Ukraine|Does NATO undertake the task of supporting Kiev?

According to the international group Tasnim news agency, the American magazine “Hill” today quoted John Kirby, the coordinator of strategic communications at the White House, reported that the US government expressed doubts about the possibility of transferring the task of leading the procurement coordination group for Kiev from the US to NATO. According to this report, Kirby In his last press conference, Xi expressed doubt that the United States would step down from its leadership role over the “Ramstein Group,” which has been coordinating arms shipments to Ukraine since 2022. According to this White House official, this group is bigger than NATO and includes about 50 countries around the world, including in the Indo-Pacific region, and in this regard, the American leadership has united them and coordinated their actions.

John Kirby, in response to a question about the possibility of transferring the leadership role in helping Ukraine to the North Atlantic Alliance, pointed out that reports about NATO’s increased role in helping Kiev are hypothetical discussions held by Washington’s NATO allies. He added: “President Joe Biden believes that the leadership of the United States in this field is vital, and he is sure that we can show our role well in this field.”

Previously, the newspaper Politico reported that due to the possibility of re-election of Donald Trump to the office of the US president, NATO may lead the contact group for assistance to Ukraine instead of the US. According to this publication, in this case, the process of sending military equipment to Kiev will be protected against the change of power in the European Union and the United States. Follow the Ukrainian war day:

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Switzerland has not specified the date and place of the Ukrainian peace conference

Pier Alain Elchinger, spokesman for the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced that the list of participating countries, the exact date and place of the Ukraine peace conference have not yet been determined.

He explained: “It is very important for Switzerland which brought together different views to find possible paths to peace. In addition to the position of Ukraine, Russia and Europe, it is also important to listen to the opinions of the countries of the global south, which will play a key role in the possible participation of Russia in this process. That is why we are in close contact with China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Saudi Arabia, and the final list of participating countries, as well as the date and location of the conference, have not yet been determined.”

At the end of the month In March, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignacio Cassis did not rule out the possibility of postponing the Ukraine peace conference that was supposed to be held before this summer.

Russia will not participate in the Ukraine conference. Kurd

The press service of the Russian Embassy in Bern announced that this country will not participate in the conference on the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine, which Switzerland is trying to organize.

The Russian embassy said: “Even if the Russian side receives an invitation for such an event, it will not accept it, because the imposed format of the ‘peace conference’ is unacceptable to us from the beginning.”

In the office Russia does not consider Switzerland as a potential mediator because of the official unfriendly positions of the Bern authorities, the Russian diplomatic mission noted.

Carlson: Zelensky has ignored his requests for an interview >

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refuses to interview American journalist Tucker Carlson. Last night, in a conversation with US House of Representatives member Marjorie Taylor Green, a video of which was posted on Carlson’s page on the X social network (formerly Twitter), Carlson indicated that he had sent a request for an interview to US House Speaker Mike Johnson. . However, this did not bring any result: the politician has not yet responded to his request.

After that, the American journalist mentioned that he was going to interview the President of Ukraine and said: We We also sent many requests for an interview with Vladimir Zelensky so that he could explain his positions. Of course, he continues to ignore them. Meanwhile, Zelensky continues to give interviews to Western publications. Thus, at the end of March, in a conversation with the anchor of CBS News, in response to a question about the Russian side’s accusation of Ukraine’s involvement in the terrorist attack in the suburbs of Moscow, Zelensky only smiled.

The President of Ukraine in An interview with the American newspaper Washington Post also complained that the armed forces of Ukraine have not yet received American ATACMS missiles, but are planning to use them to attack Crimea. Defense of France and Russia on terrorism and Ukraine Le Monde, citing the statement of the French Ministry of Defense, reported that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his French counterpart Sébastien LeCorneau met with each other last night. They talked on the phone. According to this publication, in this negotiation, Lecorno strongly condemned the March 22 terrorist attack in the suburbs of Moscow and also announced the readiness of Paris to exchange information with Moscow in the framework of the fight against terrorism.

In addition, the Minister of Defense of France emphasized that this country will continue to support Kiev.

This conversation was initiated by the French side and lasted for about an hour.

The last telephone conversation between the two sides took place on October 23, 2022, when the ministers exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine. published

The Ministry of Defense of Russia also reported last night, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, at the urgent request of the French side, had a telephone conversation with the Minister of Defense of this country, Sebastien LeCorneau.

