Ukrainian war, Borrell: «Tenth EU sanctions package against Russia». G20 split: there is no official press release

“If Putin likes it, how can it be a good plan?” Thus Joe Biden liquidated the initiative for peace in Ukraine proposed by China. “There are advantages only for Russia in that plan”, added the American president in an interview with ABC news, underlining that the idea that China “negotiates the outcome of a totally unjust war for Ukraine is not rational ».

The Bangalore Finance G20 ended without an official final communiqué, but with a summary of the Indian presidency which reiterated the condemnation of the war launched by Russia in Ukraine expressed in Bali in November, supported by “most of the member countries” but without the support of Russia and China. The Bloomberg agency writes it.

«Palazzo Chigi adheres to the initiative of the Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need aimed at commemorating the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. The lights on the facade of Palazzo Chigi will be turned off from 20:00 today to 1:00 tomorrow 26 February next». A press release makes it known.

«The tenth package of European sanctions targets the Russian military industry, propaganda and the financial system. The pressure on the Russian aggressor must increase: we expect decisive steps against Rosatom and the Russian nuclear industry, more pressure on the military and banks”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote it on twitter.

«I welcome the formal adoption of our tenth package of sanctions against Russia. Now we have the most far-reaching sanctions ever, to deplete Russia’s war arsenal and hit her economy to the core.” Thus on twitter the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, assuring that at the same time “the pressure is increasing on those who try to circumvent our sanctions”.

“The tenth package of EU sanctions has been adopted”. The EU High Representative Josep Borrell announces it on social media. «121 persons and entities listed, significant new import/export restrictions, prohibition of dissemination of Russian propaganda. We remain united in our determination to dent Russia’s war machine,” he announces.

The 10th sanctions package is adopted:
121 individuals and entities listed, significant new import/export restrictions, banning Russian propaganda outlets.

We remain united in our determination to dent Russia’s war machine.

1/2

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) February 25, 2023

Advisor to Ukrainian President Mykhailo Podolyak has dismissed China’s plan to end the conflict as unrealistic. “If you claim to be a global player, you are not offering an unrealistic plan. There is no betting on an aggressor who has violated international law and who will lose the war. He is not forward-looking. China, the window of opportunity is not infinite». he wrote in a tweet.

If you claim to be a global player, you don’t offer an unrealistic plan. You don’t bet on an aggressor who broke intl law and will lose the war. It’s not far-sighted. As someone who plans for decades doesn’t play “🇷🇺 3-day games.”
China, the “window of opportunity” is not endless

— Mykhailo Podolyak (@Podolyak_M) February 25, 2023

The Ukrainian military said yesterday that Russia doubled the number of vessels actively deployed in the Black Sea and predicted that this could be a preparation for more missile attacks. The Guardian reports it. «In the Black Sea, the fleet of warships has doubled since Thursday: there are now eight ships», the military command in the southern region said in an update on Facebook, «this could indicate that missile attacks and strikes are being prepared of drones,” he said. One of the vessels is a frigate armed with eight Kalibr missiles, the South military command said.

“We cannot question what was approved in Bali and any other solution would be an unacceptable setback.” Thus Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti before the start of work on the last day of the G20, marked by divisions over Russia’s condemnation of the war in Ukraine.

«The West is just prolonging Ukraine’s agony in the hope of weakening Russia and then scrapping it,” Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said in an article published in National Defense, quoted by RIA Novosti. “Ukraine’s agony is being artificially prolonged by the West in the hope that in this way it will wear Russia down.” According to Medvedev, the US has spent 50 billion dollars on military aid to Ukraine. “The Russian defense industry is working, no Western arms supply can give Kiev an advantage,” he added.

Russia has depleted its stockpiles of Iranian drones and is looking for new supplies, the British Defense Ministry indicates in its usual daily update on the situation in Ukraine. Since the 15th of the month, there have been no reports of drone attacks.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmitri Kuleba, believes that in the position paper on the war in Ukraine presented by China “there are various elements on which we agree, but at least one element on which we do not agree, and it is the call for an end to »unilateral sanctions«. “We believe – says Kuleba, quoted by some media, including Ukrainska Pravda – that sanctions are an important tool”. But in general, »this (Chinese) document is important. We are studying it, we have to do it from beginning to end and then draw our conclusions,” said Kuleba. »We have to state it clearly: 141 countries voted on a resolution defining the principles and key elements of how this war should end. And everything that is proposed outside this resolution must comply with the resolution itself,” underlined the head of Kiev diplomacy.

Germany will send four more Leopard 2A6 tanks to Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said. The total number of tanks arriving from Germany therefore rises from 14 to 18. «Together with our partners in Portugal and Sweden, we are able to supply a mixed battalion», it is specified in Berlin. 31 vehicles are part of a tank battalion. Portugal will supply 3 tanks and Sweden ten.

There was no comment from Moscow on the occasion of yesterday’s anniversary of the ‘special operation’, as the invasion of Ukraine is called in Russia, nor a celebration: a fact which, according to the US think-tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), betrays the conscience that Russia’s war goals have failed. Isw’s comment is quoted by various media outlets. According to ISW experts, in fact, Russia “has failed to achieve any of the declared objectives and has failed to gain sufficient ground since July 2022”.

Night attacks by Russians against the part of Donetsk oblast under Ukrainian control left at least five wounded, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing the governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. Two were wounded in Chasiv Yar, two in Bakhmut, one in Donetsk and one in Kostiantynivka, said the governor of the region where the fiercest fighting is underway. The Russian forces, and in particular the Wagner Group private militia, have been trying to conquer it completely and have been pointing towards Bakhmut for weeks, meeting very tenacious resistance.

Joe Biden he reiterated his intention to try to run again for a second term in 2024 but also admitted that it is “legitimate” for people to ask questions about his age. “From the outset, my intention was to run for a second term. But there are too many things we need to accomplish in the short term before I start a campaign,” the president said in an interview with ABC News. At 80, Biden is the oldest sitting president in US history. “The only thing I can say to anyone who worries about my age is look at me,” he said.