The Prime Minister of Spain visited China and called on Xi Jinping, the leader of the Communist Party of China, to hold talks with Zelensky to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. At a time when many European leaders are or will be visiting China, after Putin announced the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus last week, the President of Belarus also declared that if Russia and Ukraine do not “truce and peace talks” now, “Three World Wars” involving nuclear weapons will break out will be imminent. Finland has won the approval of all member states to join NATO as soon as next week.
On March 31, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a number of European leaders visited the town of Bucha, which was devastated by Russian soldiers a year ago. He said that Ukraine is fighting bloody battles for a free world, and ” Evil” Russia must be defeated.
The town of Bucha, located in the northwest suburbs of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, was once captured by the Russian army last year. The Russian army committed many horrific atrocities against the townspeople. However, these tragedies were not made public until April 1 last year after Bucha recovered. All in the world.
An Agence France-Presse reporter witnessed on April 2 last year that there were at least 20 dead bodies dressed in civilian clothes on a single street in Bucha Township. Some of them had their hands tied behind their backs.
“The battle to lay the foundations of the free world is taking place on Ukrainian soil. We will definitely win. Evil Russia will fall, right here in Ukraine,” Zelensky said, returning to the heartbroken ground, AFP reported.
Zelensky pointed out that the town of Bucha has become a symbol of the atrocities committed by the Russian army.
Ukrainian prosecutors pointed out that the Russian army killed about 1,400 civilians around the town of Buta, and they have identified dozens of Russian soldiers involved in the case.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who was beside Zelenskiy, also said that these criminals should be held accountable. She said: “Without justice, there will never be peace.” The visiting leader was Crowe Essia Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger and Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob.
At least 6 missiles hit Russian army in Kharkov again
Reuters reported that Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine was attacked by Russia in the middle of the night on March 30. Governor Oleh Sinegubov pointed out that at least 6 missiles “arrived” were recorded, and preliminary information showed that it was S The -300 anti-aircraft missile was launched from Belgorod in southern Russia. After crossing the Russian-Ukrainian border from the local area to the south is Kharkov Oblast. Officials are gathering details of damage and casualties.
The report mentioned that in order to destroy important infrastructure in Ukraine, Russia has dispatched drones and launched missiles for months to attack various targets in Ukraine. Military analysts say Russia has repurposed some of its S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to attack ground targets in Ukraine.
Kharkiv is a state in eastern Ukraine, bordering Russia to the north, and is the third most populous state in Ukraine.
Conscripting 147,000 citizens to serve Putin signs routine spring conscription order
Russian state news agency TASS reported on the 30th that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a routine spring conscription order to conscript 147,000 citizens for mandatory military service.
According to reports from Reuters and Bloomberg, Putin signed an autumn conscription order in September last year, enlisting 120,000 citizens to serve in the mandatory military service. At the time, TASS reported, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense, that the conscription had nothing to do with “special military operations” in Ukraine.
All Russian men between the ages of 18 and 27 are required to perform a year of military service, or receive equivalent training during higher education. The Tass news agency mentioned that in recent years, an average of about 130,000 people have been recruited in each spring and autumn season.
Bloomberg mentioned that part of the Russian army is dominated by conscription. The Russian government has repeatedly said it will not send conscripted soldiers to fight in Ukraine and that only professional recruits will go to war. Putin plans to increase the size of the Russian army to 1.5 million and raise the age of conscription to 21 to 30 years old in the next few years.
Spring conscription will run from April 1 to June 15, according to a statement posted on the Kremlin website.
White House intelligence: Russia intends to exchange food with North Korea for arms
According to comprehensive foreign media reports, due to the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been subject to international sanctions and export controls, and North Korea is also currently facing serious food problems. US White House national security spokesman John Kirby pointed out on the 30th that according to the latest information they have obtained, Russia is actively acquiring more arms from North Korea.
The report pointed out that a 56-year-old man named Ashot Mkrtychev from Bratislava, Slovakia, has been conducting arms-related transactions between Russia and North Korea since the end of 2022. Backed by Russian officials, it is also trying to broker a secret agreement between the two countries that would give Russia more than 24 types of North Korean weapons and ammunition. For this reason, the United States has included Mkrtychev in the list of sanctions.
Kirby said they also understand that Russia is seeking to send a delegation to North Korea and provide them with food in exchange for arms, but Kirby did not say whether the two countries have completed the deal or what types of arms Russia is trying to acquire. The U.S. Treasury Department mentioned that in addition to food, the agreement will also allow North Korea to obtain cash, commercial aircraft, commodities and raw materials.
But Kirby also stressed that any arms deal between North Korea and Russia would violate a series of UN Security Council resolutions. He also mentioned that although North Korea has recently stated that it will not provide or sell arms to Russia, the United States will continue to pay close attention to this matter and will continue to take actions, including imposing more sanctions, to cut off Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war. machine, further weakening Russia’s ability to wage war on Ukraine.
The report mentioned that both Russia and Ukraine were facing ammunition shortages in September last year. At that time, there was intelligence that Russia planned to buy artillery shells and rockets from North Korea. However, the North Korean side denied this allegation, but the US side continued to question it. In December last year, the US also received intelligence that North Korea had completed initial arms delivery to the Russian mercenary organization “Wagner Group”.
The Associated Press reported that the U.S. government previously declassified information to prove that Iran sold hundreds of drones to Russia last summer and that the Wagner Group received weapons from North Korea to help strengthen Wagner Group’s fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine. the power of.
Experts believe the food shortage in North Korea has reached its worst level in the 11-year rule of leader Kim Jong-un, although there are no immediate signs of famine or mass death. North Korean state media reported earlier this month that Kim Jong-un vowed to tighten state control over agriculture and take a series of other measures to boost food production.
