Ukraine War 49th day: Tensions in Donbass

Russian soldiers in Mariupol on April 13 afp

Transformation in Mariupol

Russia is stepping up efforts to control the city of Mariupol, as part of a larger campaign covering eastern Ukraine. On April 13, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that 1,026 servicemen of the 36th Marine brigade in the port city had surrendered, including 162 officers.

On the same day, Ukraine accused Russian forces of shooting six men and one woman in the southern village of Pravdyne. Meanwhile, Governor Oleh Synegubov of Kharkov said that seven civilians were killed by Russian shelling within 24 hours.

In an interview with TASS news agency, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned the US and NATO that Moscow would list Western weapons transport on Ukrainian territory as official targets.

Diplomatic efforts

On April 13, US President Joe Biden for the first time called Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine an “act of genocide”. The Kremlin completely disagrees with the Kremlin’s description and calls it unacceptable.

French President Emmanuel Macron himself also refused to use extremist language like the US, which he said did not help efforts to find peace for Ukraine, Radio France 2 reported.

(From left) Presidents Gitanas Nausea (Lithuania), Alar Karis (Estonia), Egils Levits (Latvia) and Andrzej Duda (Poland) with Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Szmyhal reuters

Meanwhile, the presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia arrived in Kyiv on April 13 and met with their host counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

see more: 4 European presidents are traveling by train to Kyiv

However, Kyiv refused the visit of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at this time because Berlin showed reluctance to accelerate Ukraine’s EU accession process. Zelensky said that Ukraine is ready to host leaders or senior officials who can bring positive results for Kyiv.

Before that, newspaper Bild Germany quoted an unnamed Ukrainian diplomat as saying another reason why President Steinmeier is not welcome in Kyiv at the moment is because he has close ties with Russia in the past.

see more: German President: ‘I am not welcome in Kyiv’

On the same day, the Kremlin rejected Ukraine’s proposal to exchange opposition politician Viktor Medvedchuk arrested by Ukraine on April 12 for Ukrainians in Russian hands.

Mr. Medvedchuk is said to have close ties to President Vladimir Putin and once said that the Russian leader is the godfather of his daughter. However, according to RT, Putin once described Mr. Medvedchuk as a Ukrainian nationalist.

Russian liquefied gas tanker arrives at the port of Bilbao (Spain) in March 2022 reuters

Economy and Trade

As the United States and its allies continue to increase sanctions pressure, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia could easily redirect huge energy exports from Western countries to countries that need more energy. At the same time, Russia will increase domestic consumption of oil, gas and coal in the near future.

Newspaper Izvestia Citing information from the Russian Energy Ministry, Russia is ready to sell oil and oil products to “friendly countries at any price”. While, World Bank prepares to disburse a 1.5 billion USD bailout package for Ukraine.

For her part, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned China about the country’s lack of participation in Western sanctions campaigns against Russia. According to Yellen, Beijing’s current stance could affect future economic relations between China and the rest of the world.