WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Blinken warns China's Wang Yi against aiding Russia in Ukraine
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday warned top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi of consequences should China provide material support to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying in an interview after the two met that Washington was concerned Beijing was considering supplying weapons to Moscow.
The top diplomats of the two superpowers met at an undisclosed location on the sidelines of a global security conference in Munich, just hours after Wang scolded Washington as "hysterical" in a running dispute over the U.S. downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon.
Relations between the two countries have been fraught since Washington said China flew a spy balloon over the continental U.S. before American fighter jets shot it down on President Joe Biden's orders. The dispute also came at a time when the West is closely watching Beijing's response to the Ukraine war.
In an interview to be aired on Sunday morning on NBC News' "Meet the Press with Chuck Todd," Blinken said the United States was very concerned that China is considering providing lethal support to Russia and that he made clear to Wang that "would have serious consequences in our relationship."
"There are various kinds of lethal assistance that they are at least contemplating providing, to include weapons," Blinken said, adding that Washington would soon release more details.
Speaking to reporters in a briefing call, a senior State Department official said China was trying to "have it both ways" by claiming it wants to contribute to peace and stability but at the same time taking "concerning" steps to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"(The) secretary was quite blunt in warning about the implications and consequences of China providing material support to Russia or assisting Russia with systematic sanctions evasion," the senior official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Russia and China signed a "no limits" partnership last February shortly before Russian forces invaded Ukraine, and their economic links have boomed as Moscow's connections with the West have shriveled.
The West has been wary of China's response to the Ukraine war, with some warning that a Russian victory would color China's actions toward Taiwan. China has refrained from condemning the war or calling it an "invasion."
Earlier, speaking at a panel at the conference, Wang reiterated a call for dialogue and suggested European countries "think calmly" about how to end the war.
He also said there were "some forces that seemingly don't want negotiations to succeed, or for the war to end soon," without specifying to whom he was referring.
NO APOLOGY
Blinken and Wang's meeting came hours after the top Chinese diplomat took a swipe at the United States, accusing it of violating international norms with "hysterical" behavior by shooting down the balloon.
The balloon's flight this month over U.S. territory triggered an uproar in Washington and prompted Blinken to postpone a planned visit to Beijing. That Feb. 5-6 trip would have been the first by a U.S. secretary of state to China in five years and was seen by both sides as an opportunity to stabilize increasingly fraught ties.
"To have dispatched an advanced fighter jet to shoot down a balloon with a missile, such behavior is unbelievable, almost hysterical," Wang said.
"There are so many balloons all over the world, and various countries have them. So, is the United States going to shoot all of them down?" he said.
China reacted angrily when the U.S. military downed the 200-foot (60-meter) balloon on Feb. 4, saying it was for monitoring weather conditions and had blown off course. Washington said it was clearly a surveillance balloon with a massive undercarriage holding electronics.
Questions had swirled as to whether Blinken and Wang would use the conference in Munich as a chance to reengage in-person, and the State Department only confirmed the hour-long meeting after it had ended.
In the interview with NBC, Blinken said Wang did not apologize for the balloon's flight.
"I told him quite simply that that was unacceptable and can never happen again," Blinken said, referring to the balloon's violation of U.S. air space.
"There was no apology," he said, adding that he had not discussed with Wang rescheduling his trip to China.
Washington had been hoping to put a "floor" under relations that hit a dangerous low in August with China's reaction to a Taiwan visit by then-U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
But Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, said while Wang's comments at the conference were likely aimed at deflecting embarrassment over the balloon incident, the lack of a strong response from Washington "increases China's appetite for risk in future disputes."
"Blinken and Wang's meeting will not change the downward trajectory in the U.S.-China relationship. It's clear there is almost no trust between the two sides," Singleton said.
** EU presses for joint arms purchases to help Ukraine
The European Union is urgently exploring ways for its member countries to team up to buy munitions to help Ukraine, following warnings from Kyiv that its forces need more supplies quickly, diplomats and officials said.
EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss the idea of joint procurement of 155-millimetre artillery shells – badly needed by Kyiv – at a meeting in Brussels on Monday.
