The war in Europe: Officials in the Ukrainian army said today (Wednesday) that “Belarus has provided its airspace to serve the Russian forces”, and emphasized that “the Belarusian army has placed units of drone operators on the border”. It was also reported that the Ukrainian army recently managed to shoot down nine Russian drones, and also carried out airstrikes against military targets, such as anti-aircraft missile systems.
Meanwhile, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, stated in his speech tonight that “the fighting centers are now focused on the Donetsk region, around the towns of Solidar and Avdiyvka, where the heaviest battles are taking place since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February. They carry out attacks there every day.” Zelensky emphasized that “the Russians are suffering casualties on the battlefield, we will not give up an inch of our land.”
Later, Zelensky noted that “four million people were left without electricity in 14 areas, including the capital Kyiv. Oringo, the operator of the Ukrainian electricity network, said that the power outages are scheduled hourly and affect the entire country.”
At the same time, the chairman of the Russian Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, General Viktor Bondarevreferred to reports about the desire to renew negotiations between the countries, saying that “the conditions presented by Ukrainian President Zelensky for negotiations with Russia are ridiculous. According to him, “the return of Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye to Russia is the restoration of its territorial integrity, because these lands are Russian.”
Vladimir Putin (Photo: Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via REUTERS)As you may remember, the Washington Post reported last Sunday that the Biden administration asked the leaders of Ukraine to show that they are open to negotiations with Russia and to cancel their consistent refusal to participate in peace talks, unless Russian President Putin is removed from power. According to the report, government officials made it clear that their request was not intended to immediately push Ukraine to the negotiating table, but rather to make a calculated attempt to ensure that the government in Kyiv maintains the support of other countries.
While U.S. officials share their Ukrainian counterparts’ assessment that Putin is not, for now, serious about negotiations, they acknowledge that President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ban on talks with him has raised concerns in parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America, where the war is disrupting the effects on The availability and cost of food and fuel are most acutely felt there.