Kyiv/ST. PETERSBURG (dpa-AFX) – In the Ukraine war there is no hope of an early end, even after a new attempt at international mediation. After talks in Kiev, an African delegation headed by South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa also sat down with the Kremlin boss at the weekend Wladimir Putin for negotiations between the two sides. However, Russia’s president showed no willingness to make concessions at the meeting in St. Petersburg. The Ukrainian head of state, Volodymyr Zelensky, had previously rejected negotiations with Moscow.
The Russian war of aggression against the neighboring country has now lasted almost 16 months. There was heavy fighting again at the weekend. The British Ministry of Defense, citing its own secret services, spoke of high losses on both sides. In Beijing, the foreign ministers of China and the United States discussed the situation. In the West, some governments continue to hope that Beijing could exert a positive influence on Moscow.
Africans promote talks between Moscow and Kiev
Under Ramaphosa’s direction, half a dozen African states campaigned for a peace solution with the two warring factions. The South African leader said on Saturday: “We are convinced that the time has come for both sides to start negotiations and end this war.” According to the Tass news agency, Putin spoke of a “balanced approach by the African friends in the Ukraine crisis”. However, there was no concrete progress.
The African delegation also included representatives from Egypt, Senegal, Zambia, the Republic of the Congo, Uganda and the Comoros. According to their own statements, their peace initiative includes a ten-point plan. Many African countries are suffering from the war because they depend on grain and fertilizers from Russia and Ukraine – which are now lacking.
US institute: Moscow after Africa initiative without real will for peace
Many experts in the West doubt that Moscow is actually interested in ending the war. The US Institute for War Studies (ISW) in Washington, for example, sees no real interest. Moscow has shown no intention of actually entering into a peace process. Even after advances from China and Brazil, Russia was basically open to negotiations – but nothing more. The ISW spoke of a “false willingness”. Rather, Moscow is concerned with unsettling the West and weakening military support for Ukraine.
Putin, who ordered the invasion of the neighboring country on February 24 last year, once again blamed Ukraine for the lack of peace talks. Kiev has repeatedly made it clear that the withdrawal of the Russian occupying forces is a condition for talks in Ukraine. Russia, however, insists on recognizing several illegally annexed Ukrainian territories as Russian – not just the Crimean peninsula.
Russian occupier tells of Ukrainian conquest of a village
According to the Russian occupation forces, the Ukrainian military took the village of Pjatychatky in the Zaporizhia region on Sunday, suffering great losses. “The Ukrainian armed forces managed to take it (the village) under their control,” said a representative of the pro-Moscow administration Vladimir Rogov. Rogov conceded that the enemy’s wave of attacks brought results despite “enormous losses”. Such admissions are rare.
Rogov also used his message to point out that hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers had been killed. There was no confirmation from the Ukrainian side. The place is now being shelled by artillery from the Russian side, it said. The heavy fighting continued. The information provided by the warring parties on what was happening in the battle can hardly be verified by an independent party.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces reported fighting in several directions at the front. Footage was circulated on social media showing large explosions and a fire. Accordingly, near the town of Henichek, the Luftwaffe hit a large Russian ammunition depot in the occupied part of the Kherson region.
Selenskyj thanks Germany and other supporters
In the midst of the ongoing counter-offensive, Zelenskyy thanked Western partners for their military aid. “Germany: Thank you (…) for your continued strength in protecting lives from Russian rocket terror,” he said in a video message. The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, had previously asked for more support in the “Berliner Zeitung”. With a view to the NATO summit on July 11 and 12 in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, Makeiev called for Ukraine to be given a clear path to membership.
However, US President Joe Biden stressed that Ukraine could not hope for preferential treatment on its way to possible membership. Kiev must meet the same standards as other countries in the transatlantic alliance, Biden said in Philadelphia on Saturday. “I’m not going to make it any easier,” he said.
Media report: Russia probably responsible for dam destruction
The New York Times reported that Russia was responsible for the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine a week and a half ago. The evidence “clearly indicated that the dam was damaged by an explosion triggered by the side that controls it: Russia,” Sunday’s report said.
By far the most likely cause of the collapse was that an explosive charge detonated in a small passageway in the enormous concrete block at the bottom of the dam, destroying the dam. The newspaper cites engineers and explosives experts. According to these, however, only a complete examination of the dam could reveal what led to the destruction.
Ukraine accuses Russia of intentionally blowing up the dam. Many international experts also believe that this is likely. Moscow accuses Kiev of shelling the dam. The Ukrainian authorities have now reported 16 dead as a result of the devastating floods that followed the dam breach, and the Russian occupiers on the other side of the Dnipro River 29. Dozens of residents are still missing./mau/DP/he