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Ukraine warns only talks can end war
Russia claims seizure of Mariupol steel plant as fighting in Donbas rages, stops gas supply to Finland over payment dispute
Agence France-Presse
KYIV: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Saturday that only a diplomatic breakthrough rather than an outright military victory could end Russia’s war on his country, as Moscow cut gas supplies to Finland.
“There are things that can only be reached at the negotiating table,” Zelensky said, just as Russia claimed its long-range missiles had destroyed a shipment of Western arms destined for Ukraine’s troops.
After just over 12 weeks of fierce fighting, Ukrainian forces have halted Russian attempts to seize Kyiv and the northern city of Kharkiv, but are under renewed and intense pressure in the eastern Donbas region.
Moscow’s army have flattened and seized the southeastern port city of Mariupol and subjected
Ukrainian troops and towns in the east to a remorseless ground and artillery attack.
Zelensky told Ukrainian television the war would end “through diplomacy”.
The conflict, he warned, “will be bloody, there will be fighting but will only definitively end through diplomacy” -- promising only that the result would be “fair” for Ukraine.
“Discussions between Ukraine and Russia will decidedly take place. Under what format I don’t know - with intermediaries, without them, in a broader group, at presidential level,” he said.
On Friday, Moscow said the battle for the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol - a symbol of Ukraine’s dogged resistance since Putin launched the invasion on February 24 - was now over. Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenko said 2,439 Ukrainian personnel had surrendered at the steelworks since May 16, the final 500 on Friday.
Zelensky on Saturday indicated he’d be satisfied if Ukraine’s borders can be restored to pre-February locations. He called on Ukraine’s allies to help ensure Russia is made to pay reparations.
He also said Ukraine needs to become a full candidate to join the EU, rather than signing up to the kind of broader “European political community” antechamber proposed by France.
“We don’t need any alternatives to the application of Ukraine to join the European Union, we don’t need such compromises,” Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv during a joint press conference with visiting Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa.
French President Emmanuel Macron raised hackles in
Ukraine on May 9 by suggesting that the country could take “decades” to become a full EU member and should aspire instead to join a “European political community,” a sort of antechamber for the European Union.
Nato expansion rejected Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg and with the leaders of Sweden and Finland, restating his reservations about the Nordic countries’ bids to join the military alliance.
Erdogan told Stoltenberg that
Turkey won’t support the Natp expansion as long as Finland and Sweden they don’t openly show they’ll be in solidarity with Turkey, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. The pair agreed that negotiations should continue.
In a call with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, Erdogan said he was disturbed by Sweden’s contacts with Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, Anadolu reported. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto described his call with Erdogan in a tweet, saying that “close dialogue continues.”
Biden signs $40bn aid President Biden on Saturday signed legislation to support Ukraine with an additional $40 billion in US assistance as the Russian invasion approaches its fourth month.
The new legislation will provide $20 billion in military assistance, ensuring a steady stream of advanced weapons that have been used to blunt Russia’s advances. There’s also $8 billion in general economic support, $5 billion to address global food shortages that could result from the collapse of Ukrainian agriculture and more than $1 billion to help refugees.
Morgan Freeman banned Russia on Saturday published a list of 963 leading Americans, including US President Joe Biden, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman banned from entering the country in retaliation for similar moves by Washington since the offensive in Ukraine.
Those named in the list on the Russian foreign ministry’s website also include US government officials, lawmakers and other leading figures. Moscow had already announced sanctions targeting many of those on the list, in particular Biden, his Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the head of the Pentagon Lloyd Austin and Zuckerberg.
Meanwhile, Finland became the third European country cut off from Russian natural gas after refusing to pay in roubles. Gas accounts for only about 5% of the Nordic country’s energy mix, though. Poland and Bulgaria already had their supplies turned for the same reason.
Finnish importer Gasum Oy said natural gas supplies to Finland under its supply contract have been cut off, according to a statement on Saturday. The move had been foreshadowed on Friday.