Tag: Europe

Lavrov’s visit comes soon after China’s foreign minister Wang Yi visit to India last week and ahead of the 2+2 dialogues set to be held between India and the US on April 11….reports Asian Lite News

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who arrives for a two-day official visit in India on Thursday, is expected to meet and hold talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday.

This is the first trip of Lavrov to India since Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine last month. The Russian Foreign Minister is expected to arrive in New Delhi this evening after concluding his two-day China visit.

Lavrov’s visit comes soon after China’s foreign minister Wang Yi visit to India last week and ahead of the 2+2 dialogues set to be held between India and the US on April 11.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, in China, Lavrov held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and both sides pledged to strengthen bilateral ties. Lavrov informed the Chinese side of the Russia-Ukraine talks, saying Russia is committed to easing the tensions, continuing peace talks with Ukraine, and maintaining communication with the international community.

Russian Foreign Minister participated in two multinational meetings on Afghanistan along with representatives from Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Lavrov also held meetings with representatives from China and Pakistan and attended a separate meeting of the “Extended Troika” with special Afghan envoys from China and the US. (ANI)

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Peskov said Russia is careful to comment on the talks as “we believe that negotiations should take place in silence”, adding that the chief Russian negotiator will speak later….reports Asian Lite News

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has played down any hopes of a breakthrough in the talks held with Ukraine in Turkey, BBC reported.

On Tuesday, Russia said it intended to scale back its military activity in Kiev and Chernihiv, while Ukraine said it would consider becoming a “neutral” state.

“What is positive is that the Ukrainian side has at least started to specifically formulate and put on paper what it is proposing. Until now we had not managed to achieve that,” Peskov said.

“As regards the rest, we cannot, put it this way, at present state there have been any breakthroughs, anything very promising,” he said, in remarks reported by the Interfax news agency.

Peskov said Russia is careful to comment on the talks as “we believe that negotiations should take place in silence”, adding that the chief Russian negotiator will speak later.

He said that Crimea, the region annexed by Russia in 2014, is “part of Russia” and the Russian constitution precluded discussing the fate of any Russian region with anyone else.

The status of Crimea is settled for Russia, and Moscow will not discuss the issue with Ukraine or any other party, Peskov told journalists on Wednesday.

“Crimea is part of the Russian Federation. According to our constitution, we cannot discuss with anyone the fates of Russian territories, the fates of Russian regions. That is out of the question,” the official said, RT reported.

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The full list of spies can be viewed on the website of the Chief Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine….reports Asian Lite News

The Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence in Ukraine has obtained a list of Russian FSB officers involved in what it called criminal activities on behalf of Russia in Europe.

The Ukrainian Chief Intelligence Directorate said the list consists of 620 FSB officers. The intel revealed the names of the Russian spies, their place of work, registered address and passport data as well as the models and registration plates of their cars, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

The full list of spies can be viewed on the website of the Chief Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine.

Earlier, Ukraine said it won’t open humanitarian corridors from its cities on Monday due to warnings of Russian “provocations” on routes, BBC reported.

Corridors had been set up to allow civilians to leave some towns that are surrounded by Russian forces.

“Ukraine has no plans to open any humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from cities under siege on Monday,” Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

Vereshchuk said the decision has been taken because of intelligence reports warning of possible Russian “provocations” along the routes, BBC reported.

Safe corridors have been set up from Mariupol, Sumy and towns and villages outside the capital Kiev, which are currently surrounded or almost surrounded by Russian forces.

Meanwhile, the Mayor of Mariupol has said the besieged port city is on the verge of catastrophe and must be completely evacuated

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Since February 28, Russia and Ukraine have held three rounds of face-to-face peace talks and then a series of online discussions, failing to reach a major agreement….reports Asian Lite News

Russian and Ukrainian delegations will hold a new round of face-to-face negotiations on March 29-30, Head of Russia’s negotiation team Vladimir Medinsky said.

“Today, another round of negotiations with Ukraine via video link took place. As a result, it was decided to meet in person on March 29-30,” Medinsky, also an aide to the Russian President, said on Telegram this Sunday.

Meanwhile, David Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian delegation on Sunday said the next live round will be held in Turkey on March 28-30, Xinhua news agency reported.

