomas Poisci, said that once the bill is approved by Congress, the president can wait up to three months to sign it. Turkey announced on Monday that talks with Finland and Sweden would resume on March 9 after talks with Sweden were suspended over a series of protests in Stockholm, including a Koran burning outside the Turkish embassy.
Ukraine ‘worst winter ever’
Ukraine’s foreign minister said as he celebrated the first day of spring in Kiev that he had “survived” the months-long onslaught of Russian attacks on critical infrastructure during the winter. Since October, Russia has bombed major Ukrainian power plants with missiles and drones, cutting off water, heating and electricity for millions of people.
He added further,”We survived the hardest winter in history. It was cold and dark, but we were unbreakable.”