According to this information, the talks were, in particular, related to the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall concert hall, and Lecorno tried to convince Shoigu that Ukraine and Western countries had no involvement in this attack and that he was responsible for this attack. It is ISIS. Sergei Shoigu emphasized that the investigation related to the terrorist attack has started, it will definitely be completed and all those responsible for this attack will be punished.

The Russian Defense Minister explained: “There is information about the traces of the Ukrainian authorities in the organization of this terrorist attack and added: the Kiev authorities do not do anything without the approval of their Western supporters.” We hope that the French intelligence services are not behind this issue.” The Russian and French defense ministers also discussed the statements heard from the Elysee Palace about the possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine. Shoigu emphasized: “If this intention is realized, France will create serious problems for itself.” Istanbul peace plan. In the end, he emphasized: However, holding talks on peace plans without the participation of Russia is meaningless.

Kremlin rejected Zelensky’s words about the alleged mobilization in Russia

Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman of the Kremlin, in a conversation with TASS news agency last night, emphasized that the claim made by the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, that the new round of mobilization of forces in Russia is being prepared for the summer is not true.

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Russia is apparently preparing to mobilize 300,000 new troops by June 1, Zelenskiy claimed at a press conference with Finnish President Alexander Stubb in Kiev on Wednesday. At the same time, the leader of Ukraine did not explain where he got such information.

At the end of December, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted during his “Results of the Year” conference that the current Men ready to defend their homeland never dried up in Russia, and therefore there is no need to announce a second wave of mobilization.

The number of contract soldiers in the Russian army is increasing

Dmitry Peskov also expressed the opinion that the increase in the number of people willing to sign a contract with the Russian armed forces It shows the mobilization of our society.

The Kremlin spokesperson added: This issue is another proof of the high level of mobilization of our society and the gathering of the Russian people around President Vladimir Putin and their belief in the defense of Russia within the framework of special military operations.

Increasing willingness of people willing to sign a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense Military service with the armed forces of this country has increased in three regions of this country: Primorye, Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The Ministry of Defense of Russia reported yesterday that since the beginning of 2024, more than 100 thousand people They have entered the Russian armed forces under contract and this figure has reached about 16 thousand citizens in the last ten days. It is reminded that the recent terrorist attack in the suburbs of Moscow played an important role in increasing this motivation. According to the information of the Ministry of Defense, in the Moscow region over the past week and a half, more than 800 people have signed contracts and now in They are currently undergoing military training in the training centers of the armed forces. According to this information, in total, since the beginning of 2024, more than 4.5 thousand people from the Moscow region have joined the army on a contractual basis. For comparison, in the whole year of 2023, this number was more than 14.5 thousand people.

The President of Finland: There is no reason to send troops to Ukraine

Finnish President Alexander Stubb announced on Wednesday that the country has no reason to send troops to Ukraine.

He said in a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kiev: “No reason to send troops.” There is no Finnish to Ukraine. Now we support Ukraine in every possible way, and this support does not only include signing a security agreement or 23 support packages. I think it is important that the European Union, the United States and the West now focus on what can really be done to help Kiev.

The president also criticized Finland’s decision to send the 23rd package announced defense aid worth 188 million euros to Ukraine.

Hungary does not expect Ukraine to be invited to NATO at the July summit

Peter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs After the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry announced to reporters that it is unlikely that Ukraine will be invited to join NATO at the July summit of this alliance in Washington.

He reminded: NATO allied countries want to increase their coordination role in supplying weapons to the armed forces of Ukraine, but Hungary is against this and will not participate in it. According to him, since it is obvious that Ukraine will still not be invited to NATO at the Washington meeting, these alternative measures are very dangerous and very costly. because it brings the alliance into conflict with Russia, and in his opinion, such an action is NATO’s game with fire. In the end, he said: “We hope that common sense and the desire to establish peace and security will prevail.” Previously, in February, John Kirby, the coordinator of strategic communications at the White House’s National Security Council, also said that the United States United believes that Ukraine cannot join NATO until the end of the conflict. This country may be accepted into the alliance in the future, but now it should focus on military reforms.

Stoltenberg: NATO will not discuss the presence of military forces in Ukraine

Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of the Alliance, announced on Wednesday at the press conference after the meeting of the foreign ministers of the member states of this alliance in Brussels, that NATO does not discuss the presence of the military members of the member states in Ukraine and that the actions of this alliance are purely defensive. /p>

He said: We are not discussing the presence of military units of the member states in Ukraine, we are talking about coordinating and sending aid to Ukraine, as the allied countries are currently doing.