Since February 28, Russia and Ukraine have held three rounds of face-to-face peace talks and then a series of online discussions, failing to reach a major agreement.

The new round of talks will take place after the Russian military announced on Friday that the main tasks of the first stage of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine had been completed in general.

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A senior NATO intelligence official said separately that the alliance assesses that the Belarusian government “is preparing the environment to justify a Belarusian offensive against Ukraine”….reports Asian Lite News

The US and NATO believe that Belarus could “soon” join Russia in its war against Ukraine, the US and NATO officials said, adding that the country is already taking steps to do so, CNN reported.

It is increasingly “likely” that Belarus will enter the conflict, a NATO military official said on Monday, adding: “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin needs support. Anything would help.”

An opposition source in Belarus said that Belarusian combat units are ready to go into Ukraine as soon as in the next few days, with thousands of forces prepared to deploy. In this source’s view, this would have less of an impact militarily than it will geopolitically, given the implications of another country joining the war, CNN reported.

A senior NATO intelligence official said separately that the alliance assesses that the Belarusian government “is preparing the environment to justify a Belarusian offensive against Ukraine”.

Russia has launched its attack on Ukraine in part from Belarus’ territory, and thousands of Russian troops had amassed in Belarus ahead of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine last month, which the two countries had claimed was for training exercises.

US and European sanctions in response to the war have targeted Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko as well.

Belarus moved to change its Constitution last month to allow the country to host both Russian forces and nuclear weapons permanently, though US officials have emphasised to CNN that they have not yet seen any evidence of Russia moving nuclear weapons or preparing to do so.

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Previously, in an interview, Zelensky said that Ukraine would not compromise on its territorial integrity and sovereignty….reports Asian Lite News

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin may deliberately impose unrealistic demands on Kiev because he wants to conquer not only Ukraine but also the Baltic states.

When Zelensky was asked to clarify what he meant when he spoke about the risk of a World War III in the event of a failure to negotiate with Putin, Zelensky said: “This means that he (Putin) was not going to end this war. His plan – in which Ukraine is perceived as an intermediate step to the final result – is to occupy the Baltic states, states that were part of the Soviet Union. (He is considering) other states that used to be under control of the Soviet Army and Soviet Union,” Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

“I said that if our talks with him fail, it will be clear that he does not accidentally set such conditions that we could not agree on. So he could say afterwards: they just did not want peace. As soon as it will use – if he does – all his forces on the borders with Europe or NATO, it will be World War III.”

Previously, in an interview with CNN on March 20, Zelensky said that Ukraine would not compromise on its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

He also said that if all attempts to negotiate with Russia fail, it could mean that the struggle between the two countries will lead to a “third world war”.

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Zelensky cited examples of when Russian troops took over the cities of Melitopol and Berdyansk, “people didn’t surrender to them”….reports Asian Lite News

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia’s ultimatum to end the ongoing war can only be met if entire Ukraine was destroyed.

“(Russians say) we have an ultimatum, here are the conditions, do it, and then we end the war. This is wrong and doesn’t lead anywhere. This is not about me. This is about the unity of the people and the government. We, together, are not able to do that. Ukraine cannot meet this ultimatum. We physically cannot do it.

“How can you do that? All of us have to be destroyed, then their ultimatum is met by default,” Ukrayinska Pravda quoted the President as saying during an interview on Monday night.

Zelensky cited examples of when Russian troops took over the cities of Melitopol and Berdyansk, “people didn’t surrender to them”.

“When they raise the flag, people take it down. They (Russian forces) killed a man – yes, people made it to the shelter, but left it at night, and took down the flag.

“What do you want? To destroy all of us? Which is why I replied: we can meet their ultimatum only when there are none of us left,” he added.

For a possible ceasefire agreement, Russian President Vladimir Putin has put forward the following demands — Ukraine’s neutral and non-nuclear status; demilitarisation and denazification; recognition of the occupied Crimea as Russian; and the sovereignty of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” and “Luhansk People’s Republic”.

In response, Zelensky on Sunday said that Ukraine would not compromise its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Meanwhile on March 17, Mykhailo Podoliak, a presidential adviser, said that reviewing the demands may take several days of negotiations with Russia, after which the preparatory work for a possible meeting between Putin and Zelensky may begin.

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