Speaking in a video address to Ukrainians late on Monday, Volodymyr Zelensky vowed: “We will destroy the enemy’s military might.”
He said: “It is very tough in the east, very painful. We need to destroy the enemy's military might, and we will.”
He added: “Bilohorivka and Maryinka, Avdiivka and Bakhmut, Vuhledar and Kamyanka - and all other places where our future is being decided. Where our future, the future of all Ukrainians, is being fought for.”
Zelensky told Ukrainians: “I am grateful to each and every one who is now in combat! Thank you to everyone who defends their positions and fights for Ukraine and brothers-in-arms! Thank you to everyone who never lets down those who are next to them on the frontline!”
He president also praised soldiers of the 92nd Separate Mechanised Brigade “for their successful actions in the area of Bakhmut,” Polish state news agency PAP reported.
China’s president to visit Russia next week, then speak virtually to Zelensky: reports
Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit Russia next week to hold talks with Vladimir Putin, according to news outlets.
Plans for an imminent visit come as China has been offering to broker peace in Ukraine, a proposal that has met with scepticism in the West due to China’s diplomatic support for Russia, the Reuters news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Xi Jinping also plans to speak with Ukraine’s Zelensky for the first time since the start of the war, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Chinese leader wants to hold a virtual meeting with Zelensky, probably after a visit to Moscow next week, the WSJ reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The planned meetings with Putin and Zelensky reflect Beijing’s efforts to play a more active role in mediating an end to the war in Ukraine, some of the paper’s sources said.
Russia agrees to extend Ukraine grain export deal for 60 days
Russia has agreed to renew an agreement allowing the safe export of grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports for a period of 60 days, the PAP news agency reported on Monday night.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin announced the position after talks with United Nations officials in Geneva, Switzerland.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov noted that the 60-day renewal was incompatible with the original deal, signed last July and due to expire on March 18, according to the PAP news agency.
Kubrakov wrote on Twitter: “The Black Sea Grain Initiative agreement involves at least 120 days of extension, therefore Russia’s position to extend the deal only for 60 days contradicts the document signed by Turkey and the UN.”
He added: “We’re waiting for the official position of the UN and Turkey as the guarantors of the initiative.”
Tuesday is day 384 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, president.gov.ua, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal