With the pace of Russian forces seemingly slowing down in Ukrainian cities, the United States expressed, Thursday, March 17, 2022, its concern that China might help Moscow with military equipment as the war on Ukraine entered its fourth week.
The Russian bombing of the capital, Kyiv, was renewed, while rescue teams worked to retrieve survivors from under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Russian attacks in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
While officials from both sides met again on Thursday; for peace talks , but they said the positions are still far apart.
US concern about China's aid to Russia
Despite faltering on the battlefield and harsh sanctions from the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no signs of backing down. His government says it is counting on China to help Russia weather the blows to its economy.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the United States, which this week announced $800 million in new military aid to Kyiv, was concerned that Beijing was "considering directly helping Russia with military hardware in Ukraine."
Blinken told reporters that President Joe Biden will make clear to Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a phone call, on Friday, that Beijing "will take responsibility for any actions it takes in support of Russian aggression, and we will not hesitate to pass on the costs to it."
China refused to condemn the Russian move in Ukraine or describe it as an invasion. It says it recognizes Ukraine's sovereignty but understands that Russia has legitimate security concerns that need to be addressed.
While the United States says it wants to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia, China's provision of military assistance to Moscow would put Washington and Beijing, the world's two largest powers, on opposite sides in the biggest attack on a European country since World War II.
A chasm between the two sides of the conflict
The pace of the war settled in the pattern of imposing a siege on the cities. The United Nations says 3.2 million civilians, mostly women and children, have so far fled Ukraine to neighboring countries. But Russia has so far failed to capture any large city, and has faced fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces.
British military intelligence said in an update on Thursday that the invasion "has been largely halted on all fronts", and that Russian forces have suffered heavy losses; As a result of the fierce and well-coordinated Ukrainian resistance.
While talks took place for the fourth consecutive day between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators via video link, but the Kremlin said they had not yet resulted in an agreement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Our delegation is making great efforts and showing greater readiness than the other side... Our delegation is ready to work around the clock, but unfortunately we do not see such commitment from the Ukrainian side.”
Moscow has said before that it is close to agreeing on a formula that keeps Ukraine neutral, one of its main demands.
Negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are complicated
Ukraine's presidential adviser, Mikhailo Podolyak, said the negotiations were complicated. He continued, "The positions of the two sides are different. For us, the pivotal issues cannot be touched."
Ukraine has also said it is ready to negotiate an end to the war, but will not give in or accept Russian ultimatums. Kyiv also adheres to its basic positions regarding the preservation of sovereignty over the areas occupied by Russian and pro-Moscow forces since 2014.
President Putin has shown no sign of backing down, even though harsh Western sanctions are hurting his country's economy. Kyiv and its Western allies say Russia launched the war; To subjugate its neighbor, which Putin describes as an artificial state carved out of Russia. Moscow says it is carrying out a "special operation"; To disarm Ukraine and rid it of the "Nazis".
For its part, the White House said that US President Joe Biden is having a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as part of Washington's attempts to persuade Beijing not to support Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cited the Berlin Wall and the Holocaust in a video-link address to the German parliament, in what appeared to be an attempt to reprimand pro-Russian politicians in Germany, a major energy buyer from Moscow.
Zielinsky, who is Jewish, said, citing a slogan used to refer to the Holocaust: “Every year politicians repeat that it will never happen...Now we see that those words are simply worthless. In Europe there are people who destroy and try to destroy everything that is dear to us and what we live for.” .
Bloody attacks in Kyiv
Kyiv's northeastern and northwestern suburbs have been reduced to rubble by fierce fighting, but the capital itself has held firm, living under a curfew and under bloody nighttime missile attacks.
Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motozyanek said that Russian forces had made little progress around Kyiv over the past 24 and 48 hours, and had resorted to "chaotic" bombing.
He added in a press briefing in Kiev: "Ukrainian armed forces are making every effort to prevent the enemy from attacking from that area," noting that many residential buildings were damaged by the missiles; causing the deaths of civilians. "This is a war crime," he said, but did not reveal specific numbers.
A building in the Darnitsky district was also badly damaged by what authorities said was the debris of a downed missile, in the early hours of the morning.
Vyacheslav Chaus, the governor of the northern city of Chernihiv, which has been heavily bombed, said 53 civilians were killed in the past 24 hours. It was not possible to verify the number from an independent source.
Russia attacked Ukraine from four directions and sent two large columns towards Kyiv from the northwest and from the northeast, advancing from the east near Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, and spreading to the south of the Crimea.