Russia-Ukraine war enters its second week
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – With the Russian-Ukrainian war entering its second week, Russia continue bombing Ukraine and the West keeps sanctioning Russia, amid the start of the second round of talks between the two states on Thursday.
The delegations of both Russia and Ukraine are scheduled to meet in Belarus today.
As for the developments on the ground, the first foreign fighters have arrived in Ukraine to fight along with Ukrainian army against Russia.
“Ukraine is already greeting foreign volunteers. (The) first 16,000 are already on their way to protect freedom and life for us, and for all,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address posted on Facebook Thursday.
Earlier, the Ukrainian government has called for people around the world to join the fight against Russia.
Regarding the international position, a NATO military official said Russia will take a more direct approach in its effort to capture Ukrainian cities after plans to encircle targets such as Kyiv have been frustrated.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the country will sanction Russian oligarchs and Belarusian officials, including President Alexander Lukashenko, over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a press conference Thursday, Kishida said Japan would freeze oligarchs’ assets, following decision to suspend the financial assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other key government officials.
Japan will also ban financial transactions with seven major Russian banks, in addition to restricting transactions with the Russian Central Bank and tightening controls on exports of internationally controlled items and semiconductors.
Also, the UK announced new sanctions Thursday aimed at blocking Russian companies in the aviation and space industries from accessing the British insurance market.
“Russian companies in the aviation or space industry will be prevented from making use of UK-based insurance or reinsurance services directly or indirectly,” a statement issued by the UK’s Treasury Office read.
Spain, for its part, will send 1,370 anti-tank grenade launchers to Ukraine on Friday as part of its first shipment of offensive weapons to help against the Russian invasion.
The shipment will also include light machine guns and 700,000 rounds of rifle and machine-gun ammunition, said Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles.
on the other hand, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday, Moscow believes that it’s doing the right thing in the Ukraine situation.
“We are convinced that we are doing the right thing,” he emphasized.
According to Lavrov, Russia “stood up to protect its interests” in relation to Ukraine.
“We don’t seek to impose our rules somewhere 10,000 kilometers away. Please, try to understand that it was a forced decision because we had been unable to get through to the other party and had been lied to for 30 years, it turns out,” he noted.
“This is why we probably will have to make agreements at some point, pledging not to enhance one’s security at the expense of others and abandoning plans to dominate. There should only be equal dialogue. However, our Western colleagues aren’t ready for that and now they are playing the role of the absolute good, making smaller countries act the way they want them to,” Lavrov stressed.
Yesterday, the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with 141 nations voting in favor, five nations against and 35 countries abstaining, including Pakistan, India and China.