“Military Operation Continues”
Kremlin: Don’t see the conditions for a peaceful solution
02/27/2023, 4:21 p.m
According to Moscow, it is paying close attention to the Chinese initiative to resolve the war in Ukraine. But the Kremlin does not want to deviate from its path. In the Donetsk region, the military sees itself on the offensive.
With a view to the Chinese twelve-point plan to settle the war against Ukraine started by Russia, Moscow does not see the conditions for a “peaceful” solution “currently” in place. “We are watching our Chinese friends’ plan with great interest,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “At the moment we do not see the conditions for things to go peacefully,” he said. “The special military operation (in Ukraine) continues.”
Regardless of international skepticism, the Kremlin welcomes the Chinese position paper. “Any attempts to develop plans that will help bring the conflict on a peaceful path deserve attention,” Peskov was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency Interfax. First, the war goes on. “And we are moving in the direction of achieving all the goals that have been set,” said Peskow. With regard to the Chinese paper, he said that the individual points had to be analyzed in detail. In the end, the interests of a wide variety of sides would have to be taken into account for any negotiations. “It’s a very long and tense process,” emphasized Peskow.
On the first anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion last Friday, China presented a position paper in which, among other things, it called for a ceasefire and negotiations. Western diplomats and experts reacted with skepticism and disappointment, since the twelve-point document did not reveal any new initiative. In addition, China is considered a close ally of Russia and has never clearly condemned the invasion of Ukraine.
Peskov declined to comment on Western reports that China is considering supplying arms to Russia. When asked by journalists, Peskov simply said: “This information has already been denied by the Chinese side.”
Moscow speaks of offensive in Donetsk region
Meanwhile, the Russian military is now speaking of an offensive in the Donetsk region with artillery fire and air strikes in its war of aggression against Ukraine. An ammunition depot of the Ukrainian armed forces was hit in the area of the city of Bakhmut, said the spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov.
With the support of fighter jets, Russian artillery destroyed tanks, armored vehicles and vehicles belonging to the Ukrainian armed forces. In the Kiev suburb of Brovary, a center for electronic reconnaissance of Ukrainian troops was hit, Konashenkov said.
The information cannot be verified independently. However, according to the leadership in Kiev, the Ukrainian armed forces have been under pressure in the region for weeks. Kyiv does not want to give up Bakhmut.
According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian troops are acting brutally. The head of the presidential office in Kiev, Andriy Yermak, said that the village of Kurakhivka in the Donetsk region had been heavily shelled. So a person died. There was serious damage to houses, it said. “The shelling continues,” Yermak wrote on the Telegram news channel.