Stoltenberg He emphasized that the plan to help Kiev discussed in the coalition does not foresee the presence of the bloc’s forces in Ukraine. In addition, the Secretary General reminded that NATO’s plans do not make this organization participate in the conflict. At the same time, he said that all members of this alliance agree that Ukraine should become a member of NATO. NATO’s intention to strengthen its role in helping Kiev In this press conference, the Secretary General of the European Union mentioned that NATO member states have agreed to strengthen the role of the alliance in coordinating aid to Ukraine. Jens Stoltenberg said: “Today, no final decision has been made on We will create this ground, but we agreed to start planning for this process.” According to him, the allied countries will review the details of the relevant measures in the coming weeks. During the meeting, NATO foreign ministers discussed expanding long-term support for Ukraine, including a five-year budget proposal of 100 billion euros ($107.6 billion) and a plan for how to “defend Ukraine against Trump.” >

Stoltenberg said earlier on Wednesday that it is essential that NATO military supplies to Ukraine be made mandatory rather than voluntary.

Ukraine considers Estonia one of the leaders in helping Kiev

Ukraine Prime Minister Denis Schmigal announced that the Republic of Estonia has provided military aid worth 520 million euros to this country and is one of the leading countries in this field.

On Wednesday, in a meeting with his Estonian counterpart, Kaya Kalas, he said: Currently, Estonia is one of the leaders in providing aid to Ukraine in terms of defense and humanitarian aid per capita. To date, Ukraine has received more than 520 million euros in defense aid from Estonia, which is about 1.4% of the country’s GDP. The Prime Minister of Estonia also emphasized that the authorities of Tallinn support Kiev “without wavering.” “It will continue. According to him, Estonia should be supported until Ukraine wins. The prime minister noted that this year the country will transfer another 100 million euros to Kyiv, which will be 0.05 percent of its GDP. In addition, he expressed hope that Ukraine can join the European Union and NATO. Kalas stressed that the Western countries should isolate Russia through sanctions and use the blocked assets of this country for the benefit of Ukraine.

The New York Times newspaper reported on Wednesday that a number of NATO member countries have questioned the initiative to create a fund to pay the $100 billion cost of supplying arms to Ukraine.

The source of this publication is with Noting that it is still unclear whether the initiative will be approved, he said: “Some allies have questioned how NATO can raise $100 billion if it does not have the leverage to raise money among member states. “

The newspaper also wrote that Hungary will not participate in NATO’s efforts to coordinate military supplies to Ukraine, which are currently being handled by the Pentagon, and this issue was confirmed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Economic Relations, Peter Szijjártó. Hungary confirmed.

Previously, Bloomberg announced NATO’s intention to create a fund with a capital of 100 billion dollars to buy the military weapons needed by Kiev. Of course, there is no official confirmation of this information from Brussels authorities. It is emphasized that the creation of such a fund must be approved by all NATO members.

Bloomberg: Brazil rejected the West’s request to send ammunition to Ukraine

news agency Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, quoting Brazilian and European officials, that the Brazilian government refused to do so after the request of some Western countries to send ammunition to the armed forces of Ukraine.

The report states: “Brazil has rejected the requests of its Western allies to supply Kiev with weapons.” Bloomberg also noted that the discussion of the purchase of ammunition between Britain and Japan has also reached an impasse.

Last week, French leader Emmanuel Macron traveled to Brazil for three days for talks with his counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Before this trip, the Western press wrote about Macron’s intention to convince his Brazilian counterpart to change his neutral position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and support Kiev. However, as a result of this trip, Paris failed to sway Brasilia’s opinion on the matter; Even in the final press conference, the issue of Ukraine was practically not raised and the president of Brazil only regretted the continuation of this military conflict. Ukraine’s recognition of the impossibility of defeating Russia on the battlefield. /p>

Vadim Skibytskyi, the deputy chief intelligence officer of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, admitted that in the current situation, it is impossible for the armed forces of Ukraine to win on the battlefield, so Kiev will continue its efforts to attack Russian territory, the Guardian newspaper quoted Vadim Skibytsky as saying. According to this Ministry of Defense official, Ukraine’s victory is currently impossible due to the lack of artillery shells and fighters in the Ukrainian armed forces. He also reminded that the Russian armed forces are superior to the Ukrainian army in terms of military strength.

According to the deputy of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Ukraine, which is not able to win on the battlefield, has started attacks on targets, including Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said two days ago that the armed forces of Ukraine and NATO are not able to change the situation on the battlefield. He added: “Due to weakness, the enemy has increasingly resorted to using terrorist methods.”

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