Live blog: Quad ministers denounce Russian threats of nuclear war

 

Moscow cannot be allowed to wage war with impunity, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in New Delhi as the Russia-Ukraine conflict enters its 373rd day.

 

Ukrainian soldiers load a 152 mm shell into a Msta-B howitzer to fire towards Russian positions, near the frontline town of Bakhmut on March 2, 2023. (AFP)

Friday, March 3, 2023

Russia cannot be allowed to wage war with impunity, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts from India, Japan and Australia said in a statement following a meeting in New Delhi.

The so-called Quad group also said that the use or threat of use, of nuclear weapons in Ukraine was "inadmissible". 

Late last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended a landmark nuclear arms control treaty and threatened to resume nuclear tests.

Blinken met with counterparts from the Quad group on the sidelines of a G20 

 meeting in New Delhi, where ministers had traded blame over the conflict.

The Quad groups India, Australia, Japan and the United States. 

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1007 GMT - Lavrov says Ukraine's president made peace talks with Russia 'criminal offence'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made negotiations with Moscow a "criminal offence," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue conference in New Delhi, Lavrov said everybody is asking when is Russia ready to negotiate to end the war that began in February 2022, but nobody prompts Ukraine for peace talks.

He reminded that Ukraine's principal sponsor, the West, has been continuously saying that "it is not time to negotiate yet because Ukraine must win in the battlefield before any negotiation".

1005 GMT - Kremlin warns against more Western arms for Ukraine ahead of Biden, Scholz meeting

The Kremlin warned Western countries against providing more arms to Ukraine as key Kiev backers President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were set to meet in Washington.

"(Arms deliveries) place a significant burden on the economies of these countries and negatively affect the well-being of citizens of these countries, including Germany," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"It is obvious that this will prolong the conflict and have sad consequences for the Ukrainian people," he added. 

0847 GMT - Wagner chief says Ukraine's Bakhmut 'practically surrounded'

The chief of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner said his fighters had "practically encircled" Bakhmut, an eastern Ukrainian city that Russia has been trying to seize for months. 

"Wagner paramilitary group units have practically surrounded Bakhmut, only one road remains" under Ukrainian control, Yevgeny Prigozhin said, calling on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to abandon the city.

Bakhmut, once known for its salt mines and sparkling wine, has seen the longest and bloodiest battle of the offensive.

0750 GMT - EU's Borrell sees 'small improvement' in US talking with Russia

 

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he saw a "small improvement" in diplomacy with Moscow after a Group of 20 meeting that saw rare US-Russia talks.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met briefly Thursday with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the meeting in New Delhi, with the top US diplomat pressing Moscow over its attack on Ukraine.

Borrell noted that Lavrov remained in the room when Western nations criticised Russia, unlike at the last G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Bali last year, when he stormed out.

0720 GMT - Russia's Lavrov says Moscow will not let West blow up gas pipelines again

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia "will not let the West blow up gas pipelines again" and said that Moscow would no longer rely on the West as an energy partner.

Moscow has suggested that Western countries were responsible for the blasts that damaged the Nord Stream pipelines in September, an assertion they have dismissed, and has called for an international investigation.

 

 

 

Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong says she raised Russia's offensive in Ukraine with her Chinese counterpart, telling reporters after their meeting that all countries want to see China "do the right thing" and not supply weapons to Russia pic.twitter.com/Tf5cw6KW81

— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) March 3, 2023

0310 GMT - Moldova approves declaration condemning Russia 

Moldova’s parliament approved a declaration condemning Russia over its war on Ukraine, local media reported.

Politicians recognised that Russia started a war with Ukraine with the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and has since continued its aggression against the country, the state-run Moldpres news agency said.

It said parliament also recognised that Russia has been waging an illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine, intensified through the wide-scale attack. 

0100 GMT - Brazil's Lula tells Zelenskyy he wants to help with Ukraine peace

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has renewed a proposal for his country to take part in international mediation concerning Ukraine, during a call with his counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"I have just had a video meeting with the president of Ukraine. I reaffirmed Brazil's desire to speak with other countries and participate in whatever initiatives around the construction of peace and dialogue," Lula posted on Twitter.

"War cannot be of interest to anyone."

0000 GMT - US hosts war planning exercises for Ukrainians

The US is hosting war planning exercises in Germany for Ukrainian military officers to help them think through upcoming battlefield decisions, officials said.

The multi-day, tabletop exercises have been carried out at a war-gaming facility at a US Army base in Wiesbaden, Germany, where the top US military officer, Army General Mark Milley, visited.

"No one is sitting there telling the Ukrainians, go left or go right or do this or do that. That is not the job of the international community," Milley told reporters travelling with him to Germany.

"All we're doing is setting up the framework and the mechanics to allow the Ukrainians to self-learn, to learn against a situation, or various scenarios."

 

 

 

Transnistria, a tiny disputed enclave on Moldova's eastern border with Ukraine, has recently come under the international spotlight as tensions mount between the Western bloc and Russia pic.twitter.com/VDTq26BSNU

— TRT World (@trtworld) March 2, 2023

 

2200 GMT - Biden, Scholz to focus on Ukraine, China in talks

US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will focus their discussions mainly on the war in Ukraine, but could also touch on concerns that China may provide lethal aid to Russia, a senior administration official has said.

The two leaders are slated to meet for an hour, including a significant one-on-one component, the official said.

"The overarching purpose of this meeting was a chance for the two leaders to be able to coordinate specifically on Ukraine," the official said.

The US had not seen evidence that China had provided lethal aid to Russia thus far, but was tracking the situation closely, the official said. 

2100 GMT - US to announce new aid package to Ukraine

The United States will announce a new military aid package for Ukraine, worth roughly $400 million and comprised mainly of ammunition, two officials and a person familiar with the package said.

Aid for Ukraine is expected to be a major topic when President Biden and German Chancellor Scholz meet at the White House.

The package, the sources said, is expected to contain more Guided Multiple Launch Rockets (GMLRS) for HIMARS launchers, ammunition for the Bradley Fighting Vehicles, as well as armored vehicle launched bridges.

Source: TRTWorld and agencies 

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