April 2 ------ GERMANY'S chief diplomat described United States President Donald Trump's efforts to secure a truce in the three-year war between Russia and Ukraine as deadlocked, while her Chinese counterpart said continued talks between Washington and Moscow on finding a settlement were encouraging.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who arrived in Ukraine's capital Kyiv for an unannounced visit on Tuesday, said that "due to the deadlock" between the US and Russia on forging a ceasefire deal, European allies' continued support for Ukraine in the war was "absolutely crucial." Her remarks came two days after Trump scolded Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and expressed frustration over the continued fighting in a war that he had pledged to swiftly stop.
Trump insisted that progress was being made in the negotiations but said he would consider imposing further sanctions on Moscow, and accused Zelensky of trying to back out of a deal with the US on access to Ukraine's mineral resources. Putin has effectively refused a US proposal for an immediate and full 30-day halt in the fighting, despite Trump's prodding. Also, a partial ceasefire in the Black Sea that could allow safer shipments has fallen foul of conditions imposed by Kremlin negotiators. Russia is holding out on a Black Sea deal in order to "stall efforts toward a general ceasefire and extract additional concessions from the West," Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said in an assessment on Monday night.
Meanwhile, deadly attacks by both sides in the conflict, and they are gearing up for spring campaigns in their war of attrition along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line. For the first time in more than five months, Russia fired no Shahed drones at Ukraine overnight, authorities said. But Andrii Kovalenko, head of the counter-disinformation branch of Ukraine's Security Council, detected no change in Russian strategy. "For now, this means nothing," he said on Telegram.
Ukraine's European backers say they will keep supporting Kyiv's efforts to defeat Russia's invasion. Putin is getting military help from North Korea and Iran. China, too, has given diplomatic support to Russia and has provided economic help through trade in energy and consumer goods. During his visit to Moscow, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was quoted as saying on Tuesday that "certain results have been achieved" in Washington's attempt to stop the war as US-Russia relations have improved under Trump. He said in an interview with Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that Beijing supported the goal of "a fair, long-term, binding peace agreement acceptable to all parties involved." Wang was to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday. He was also expected to meet with Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said without saying when it might happen.
Source: manilatimes.net
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