Zelensky says stalemate is not an option in war with Russia – follow him live

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Kyiv would not settle for a battlefield stalemate with Russia and that his goal was to regain control of all of its territory held by Moscow.

“We have already lost too many people to simply give up our territory,” he said via video link at an event organized by FT Live, adding that a standoff was “not an option” for Kyiv.

“We have to achieve a total vacancy of our entire territory,” Zelenskiy said.

Kyiv has previously said that Russian forces now occupy about 20% of Ukrainian territory, including swaths in the east and south.

“We are not going to humiliate anyone, we are going to respond in the same way,” Zelenskiy said, when asked about French President Emmanuel Macron’s call not to “humiliate” Russia in order to keep the door open to a diplomatic solution. .

Ukraine hopes that Western deliveries of longer-range weaponry, including US HIMARS and Britain’s M270 artillery rocket systems, could help push back Russian troops.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy should not be pressured by world powers into agreeing to a bad peace deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told his top team of ministers on Tuesday.

At the cabinet meeting, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss also said that London was preparing more sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, Johnson’s spokesman told reporters.

Johnson, who survived a vote of confidence introduced by his lawmakers on Monday, told his ministers that Britain “will remain at the forefront” of support for Ukraine, the spokesman added.

“He said it was vital that President Zelenskiy not be pressured into accepting a bad peace, noting that bad peace deals don’t last. He said the world must avoid any outcome in which Putin’s unwarranted aggression appears to have paid off,” the spokesman said.

The Russian State Duma has passed a pair of bills ending the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights in Russia, after Russia announced plans to leave the court amid the conflict in Ukraine.

The Russian parliament has passed two bills, one removing the country from the court’s jurisdiction and another setting a March 16 cut-off point, and rulings against Russia issued after that date will not be implemented.

Appeals to the European Court of Human Rights had become the last resort for plaintiffs in several high-profile cases that had been rejected by Russian courts. In 2017, the court ordered Moscow to pay compensation to survivors of the 2004 Beslan school siege, who alleged failures by the security services.

On March 15, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided to expel Russia from the organization, of which the ECHR is a part, in response to the deployment of Russian troops in Ukraine in February.

Russia has said it has decided to leave the Council of Europe independently, and former President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia’s departure from the organization presented an opportunity to reinstate the death penalty, which is prohibited by Council of Europe rules.

A Ukrainian parliamentarian has said her country is “really grateful” for the UK’s donation of long-range missiles, but said more air support is needed to compete with Russia.

The UK is sending its first long-range missiles to Ukraine after Russia struck outside Kyiv for the first time since April.

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Britain will send an unspecified number of M270 launchers, which can fire precision-guided rockets up to 50 miles, a longer range than any missile technology currently in use in the war.

“That will really make a difference on the battlefield,” Inna Sovsun, deputy leader of the Holos Party, told the PA news agency.

“If it had come earlier, we would have saved a lot of lives and a lot less damage would have been done.

“It’s a good start and we really appreciate it, everyone in Ukraine knows it and we’re really thankful that it’s happening.

“You have to realize that right now what is happening there is an artillery battle, whoever has the most artillery will win, and Ukraine unfortunately does not have as much artillery to fight against the Russian artillery.

“Everyone says the same thing about the bravery of the Ukrainian army, and we very much agree with that, but bravery does not save you from Russian missiles and artillery.

“Now this is starting to make a difference, again we hope it will come in larger numbers and we hope it will come as soon as possible.”

Ms. Sovsun said Ukraine still needs fighter jets, adding “we don’t have the air support we need.”

Moscow will not be able to retain its military capabilities due to harsh Western sanctions imposed as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday.

“We have far-reaching sanctions now that will set the Russian economy back for decades, which means it will not be able to participate in global economic and technological progress,” Scholz told reporters during a visit to Vilnius.

“We know from reports that this means that Russia will not even be able to maintain its military capabilities at the same level,” he said, adding that Moscow had in the past abused imports of civilian goods for military purposes.

Volodymyr Zelensky hailed Johnson as “a true friend of Ukraine” and added: “I am glad that we have not lost a very important ally.”

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick has more:

Japanese and NATO officials agreed on Tuesday to step up military cooperation and joint exercises as they shared concerns that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is causing the security environment in Europe and Asia to deteriorate.

Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said after meeting with NATO Military Committee chief Rob Bauer that Japan hopes to strengthen its ties with European countries and welcomes NATO’s increased involvement in the region. of the Indo-Pacific.

“The security of Europe and Asia are closely intertwined, especially now that the international community is facing serious challenges,” Kishi said.

Bauer’s visit to Tokyo comes as the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is participating in NATO naval exercises in the Mediterranean Sea.

Japan has been increasing its military capabilities and cooperation with Europe, in addition to its alliance with the United States and partnerships with other countries in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond, in the face of China’s rise.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been invited to the NATO summit later this month and is reportedly considering attending the meeting, which would make him the first Japanese leader to do so.

Germany is ready to step up its military mission in Lithuania in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a visit to Vilnius on Tuesday.

“We are ready to strengthen our commitment and develop it into a robust combat brigade,” Scholz told reporters without giving details.

Berlin sent hundreds of additional troops to Lithuania in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion, described by Moscow as a “special military operation,” and has deployed some 1,000 troops there as part of a German-led NATO combat unit.

Asked about reports that Spain plans to send German-made Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine, Scholz said that Berlin has not yet received an export request from the government in Madrid.

Any such request would be carefully evaluated, he added.

Spain wants to supply Ukraine with anti-aircraft missiles and Leopard tanks, according to government sources quoted this Sunday by the newspaper El País.

Germany has so far refused to deliver Western tanks to Ukraine.

The Russian military says it has destroyed several Western-supplied artillery systems in the latest series of attacks on Ukrainian targets.

Major General Igor Konashenkov said Tuesday that Russian artillery hit a howitzer supplied by Norway and two other artillery systems supplied to Ukraine by the United States.

He said Russian artillery shelling destroyed other Ukrainian equipment in the east of the country, while the Russian air force hit concentrations of Ukrainian troops and equipment and artillery positions. Konashenkov’s claims could not be independently confirmed.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Ukraine needed to demine approaches to its ports so the Russian military would clear ships before they could export grain.

Russia has seized much of Ukraine’s coastline and is blockading its ports, but says the lack of grain shipments is due to Western sanctions and Kyiv itself.

“[President Vladimir] Putin has said: Ukraine must demine approaches to its ports,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a conference call.

“This will allow ships, once checked by our military, to enter ports, load grain and, with our help, head out into international waters.”