EU officials and diplomats say a joint approach would be more efficient than member states placing individual orders. Larger orders would also help industry invest in extra capacity, they said.
"It is now the time, really, to speed up the production, and to scale up the production of standardized products that Ukraine needs desperately," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
Von der Leyen later said she was confident the urgency of the situation would convince EU members to set aside their longstanding preference for buying arms at national level.
"In this atrocious war that Russia unleashed against Ukraine, we see that we can move mountains under pressure," she told Reuters and other news organisations in an interview.
The joint arms buying could be similar to the EU's advance purchase of Covid vaccines, she added.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said ammunition was a "critical issue" which he had discussed with defence industry leaders at the Munich conference.
"I received assurances - and I have specific numbers - about the quantities that can be produced," he told reporters. "The question is (around) contracting them, financing and logistics."
While no decisions are expected on Monday, an EU diplomat said announcements were likely in the coming days, following an Estonian proposal for EU procurement of 155mm ammunition, the shells used in artillery pieces such as Howitzers.
The diplomat said the bloc was focusing on how to boost production and how joint purchases would be funded.
DEPLETED STOCKPILES
A joint procurement effort would aim to replenish the stockpiles of Kyiv's allies, badly depleted after a year of supplying munitions to help Ukraine fight Russia's invasion.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said this week Ukraine was using up artillery shells faster than its allies could currently produce them.
Ukrainian forces are firing between 2,000 and 7,000 artillery shells per day, while Russia is using between 20,000 and 60,000, according to the Estonian paper, seen by Reuters.
A senior EU official said the bloc's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, and its diplomatic service considered the Estonian proposal to be "potentially a very good idea".
Officials and diplomats said least some funding would likely come from the European Peace Facility, an EU military aid fund.
It has approved 3.6 billion euros in support for Ukraine, but mainly by bankrolling aid given by EU members individually.
The bloc's European Defence Agency (EDA) took part in a joint procurement effortin 2014 with five EU members to buy ammunition for an anti-tank weapon. It has offered to take the lead in another ammunition-buying effort.
"We have proposed to member states that we can act on their behalf for the procurement of different types of ammunition," said EDA Chief Executive Jiri Sedivy.
Diplomats and officials did not specify how much the EU might spend on joint procurement. The Estonian paper suggested 1 million 155 mm rounds could be bought this year for some 4 billion euros.
Elon Musk, U.S. discussed Starlink in Ukraine, Blinken says
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that the U.S. government has had conversations with Elon Musk about the use of Starlink satellite internet in Ukraine.
SpaceX this month said it has taken steps to prevent Ukraine's military from using the company's Starlink service for controlling drones in the region during the country's war with Russia.
Asked during an interview with NBC News' "Meet the Press with Chuck Todd" that will air on Sunday whether the United States had asked Musk, the company's chief executive, not to restrict the use of Starlink capabilities by Ukraine's military, Blinken said: "Well, I can't share any conversations we've had other than to say we've had conversations."
SpaceX has privately shipped truckloads of Starlink terminals to Ukraine, allowing the country's military to communicate by plugging them in and connecting them with the nearly 4,000 satellites SpaceX has so far launched into low-Earth orbit.
Russia has attempted to jam Starlink signals in the region, though SpaceX countered by hardening the service's software, Musk has said.
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
EU ‘indirectly at war’ with Russia – Hungary
Europe has become “immersed in war” due to its policy of supplying arms and military intelligence to Ukraine throughout its conflict with Russia, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Saturday, addressing his country’s refusal to send weapons to Kiev.
Speaking at his annual state-of-the-nation speech in Budapest, Orban reiterated that Hungary won’t fall in line with other EU member states by supplying military aid to Ukraine, its northeastern neighbor, adding that European leaders appear to be “sleepwalking” into an expanded conflict.
“It started with helmets and now we are already at the delivery of tanks, in the future also of airplanes, and before long we will hear about the so-called peacekeeping units,” Orban said.
“Europe is getting immersed in war, in reality they’re already indirectly at war with Russia,” he added.
Orban, who has served as Hungary’s Prime Minister since 2010, stated that Hungary will “maintain economic relations with Russia and recommend this to our allies” even as Western leaders continue to impose sanctions on Moscow.
