Russian-Chinese strategic summit in Moscow, historic visit by the Japanese Prime Minister to Ukraine, attack on a Russian oil station, NATO press conference...
Le Figaro
takes stock of the war in Ukraine this Tuesday, March 21 2023.
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida's historic visit to Ukraine
Coincidence of the calendar?
While the Russian President welcomes his Chinese counterpart to Russia, the Ukrainian Head of State receives the Japanese Prime Minister.
The Japanese leader was the only head of state or government of a G7 member state not yet to have made a trip to kyiv since the start of the conflict in February 2022.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the "wall of remembrance" to pay tribute to killed Ukrainian soldiers, in kyiv, Ukraine, March 21, 2023. GLEB GARANICH / REUTERS
Fumio Kishida went on Tuesday to Boutcha near Kiev, which has become the symbol of the atrocities of the Russian occupation, as part of his first "
historic
" visit to Ukraine.
The Japanese Prime Minister traveled to this martyr city by train at the start of the afternoon, shortly after his arrival in kyiv and before his meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"
As I set foot in Boutcha today and witness all the brutality that has taken place there, I feel a strong sense of outrage
," said Fumio Kishida, adding that "
the whole world is shocked
” by these atrocities.
“
This historic visit is a sign of solidarity and strong cooperation between Ukraine and Japan
,” Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Djeppar said on Facebook, posting photos of Fumio Kishida on the train platform in Kyiv. .
“
We are grateful to Japan for their strong support and contribution to our future victory
,” she added.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meditating at the site of a mass grave, in Boutcha, Ukraine, March 21, 2023. VALENTYN OGIRENKO / REUTERS
Xi Jinping says he makes his 'strategic' relationship with Russia a 'priority'
Chinese leader Xi Jinping said Tuesday he wanted to "
strengthen coordination
" between China and Russia, during a summit with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, on the second day of his visit to Moscow.
"
I propose to strengthen cooperation and coordination
" between the two countries, permanent members of the UN Security Council, said Xi Jinping, according to the official Russian translation of his remarks.
“
I am ready to develop with you a plan for strengthening bilateral relations
,” he added.
Official welcome of Chinese President Xi Jinping by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, March 21, 2023. SPUTNIK / REUTERS
For his part, the Russian president said he had " very important and frank
" discussions
with his Chinese counterpart, saying he was confident that relations would "
be strengthened
".
"
A very important and frank exchange of views on the prospects for the development of Russian-Chinese relations has just taken place
," Vladimir Putin said after talks in the Kremlin.
"
I am confident that our varied and mutually beneficial cooperation will continue to grow stronger
."
Vladimir Putin also assured his counterpart Xi Jinping, visiting Moscow, that Russia was capable of supplying China's growing energy needs, while Russian hydrocarbons are sanctioned in the West.
According to him, the goal is to deliver to China at least 98 billion cubic meters of Russian gas and 100 million tons of Russian LNG by 2030.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, March 21, 2023. PAVEL BYRKIN / AFP
Beijing can play a “useful role” in view of peace negotiations, according to Paris
France estimated on Tuesday that China could play "
a useful role in convincing Russia to accept peace negotiations in good faith
" with Ukraine, while estimating that Moscow did not seem inclined, "
at this stage
" , to end the war.
"
Unfortunately, at this stage, we see no willingness on the part of Russia to put an end to its aggression against Ukraine by withdrawing its troops from Ukrainian territory
", it is underlined at the Quai d'Orsay.
"
The Russian president, on the contrary, continues to affirm that Russia will achieve all its war objectives
", continues the same source.
However, China has a role to play "
to convince Russia to accept peace negotiations in good faith, with a view to bringing it back to full respect for the Charter of the United Nations
", it is also estimated in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the Quai d'Orsay, in Paris, on May 1, 2021. Atlantis / stock.adobe.com
Read also“Can China make peace between Russia and Ukraine?”
Russian oil pumping station attacked by kyiv
Ukraine carried out a drone attack on an oil pumping station in a Russian border region on Tuesday, without causing any casualties, the regional governor announced.
“
The Ukrainian armed forces used a drone to attack the territory of the Novozybkov oil pumping station belonging to Transneft.
No casualties are to be deplored
, ”said Alexander Bogomaz, head of the Russian region Briansk, on Telegram.
Gasoline trucks parked at the Transneft production site in Konstantinovo, Russia, June 8, 2022. MAXIM SHEMETOV / REUTERS
Xi Jinping must dialogue 'directly' with Zelensky, says NATO chief
China must dialogue "directly" with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky if it wants its peace plan to be taken seriously, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.
"
It is up to Ukraine to decide what are the acceptable conditions for any peaceful solution
", recalled Jens Stoltenberg during a press briefing at the headquarters of the Atlantic Alliance in Brussels for the presentation of the activity report of NATO in 2022. "
China must understand Ukraine's point of view and dialogue directly with President Zelensky
," he argued.
“
Any peace solution for Ukraine must be based on respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine
,” he insisted.
"
A ceasefire or any solution that does not respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity will only be a way to freeze the war and allow Russia to rebuild its forces and attack at new.
It will not be a just and lasting peace
,” he warned.
Jens Stoltenberg also once again urged Beijing not to supply arms to Russia.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a press conference to present the 2022 annual report, in Brussels, Belgium, March 21, 2023. JOHANNA GERON / REUTERS
Ukraine's victory is 'inevitable', says ex-Georgian President Saakashvili
Imprisoned Georgian ex-president Mikhail Saakashvili said in an interview with AFP on Tuesday that Ukraine's victory over Russia was "
inevitable
" and that it would transform the region.
"
The inevitable victory of Ukraine will completely change the situation in Georgia and in the region
," Mikhail Saakashvili told AFP in written notes sent through his lawyer.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili at the Asia-Pacific Water Summit in Chiang Mai, Thailand, May 20, 2013. NICOLAS ASFOURINicolas ASFOURI / AFP
Destruction of Russian Kalibr missiles in Crimea according to kyiv, Moscow denial
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that Russian Kalibr cruise missiles had been destroyed in annexed Crimea, a statement denied by Moscow, which said it had repelled a drone attack.
“
An explosion in the city of Jankoy in the temporarily occupied northern Crimea destroyed Russian cruise missiles “Kalibr
NK” during their transport by rail
,” the intelligence department of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said on Telegram.
Russia brushed aside these claims, swearing to have downed Ukrainian drones in Crimea on Monday March 20, a few days after a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to this peninsula annexed in 2014 by Moscow.
"
Anti-aircraft defense repelled a drone attack near the city of Jankoy
," the Russian Investigative Committee, the body responsible for the most important investigations, said in a statement.
"
The targets of all the downed drones were civilian infrastructure
," he said.
A drone flies over the positions of Ukrainian forces, in Boutcha, Ukraine, on March 20, 2023. ARIS MESSINIS / AFP
An official of the NGO Memorial prosecuted by Russia
Russian authorities have opened a criminal case against Oleg Orlov, one of the figures of the NGO Memorial, accused of having "discredited" the Russian army fighting in Ukraine, the NGO, co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Ukraine, said on Tuesday. the peace.
In a message posted on Telegram, Memorial said Oleg Orlov was being prosecuted for "
public activities aimed at discrediting
" the Russian armed forces, an article of the Criminal Code used against critics of the conflict in Ukraine.
If charged, he faces a heavy prison sentence.
Oleg Orlov during an interview in Moscow, Russia, March 29, 2022. YURI KADOBNOV / AFP