Reuters reported that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (Pedro Sanchez) said on the 31st that he encouraged Chinese President Xi Jinping to talk to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to better understand the peace plan of the Ukrainian authorities to help end the Russian aggression.
Spain will take over the rotating presidency of the European Union on July 1, and Sanchez is visiting China at the invitation of Xi Jinping. Sanchez told a news conference in Beijing that he had told Xi that Spain supported Zelensky’s peace proposal. The content includes the demand that Ukraine’s territory return to the state before Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Xi Jinping visited Moscow from March 20 to 21.
Sanchez said: “I believe that this is a plan to lay the foundation for a long-term peace in Ukraine, which is completely in line with the UN Charter and its principles, and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine violates this Charter and its principles.”
“I express our concern about the illegal incursion into Ukraine,” he said, adding that he “encouraged Xi Jinping to meet with President Zelensky.”
But Sanchez would not say what Xi had to say on the issue.
In February, Beijing proposed a 12-point “peace plan” for the Russo-Ukraine war, calling for a comprehensive ceasefire in the war, posing as a “mediator” intentionally. Xi Jinping visited Moscow to meet with Putin from March 20th to 21st, but has never had a dialogue with Zelensky since the war between Russia and Ukraine started. No response yet. Beijing’s actual behavior makes the outside world question its possibility as a “mediator”, but there still seems to be expectations.
Sanchez praised two points of Beijing’s “peace plan”, namely “reducing strategic risks. Nuclear weapons cannot be used, and nuclear war cannot be fought” and respect for the sovereignty of all countries.
Prior to this, Putin suddenly announced on the 25th that he would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, causing nuclear tensions to rise again. After the high-profile meeting between Xi Jinping and Putin, European countries have recently visited China one after another, and Putin released the threat of nuclear weapons, giving Xi Jinping a bargaining chip to negotiate with the West.
Sanchez is the second European leader to visit Beijing after the coronavirus outbreak. German Chancellor Scholz visited Beijing briefly after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. French President Emmanuel Macron will visit China with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on April 8. German Foreign Minister Berberke will also visit Beijing in mid-April.
China Central Television reported that during the talks with Sanchez, Xi Jinping advocated abandoning the “Cold War mentality” and camp confrontation, and abandoning “extreme” sanctions and pressure.
“We hope that all parties concerned will build a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture through dialogue and consultation,” he said.
José Ignacio Torreblanca, an expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, a European think tank, told AFP that Beijing has specific expectations of the EU, so it hopes to win over Spain before it takes over the EU’s rotating presidency. He said that Spain is certainly not the number one country on the world stage, and Spain is not a country that can play a decisive role in strategic issues involving China or Russia, but Spain has a smooth and smooth relationship with China and can play a boosting role in it.
As for Sanchez, Spain will hold new legislative elections at the end of the year. Observers believe that Sanchez may also intend to use efforts to promote Spain’s influence in international affairs to pave the way for his political future.
Push Russia-Ukraine “truce and peace talks”?Belarusian president declares imminent nuclear ‘three wars’
As the nuclear threat escalates, Russia’s close ally, Belarus, has also spoken out to help Beijing negotiate with visiting European leaders.
Agence France-Presse reported that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (Alexander Lukashenko) said on the 31st that he worried that if the Russian-Ukrainian war continued, it would lead to a third world war, so the two sides called for peace talks without “preconditions”.
Lukashenko, the strongman president of Belarus and a close ally of the Russian authorities, offered in a statement to the nation: “We must stop now, before it escalates. I will risk suggesting an end to hostilities .. …declare a truce. All territorial, reconstruction, security and other related issues can and should be resolved at the negotiating table without preconditions.”
However, the “truce and peace talks” with “no preconditions” means that the peace talks will start when Russia has not withdrawn its troops and still occupies the territories of the five Ukrainian states. This may give Russia time to replenish its troops and armaments for the next time Prepare to attack.
Lukashenko also claimed that Western support for Ukraine has greatly increased the possibility of a nuclear war. “Due to the relationship between the United States and its satellite countries, a full-scale war has broken out in (Ukraine)… involving nuclear weapons. World War III is imminent.”
But Putin only announced last week that he would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, bringing the Russian military’s nuclear arsenal closer to the territory of NATO allies. The Belarusian government has argued that allowing Russia’s nuclear weapons was due to “unprecedented” pressure from Western countries and did not violate international agreements.
In fact, Russia has repeatedly spoken about nuclear threats, but the West has never proposed the use of nuclear weapons to aid Ukraine. Lukashenko’s statement is obviously untenable.
At the time when many European leaders will visit China, Lukashenko’s statement is obviously intended to raise tensions, and it seems to be Putin’s mouthpiece to help Putin’s nuclear threat; and his statement of “truce and peace talks” also echoes the previous Beijing’s 12-point position to promote peace and armistice. Lukashenko’s statement is actually to cooperate with Trump and Xi to join forces to “play a game”, intimidate the West with the threat of nuclear weapons, push for “truce and peace talks”, and give Russia a chance to regroup its forces.
All member states agree that Finland will join NATO as soon as next week
Finland and Sweden wanted to join the US-led defense alliance NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine. Turkey finally agreed on the 30th to Finland to join NATO, but still resisted Sweden’s application. So far, all 30 NATO members have agreed to Finland’s accession.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted on the 31st: “I look forward to raising the Finnish flag at NATO headquarters in the coming days. Together we are stronger and safer.”
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto previously tweeted: “I would like to thank everyone for your trust and support. Finland will be a strong and capable ally and is committed to its security.”
The border between Finland and Russia is 1,300 kilometers long. With Turkey’s ratification, Finland has only a few technical steps left to become the 31st member of the world‘s most powerful military alliance.
Officials expect Finland’s NATO membership process to be completed as soon as next week.
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