He also said that while Hungary remains a proud member of both the EU and NATO, the military bloc must remain a defensive alliance and not be used to “collectively attack a third country” – adding that a “sovereign Ukraine between Hungary and Russia” is in Budapest’s best interests.
The premier maintained that Hungary has shown “great humanitarian aid” for Ukrainian refugees, and said he'd like the Russia-Ukraine conflict to end immediately but that he does not have the influence within NATO and the EU to get that done, as “everyone there is on the side of war except us.”
While he also discussed issues such as inflation and domestic political affairs, around half of Orban’s hour-long speech was centered around policy matters involving Moscow and Kiev.
There will be no resolution in Ukraine, Orban concluded, until lawmakers in both Moscow and Washington sit at the negotiation table. Until then, only more fighting – and the threat of a world war – awaits.
** DPR head announces improvement of Russian forces’ positions near Artyomovsk
Russian forces have strengthened their positons near Artyomovsk, Denis Pushilin, acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), said on Saturday.
"Artyomovsk is being liberated. Now we have information about the improvement of positons on its outskirts, that is Praskovyevka (Paraskovyevka - TASS) has been liberated, which also enables us to advance closer to the blocking of the remaining road towards Chasov Yar, which is in fact the only of five roads, which remains the enemy supply route," he told reporters on the sidelines of a workshop for regional headquarters of the We Are Together volunteers.
According to Pushilin, blocking the road towards Chasov Yar will bring the liberation of Artyomovsk closer.
"It is actually one road, but it is branched. In other words, it has to be blocked and then we’ll bring the liberation of Artyomovsk drastically closer," the DPR acting head said.
Artyomovsk, which is located in the Kiev-controlled area of the Donetsk People’s Republic, is a major supply hub for the Ukrainian grouping in Donbass. Fierce fighting is raging over the city. On February 16, Pushilin reported that Russian forces had taken all the key highland areas near Artyomovsk.
** Kherson regional governor convinced Kherson city to return under Russian control shortly
The city of Kherson will soon be returned under Russia’s control, Acting Governor of the Kherson Region Vladimir Saldo said on Saturday.
According to Saldo, it will happen very soon.
"People ask me, ‘What do you think about Kherson?’ I have one thing in mind that in the near future, very soon, Kherson will again be part of the Kherson Region within the Russian Federation," Saldo told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar for regional headquarters of volunteers of the We Are Together campaign.
Saldo emphasized that Kherson had been left temporarily and praised the Russian People’s Front for the city’s evacuation.
"A large-scale operation was organized to evacuate residents," he said. "Almost 150,000 residents of Kherson and people living on the right bank [of the Dnieper River] were relocated to the left bank," he said.
On October 18, 2022, Saldo said civilians living on the western bank of the Dnieper River in the Kherson Region would be evacuated to the eastern bank amid the risk of flooding in the event that Ukrainian forces attack the Kakhovka hydro power plant. On October 31, Saldo said that the evacuation area would be expanded by 15 km along the eastern bank of the Dnieper in the region.
** LPR head says situation near Kremennaya, Svatovo very difficult
The situation near Kremennaya and Svatovo is very difficult along the line of engagement due to Ukrainian shelling, Leonid Pasechnik, acting head of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), said on Saturday.
"As for Kremennaya and Svatovo, this is a very complicated situation. They are close to the contact line and the difficulty is that all types of ammunition [the Ukrainian armed forces] have are reaching [them] due to that proximity. And the enemy takes advantage of this," he told reporters on the sidelines of a workshop for regional headquarters of the volunteers from the We Are Together movement.
On February 8, LPR People’s Militia retired Lieutenant Colonel Andrey Marochko told TASS that Russian forces had been occupying more advantageous positions near Svatovo and Kremennaya which would enable them to deliver targeted attacks on Ukrainian manpower and hardware.
Earlier, Rodion Miroshnik, the LPR’s former ambassador to Moscow, told TASS that more than a half of residents of Kremennaya had been evacuated due to never-stopping shelling attacks by Ukrainian troops. He added that key social institutions of Kremennaya and Svatovo had also been evacuated over hostilities.
Reuters/RT/TASS