Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Ukraine
Newsline: Chinese top diplomat voices hopes Russia and Ukraine will hold peace talks
China is concerned about an escalation of the war in Ukraine and hopes Moscow and Kyiv will hold peace talks, senior Chinese diplomat Qin Gang told his Ukrainian counterpart on a phone call on Thursday. China has urged both sides to agree to a gradual de-escalation leading to a comprehensive ceasefire in its 12-point paper on the “political resolution of the Ukraine crisis”. The plan, which received a lukewarm welcome on both sides, called for the protection of civilians and respect for each other’s sovereignty. “China hopes that all parties will remain calm, rational and restrained, and resume peace talks as soon as possible,” Qin told Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement. (https://neuters.de/world/europe/china-hopes-ukraine-russia-will-not-close-door-political-solution-senior-chinese-2023-03-16/) Qin added that China hopes Ukraine and Russia will not close the door to a political solution no matter how difficult and challenging the situation, the ministry said. Kuleba said he and Qin had discussed the “significance of the principle of territorial integrity” during the call. Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Russian Vladimir Putin as soon as next week and hold a virtual meeting with Zelenskiy.
Newsline: Algeria to reopen its embassy in Ukraine
Algeria will reopen its embassy in Kyiv one year after it was closed over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Algerian state television said on Sunday citing a foreign ministry statement. “This decision falls within the framework of preserving the interests of the Algerian state and the interests of the national community in this country,” state TV quoted the foreign ministry statement as saying. “The Algerian embassy in Kiev, which suspended its activities due to the deteriorating security situation in Ukraine, will be managed by the Chargé d’Affaires.” The decision to reopen the embassy will be effective “as soon as possible,” the statement read. (https://neuters.de/world/africa/algeria-reopen-its-embassy-kyiv-after-one-year-closure-2023-02-26/) The embassy closed in March last year.
Newsline: Israeli foreign minister in Ukraine to reopen embassy
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen is set to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Thursday in the first such visit since the Russian invasion last year, the Foreign Ministry said. Cohen was set to attend the reopening of the Israeli embassy that has returned to full activity, the ministry said. (https://neuters.de/world/israeli-foreign-minister-ukraine-first-time-since-war-began-2023-02-16/) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who returned to power in December, has spoken about reviewing Israeli policy on the Ukraine-Russia war but has stopped short of pledging any direct supply of arms to Kyiv. The Israelis want to maintain a coordination hotline with Russia, set up in 2015, over their military strikes on suspected Iranian targets in Syria, where Moscow has a garrison. They are also mindful of the welfare of Russia’s big Jewish community.
Newsline: Belarus summons Ukraine ambassador over stray missile
Belarus has protested to Ukraine’s ambassador after saying it had downed a Ukrainian S-300 air defence missile in a field. The Ukrainian ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry in Minsk to receive a formal protest. “The Belarusian side views this incident as extremely serious,” Anatoly Glaz, a spokesman for the ministry, said. “We demanded that the Ukrainian side conduct a thorough investigation … [and] hold those responsible to account and take comprehensive measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future.” (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/29/belarus-summons-ukraine-envoy-over-stray-air-defence-missile) The military commissar of Belarus’s southwestern region of Brest, Oleg Konovalov, played Thursday’s incident down in a video posted on social media by the state-run BelTA news agency, saying locals had “absolutely nothing to worry about”. Konovalov compared the incident to one in November, when an S-300 believed to have strayed after being fired by Ukrainian air defences landed on the territory of NATO-member Poland, triggering fears of an escalation that were rapidly defused.
Newsline: U.S. intensifies Ukraine diplomacy
Nearly ten months into the war in Ukraine, the Biden administration is intensifying diplomatic efforts to ensure that the transatlantic alliance that opposes Russia’s invasion survives a bitter European winter. In the past weeks, the administration has scrambled to adjust its signature inflation legislation to appease European governments whose support it needs on Ukraine, and secured an agreement from the G7 nations to cap the price of Russian oil. “(This winter) Ukrainians will suffer and Russia may just continue to make it harder,” said one senior European diplomat. “It may be more and more difficult for Europeans to preserve their unity and continue to deliver weapons, cash and assistance to Ukraine.” (https://neuters.de/world/europe/us-accelerates-ukraine-diplomacy-europe-slides-into-winter-2022-12-13/) President Joe Biden also briefly moderated his strong opposition to talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a signal to allies restless for a negotiated end to the conflict. The Ukraine war is also the backdrop for the U.S.-Africa Summit, a relationship-building exercise that started on Tuesday and brings together the leaders of 49 African nations, many of whom have expressed frustration with paying the economic price for the war, which the United Nations says has worsened a global food crisis. The coalition of countries opposing Russia’s invasion – from NATO members to U.S. allies such as Japan and Australia – has proven resilient, defying predictions that rising energy prices in part caused by the war could fracture the grouping. But sustaining that united front has required diplomacy and compromise, say diplomats and U.S. officials, and will likely require more as the European winter tests the public’s support for Ukraine.
Newsline: Ukraine Accuses Russia of Mailing ‘Bloody Parcels’ to Embassies Across Europe
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister is accusing Russia of sending letters containing explosives and animal eyes to embassies in six European countries. The Associated Press reports Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko claims “bloody parcels” were received by the Ukrainian embassies in Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia and Italy. Meanwhile, the United States embassy in Madrid, Spain was also on the receiving end of said letters. “We can confirm a suspicious package was received at the US Embassy in Madrid, and are aware of reports of other packages sent to other locations throughout Spain,” the United States embassy told the AP. (https://www.complex.com/life/ukraine-accuses-russia-of-mailing-bloody-parcels-to-embassies-across-europe) The Ukraine’s ambassador to Spain, Serhii Pohoreltsev, told the outlet that the embassy fell victim to an explosion caused by the parcels. Though no injuries have been reported, the aforementioned embassies have stepped up their security following the threat.
Newsline: Ukraine’s Embassies Received Packages Containing Severed Eyeballs of Dead Animals
Ukraine embassies and consulates across Europe have received grotesque packages this week—many containing bloody animal tissue and animal eyes—according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Embassies and consulates in Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland received increasingly creepy packages. The Ukrainian consulate in Brno, Poland, and the consulate in Naples, Italy, received animal eyes in an envelope “soaked in a liquid of a characteristic color and a correspondent smell.” (https://news.yahoo.com/someone-sending-severed-eyeballs-dead-142214671.html) The Ukrainian Embassy in Spain received a similar package, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said. The entrance to the Ukrainian Embassy to the Vatican was vandalized with graffiti and human feces, according to an employee there, who said they had received subtle threats all week. Police in Italy confirmed they are investigating and will run DNA tests. Embassies to the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Austria received “animal tissue” reportedly stripped of fur.
Newsline: Blast at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid Injured One Employee
Spanish police said an employee at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid was injured on Wednesday in an explosion that occurred while he was handling a letter. The staff member suffered light injuries went to hospital under his own steam, police added. (https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-11-30/spanish-police-say-blast-at-ukrainian-embassy-injured-one-employee) Ukraine’s embassy in Madrid was not immediately reachable.
Newsline: Israel summons Ukrainian ambassador
Israel said it had summoned the Ukrainian ambassador for a dressing down after Kyiv voted in favour of a resolution to open an international probe into Israel’s prolonged occupation of the West Bank. The resolution, approved at U.N. headquarters in New York last week, asks that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) “urgently” weigh in on Israel’s “prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory”, which it said were violating the Palestinians’ right to self-determination. Israel “expressed its dissatisfaction” with Ukraine’s decision to vote in favour of the resolution in a conversation with Ambassador Yevgen Korniychuk, according to a statement released by the Israeli foreign ministry. “It was clarified to the ambassador that this behaviour does not embody friendly behaviour,” the statement said. (https://news.yahoo.com/israel-admonishes-ukrainian-ambassador-over-135245644.html) In a statement about the meeting on Facebook, the Ukrainian embassy in Israel wrote: “The ambassador expressed disappointment with the position of Israel, whose representative abstained during the vote in the U.N. General Assembly on the issue of Russian reparation payments to Ukraine.” While the Israeli statement said the ambassador had been “summoned”, Ukraine said the meeting had been prearranged and was not a summons.
Newsline: Top U.S. General Urges Diplomacy in Ukraine
A disagreement has emerged at the highest levels of the United States government over whether to press Ukraine to seek a diplomatic end to its war with Russia, with America’s top general urging negotiations while other advisers to President Joe Biden argue that it is too soon. Gen. Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has made the case in internal meetings that the Ukrainians have achieved about as much as they could reasonably expect on the battlefield before winter sets in and so they should try to cement their gains at the bargaining table, according to officials informed about the discussions. The debate, which the officials described on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss sensitive deliberations, has spilled out into public in recent days as Milley made public comments hinting at his private advice. “Seize the moment,” he said in a speech in New York on Wednesday. He elaborated in an interview on CNBC on Thursday. “We’ve seen the Ukrainian military fight the Russian military to a standstill,” he said. “Now, what the future holds is not known with any degree of certainty, but we think there are some possibilities here for some diplomatic solutions.” (https://news.yahoo.com/top-u-general-urges-diplomacy-131116974.html) But other senior officials have resisted the idea, maintaining that neither side is ready to negotiate and that any pause in the fighting would only give President Vladimir Putin of Russia a chance to regroup. While Biden’s advisers believe the war will likely be settled through negotiations eventually, officials said, they have concluded that the moment is not ripe and the United States should not be seen as pressuring the Ukrainians to hold back while they have momentum.
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