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Ukraine conflict – day 372: Putin accuses Ukraine of "terrorist attack"
Updated 02:27, 03-Mar-2023
CGTN
Europe;Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of carrying out a
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of carrying out a "terrorist attack" in the southern Bryansk region bordering Ukraine. /Reuters via third party.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of carrying out a "terrorist attack" in the southern Bryansk region bordering Ukraine. /Reuters via third party.

TOP HEADLINES

· President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia was fighting off a "terrorist attack" in the southern Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, and vowed to crush what he said was a Ukrainian sabotage group that had fired at civilians.

· U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken has called on Russia to end what he calls its "war of aggression" in an address following a G20 meeting on Thursday.

· However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has hit back, blaming the Western allies for the current global, political and economic crises and accusing them of turning the G20 into a "farce."

· Lavrov accused the West of "shamelessly burying" the Black Sea grain initiative that facilitates the export of Ukraine's agricultural products from its southern ports, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

· Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia would not be the first to test a nuclear device, following Moscow's suspension of the New START nuclear arms control treaty with the United States.

· Ryabkov also accused the United States of providing intelligence on the location of strategic sites inside Russia to Ukraine, for it to attack them with drones.

· Ukraine's military says Russia is making preparations for new attacks in the central Zaporizhzhia region and on the southern front in the Kherson region.

· Ukrainian member of parliament Serhiy Rakhmanin says Ukrainian forces will eventually have to leave Bakhmut if the attacks on the town continue.

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke on the margins of Thursday's G20 meeting in New Delhi for less than 10 minutes, a senior U.S. State Department official said. READ MORE BELOW

• The conflict dominated the New Delhi meeting, one of the last international forums involving top Western officials to which Russia is still invited.

· Russia, meanwhile, says it will use the meeting to tell the world who, according to Moscow, was responsible for the crises the world finds itself in.

· German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has urged Russia to return to a full implementation of the New START nuclear arms treaty and to resume dialogue with the U.S..

· A Russian defense ministry journal said Moscow was developing a new type of military strategy using nuclear weapons to protect against possible U.S. aggression, RIA news agency reported on Thursday.

Rescuers and medics carry a man evacuated from a residential building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia. /Pic supplied via third party for Reuters
Rescuers and medics carry a man evacuated from a residential building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia. /Pic supplied via third party for Reuters

Rescuers and medics carry a man evacuated from a residential building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia. /Pic supplied via third party for Reuters

Rescuers work at a site of a residential building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia. /Reuters
Rescuers work at a site of a residential building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia. /Reuters

Rescuers work at a site of a residential building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia. /Reuters

IN DETAIL

Blinken, Lavrov speak at G20 – briefly

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke for less than 10 minutes on the margins of the G20 meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, a senior U.S. State Department official said.

In what is believed to be the two top diplomats' first one-on-one conversation in person since before Russia's February 2022 attack on Ukraine, Blinken reiterated that Washington is prepared to support Ukraine's defense as long as it takes, the official said.

Lavrov did not mention the meeting during a news conference he gave after Thursday's G20 foreign ministers' meeting. Russia's foreign ministry confirmed Lavrov and Blinken spoke "on the move," but did not hold negotiations or a meeting, Russian news agencies reported on Thursday.

The U.S. official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said Blinken also called for Russia to reverse its decision to suspend participation in the New START nuclear treaty and to release detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan.

"The secretary saw the purpose of this was to deliver these three direct messages, which we see as advancing our interests," the official said.

"We always remain hopeful that the Russians will reverse their decision and be prepared to engage in a diplomatic process that can lead to a just and durable peace, but I wouldn't say that coming out of this encounter there was any expectation that things will change in the near term."

 

G20 meeting dominated by Ukraine topic

The conflict has dominated a foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi of the G20 group of big economies, one of the last international forums left involving top Western officials to which Russia is still invited. U.S. and European delegates are pushing for a statement that will contain condemnation of the war.

"Unfortunately, this meeting has again been marred by Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine, deliberate campaign of destruction against civilian targets, and its attack on the core principles of the UN Charter," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Russia suspended its last remaining nuclear arms control treat with the U.S. last week. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday Moscow had been forced to do so because Washington was using information gained under the New START treaty to help Ukraine attack Russian strategic sites.

A Russian defense ministry journal said Moscow was developing a new type of military strategy using nuclear weapons to protect against possible U.S. aggression, RIA news agency reported.

The article was the latest in a series of combative remarks by Russian politicians that have suggested Russia would be prepared to deploy its nuclear arsenal.

Kyiv dismisses the threats as bluster to intimidate the West into backing off from aiding its war effort.

 

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Source(s): Reuters

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