30/04/2022
Zelenskyy says peace talks are close to collapse; Russia says it’s not at war with NATO
Russia has moved its “depleted and disparate” forces to eastern Ukraine and Moscow still faces “considerable challenges” in its war against Ukraine, the latest intelligence report from the U.K. Defense Ministry said.
Returning from his trip to Ukraine, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “moved by the resilience and bravery” of Ukrainians during his visit to Kyiv. “My message to them is simple: We will not give up,” he said on Twitter.
In an interview with Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said NATO “considers itself” at war with Russia, even though Moscow doesn’t see itself at war with NATO.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office says it has a planned operation to evacuate civilians from the blockaded Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the last holdout against Russian forces in the bombarded city.
Meanwhile, Russian strikes shook residential buildings in Kyiv overnight, as the UN chief and Bulgarian prime minister visited the city.
Guterres has just returned from the war-torn country, where he visited the Kyiv suburbs of Borodianka, Bucha and Irpin nine weeks after Russia began its illegal and unprovoked war.
“When we see this horrendous site, it makes me feel how important it is [to have] a thorough investigation and accountability,” he said Thursday, when he was in Bucha — where horrific photos of mass graves and executed civilians strewn in the streets sparked a global outrage.
“The war is an absurdity in the 21st century. The war is evil,” he said during his visit to Ukraine, where he also met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
U.S. troops in Germany have started training Ukrainian soldiers on the use of heavy weapons to defend their country against Russian attacks, the Pentagon said Friday.
“These efforts build on the initial artillery training that Ukraine’s forces already have received elsewhere and also includes training on radar systems and armored vehicles that have been recently announced as part of security assistance packages,” Press Secretary John F. Kirby said.
This week, President Joe Biden called on Congress to authorize as much as $33 billion in humanitarian and military aid to Kyiv in its fight against Moscow’s attacks.
Canada has given heavy artillery to Ukrainian forces, including M-777 howitzers and anti-armor ammunition, the Canadian government said last week.
Canadian service members are training Ukrainians on the M-777 howitzer in Europe, Kirby added, citing Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand.
— Joanna Tan
