All news in Central European Time (CET).
13:31 | Biden and Xi will speak this Friday about Ukraine
US President Joe Biden will talk with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Friday, mainly about the war in Ukraine, the White House reported Thursday. “The two leaders will discuss how to handle competition between our two countries as well as Russia’s war in Ukraine and other issues of common concern,” the White House said. Beijing has refused to condemn its ally Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine, while blaming the escalating tensions on NATO’s eastward expansion. AFP
12:34 | Scholz blames Putin for Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz today blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin not only for the ravages of his war on the Ukrainian population, but also for the Russian soldiers killed in the fighting. “Anyone in Russia should know that Putin’s war is responsible for the deaths of Russian soldiers in Ukraine,” the German leader said in an appearance alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. EFE
12:09 | Russia denies alleged 15-point plan for peace in Ukraine
The Kremlin described today as “incorrect” in general the information of the 15-point peace plan that Russia would negotiate with Ukraine for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of troops and a neutral status of kyiv with respect to NATO. The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, pointed out in his daily telephone press conference that the plan, advanced on Wednesday by the British newspaper “Financial Times”, “contains a large number of compilations and information that were in the public field on the issues that are on the agenda” for negotiations with Ukraine. EFE
12:05 | Russia rules out suspension of payments
Russia assured today that it has the means to meet its financial obligations and therefore rules out any suspension of payments, which if it occurs would have an “artificial nature.” “Any suspension of payments that could hypothetically occur would have an exclusively artificial character,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said in his daily telephone press conference. EFE
11:50 | Russian invasion is “stalled”, according to the UK
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is “mostly stalled on all fronts,” according to the latest military intelligence released on Twitter by the British Ministry of Defense on Thursday. This report ensures that “Russian forces have made minimal progress by land, sea or air in recent days and continue to suffer heavy losses” in Ukraine. EFE
11:19 | Russia rejects ICJ decision
The Kremlin on Thursday rejected the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest UN court, which ordered Russia on Wednesday to immediately end its military operations in Ukraine. “We cannot take this decision into account,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters, stressing that the two sides, Russia and Ukraine, had to agree for this decision to be applied. AFP
10:48 | Russia reiterates its demands to end the “special military operation”
Russia called on the kyiv authorities on Thursday to think about the fate of the country and its people and “make the corresponding decisions” to bring closer the end of the “special military operation” started by Moscow three weeks ago. “We urge the (Volodymyr) Zelensky regime to think about the fate of the country, its people, draw the corresponding conclusions and the relevant decisions,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at her press conference. weekly. She added that the military operation will continue until its goals are achieved, which Moscow previously said consists of kyiv’s relinquishment of the Crimean peninsula and Donbas, as well as guarantees of its non-nuclear and neutral status with respect to NATO. EFE
10:15 | Survivors reported in bombed Ukrainian theater
The existing anti-aircraft shelter in the theater of the city of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, “resisted” and the people who were there “remain alive,” Ukrainian parliamentarian Serhiy Taruta said Thursday, in statements on his Facebook account. published by Interfax-Ukraine. EFE
10:04 | The war in Ukraine will reduce the economic growth of Germany
The war in Ukraine will significantly affect Germany’s economic recovery and will halve forecast GDP growth in 2022 to 2.1%, the IfW Kiel economic institute said on Thursday. AFP
10:00 | Israel has received more than 11,000 Ukrainian refugees
More than 11,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Israel since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including those of Jewish origin who benefit from the so-called Law of Return, the Israeli Population and Immigration Authority reported today. EFE
9:17 | Zelensky speaks of “wall of freedom” in Europe
Addressing deputies of the German Bundestag, the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, stated that in Russia he has erected a “wall against freedom”. A day after his speech to the US Congress, the Ukrainian leader addressed the German deputies, insisting on the need for greater financial and military aid to defend against the Russian invasion. Zelensky received a standing ovation from the German Bundestag, the lower house of Parliament, at the start of his remote speech. AFP
9:14 | Sanctions against Russia will be increased until there is a ceasefire, says France
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned that sanctions against Russia will continue to increase until Vladimir Putin is convinced that the price of war is so high that it is better to declare a ceasefire and open talks. EFE
9:03 | At least two people die in Lugansk, says local authority
Two people have died and five others were injured in attacks by Russian troops in the eastern Ukrainian region of Lugansk, a self-proclaimed independent republic whose sovereignty has been recognized by Russia. The attacks took place tonight in the towns of Rubizhne and Sievierodonetsk, where in each of them a civilian died, reported this Thursday Serhii Haidai, head of the military administration of that region, in a statement posted on Facebook. EFE
8:34 | Zelensky asks to classify Russia as a “terrorist state”
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, today called on the international community to recognize Russia as a “terrorist state”, after accusing the Air Force of that country of having “deliberately” launched a bomb attack on the city’s theater of Mariupol. “The Russian Air Force has dropped a huge bomb on the Mariupol theater, where the city’s residents had taken refuge,” Zelensky said, in a message posted on his Facebook account. The Ukrainian president then calls on the international community to “recognize” that Russia has become a “terrorist state”. EFE
8:24 | Russia claims arms supply to Ukraine creates ‘direct problems’
Russia warned today that countries supplying weapons to Ukraine, among which it mentioned Slovakia, create “direct problems” for themselves. “If this decision is adopted, and this concerns not only Slovakia, but also other countries, they create problems for themselves… They create direct problems for themselves with their own hands,” said the spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zajarova. EFE
7:39 | One more death reported in kyiv
At least one person was killed and three injured after fragments from a Russian missile shot down by Ukrainian forces fell on an apartment block in the Darnitsky district of kyiv.
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) reported on its Telegram account that it was aware of the fire and the destruction of a residential house in the aforementioned district and went to the area. EFE