China presented its vision for the “political settlement” of the conflict in Ukraine on Wednesday in Moscow, Joe Biden describing for his part a “serious mistake” Russia’s suspension of its participation in the New Start nuclear disarmament treaty.
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Kyiv and its allies, for their part, hope to gather the widest possible support for a resolution to be considered the same day by the UN General Assembly calling for a “just and lasting peace”, a year after the start of the the Russian invasion.
Asked in Warsaw about Vladimir Putin’s announcement the day before concerning New Start, the American president briefly replied: “serious error”.
The Russian head of state made an impression on Tuesday by announcing the suspension of this treaty signed in 2010, the last bilateral agreement of its kind binding Russians and Americans.
Joe Biden was speaking before meeting leaders of NATO countries from Central and Eastern Europe (B9, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland , Romania and Slovakia), in the presence of the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance Jens Stoltenberg.
The latter considered on this occasion that it was necessary to “maintain and intensify” support for Ukraine and provide it with “what it needs to win”.
In a joint statement, the nine countries stressed that they would continue to strengthen their “deterrence and defense posture along the entire eastern flank, from the Baltic to the Black Sea”.
Mr. Biden left Poland after this meeting.
The same day, Vladimir Putin made an appearance for a few minutes at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow where a great patriotic concert was taking place.
AFP
“Today, the (military) hierarchy told me that fighting was underway within our historic lands for our people,” he said, on stage, in front of tens of thousands of his compatriots.
He paid tribute to the Russian soldiers deployed in Ukraine who “fight with heroism, courage and valor: we are proud of them”.
“The president really needs our support right now. (…) He is going in the right direction”, declared to AFP Vladimir Ziablitski, 59, who specially made the trip from his region of Kemerovo, 3000 kilometers from the capital, to attend the event .
On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin delivered a virulent speech, swearing to “methodically” continue the assault launched in Ukraine and accusing the West of wanting to “finish us once and for all”.
Joe Biden replied shortly after that the West was “not plotting to attack Russia”.
In Moscow, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was received at the Kremlin on Wednesday after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
AFP
This after the United States and NATO expressed concern that the Chinese were preparing, which they denied, to supply Russia with weapons to continue its military operations in Ukraine.
“The Chinese partners shared with us their thoughts on the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, as well as their approaches to its political settlement,” commented the Russian Foreign Ministry after the talks.
“There was no question of a separate (peace) ‘plan’,” he noted.
Beijing has promised to go public with its proposal to end the conflict in Ukraine this week, in time for the first anniversary of the launch of the Russian offensive in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
“China did not consult us”, reacted in this regard a senior Ukrainian official who requested anonymity in front of several media, including AFP.
He warned that no peace plan should cross ‘red lines’ set by Kyiv, which in particular refuses to make any territorial concessions to Russia which occupies areas in eastern and southern Ukraine , such as the Crimean peninsula.
Wang Yi meanwhile expressed Beijing’s desire to “strengthen the strategic partnership (…) and all-out cooperation” with Russia.