WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia warns grain deal in peril

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov blamed the West for a deadlock over the future of a Black Sea grain deal. Moscow has seen "practically no results" from the pact for its grain and fertilizer exports, he said.

LAVROV AT U.N.

* Lavrov, during a news conference at the United Nations covering several topics, said there would be a reaction in due course to the letter sent to Russian President Putin by U.N. chief Guterres about the grain deal.

* No one needs World War Three, Lavrov said, "but it seems someone is ready to go to the very end."

* Asked about Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershovich and ex-Marine Paul Whelan detained in Russia and whether there could be a prisoner swap, Lavrov there was a special, non-public channel to discuss prisoner swaps with the United States.

* Lavrov said Moscow did not want to see what he said was discrimination against Orthodox believers in Ukraine.

DIPLOMACY

* Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticized the Russian invasion of Ukraine while on a visit to Spain but said no one is talking about peace in what he called an "insane war."

* The Kremlin rejected what it said were lies that Putin had lookalike body doublesand that he spent much of his time shielding in a bunker.

ECONOMY

* The European Union's agriculture chief expressed optimism that countries neighbouring Ukraine will shortly accept a deal to allow Ukrainian grain to enter their countries for export elsewhere.

* Putin signed a decree establishing temporary control of the Russian assets of two foreign energy firms, signalling Moscow could take similar action against other companies if need be as it reacts to Western sanctions.

FIGHTING

* Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said Russian forces hit a museum in the eastern city of Kupiansk on Tuesday, killing two women and burying others under rubble.

* Ukraine said Russia maintained offensive actions in the Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Maryinka areas on the eastern front, with heavy fighting for the city of Bakhmut.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

US warns of new Russian offensive in Ukraine

Ukrainian forces could face more Russian attacks even as they prepare a counteroffensive of their own, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has warned.

“In the spring, when the weather improves, and it’s already starting to improve… we can expect the Russians to want to go on the offensive in some areas,” Kirby told state-run news outlet Voice of America on Friday. 

“We want to make sure that the Ukrainians are able to better defend themselves against that and if they choose offensive operations of their own, that they’ve got the capabilities to conduct those,” he added.

Kiev has been promising for months to launch a counteroffensive against Russia sometime this spring, after receiving weapons and training for its troops from the US and other foreign backers.

However, the operation has thus far not materialized and may not kick off until the summer, according to recent remarks by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal. Some Ukrainian officials, including Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, warned against treating the much-anticipated offensive as a make-or-break moment in the conflict.

Several reports in the US media have indicated that the Ukrainian push – if and when it comes – may not result in significant gains. Skeptics cited battlefield losses, including among experienced soldiers, a shortage of artillery munitions and mounting pressure by Russian troops as factors that undermine the Ukrainian position.

The frontline city of Artyomovsk, known as Bakhmut in Ukraine, became the site of some of the bloodiest fighting this year. Russian forces have been gradually advancing and are now in the process of seizing the westernmost part of the city, which remains under Kiev’s control.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has declared the city a “fortress” and refused to pull troops out, despite repeated calls by US officials to do so, according to Western media outlets, citing classified documents allegedly leaked from the Pentagon. Zelensky reportedly fears that the fall of the city would hit morale and has continued to cling to it despite heavy losses by Ukrainian troops.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian private military company Wagner Group, which played a significant part in the fight for Artyomovsk, noted this week that he expected Kiev to start its counteroffensive as soon as the city was captured by Russia.

“Zelensky will need a great victory. And he will start the counteroffensive for the sake of it,” Prigozhin said.

** US government ‘annoyed’ by Macron’s Ukraine push – Bloomberg

The White House is “annoyed” by French President Emmanuel Macron’s unilateral attempt to initiate diplomatic negotiations on the Russia-Ukraine conflict with mediation by China, sources have told Bloomberg.

According to people familiar with the US government's thinking on the issue, the recent move by the French leader “hasn’t gone down well in Washington,” the agency reported on Sunday.

The sources claimed that “the White House was annoyed by what they see as Macron freelancing on a delicate diplomatic issue without consulting with allies.”

The people quoted by Bloomberg also said they did not believe the French president’s initiative would be successful, pointing out that he had proposed other peace plans during the conflict, but later backtracked on them.

They claimed it was “clear” that Beijing had no intention of using its influence on Moscow regarding the situation in Ukraine, the report said.

Last week, Bloomberg cited anonymous sources as saying France has been looking to revive peace talks between Russia and Ukraine by this summer with Chinese help.

Macron was claimed to have asked his foreign policy adviser, Emmanuel Bonne, to work directly with Wang Yi, the top Chinese official in charge of foreign relations, on formulating a roadmap for settling the crisis.

During his visit to Beijing earlier in April, Macron urged his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to use his influence to make Russia “come to its senses” regarding Ukraine. However, according to media reports, he failed to persuade China to closer align its policy on the conflict with the Western one.

Beijing has been saying for months that peace talks are needed in Ukraine, while stressing that any settlement should respect the interests of all parties. Chinese officials have also blamed the outbreak of the conflict on the actions of the US and its allies, including NATO’s eastward expansion.

Following his trip to Beijing, Macron tried to distance Paris from Washington’s aggressive line on China, saying “the Europeans can’t resolve the crisis in Ukraine,” so they mustn’t allow themselves to be dragged into the confrontation between the US and China over Taiwan. Europe should look for “strategic autonomy,” he insisted.

Macron’s efforts to improve relations with China and get involved in the peace process in Ukraine have been criticized by other EU nations as premature and jeopardizing the bloc’s unity.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who also visited China, has fully backed the US stance on Taiwan. Her Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki said that the EU will be “shooting into our own knee” if it tries looking for “strategic autonomy” because it will only make the bloc dependent on Beijing.

Reuters/RT