Russia-Ukraine war highlights | US, China trade barbs over allegations of 'lethal aid' to Russia

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning on Monday called on the US to "reflect on its behaviour" and "do something that will actually help deescalate the situation and get peace talks going." 

She added that China’s position on the Ukraine war has been "objective and fair" and the country has actively promoted peace talks and sought a political solution. "The US, however, has been fanning the flame and fueling the fight with more weaponry," she said in response to US claims that Beijing is aiding Russia in its war against Ukraine. 
 

Kremlin on Monday said that Russia is paying “a great deal of attention” to China’s peace plan to end the war in Ukraine. It added that details of the peace plan will need to be analysed. This comes as Beijing called for peace talks and urged all parties to avoid nuclear escalation and end attacks on civilians.

The peace plan is a 12-point position paper on Ukraine that was released on Friday, on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion. 

Germany has rebuked Russian President Vladimir Putin for talking about the suspension of the New START nuclear arms control treaty. Country's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said that the announcement was “irresponsible”. At the United Nations Human Rights Council session in Geneva, Baerbock said urged Moscow to return to the treaty.
 

Kremlin on Monday expressed concerns about Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region on Monday. It said Ukraine and other European countries are trying to flare up tensions in the region, which lies to Ukraine’s southwestern border. Moldova has flagged that Moscow is plotting a coup in the nation, a claim that Russians termed "hysteria."

Two captured Russian soldiers, accused of taking part in shelling in residential areas in eastern Ukraine, were jailed by a Ukrainian court. 

“As a result of investigative actions, indisputable evidence on the guilt of two more militants who joined the ranks of the occupation groups of the aggressor country at the beginning of the full-scale invasion was collected,” the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement. 
 

Russia’s defence ministry said it has destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition depot near Bakhmut. It also confirmed to have shot down four HIMARS missiles and five drones launched by Ukrainian forces.

Meanwhile, Kremlin declined to comment on US' accusations on China that the country is providing lethal aid to Moscow. It said that “all this information has already been refuted by the Chinese side”.
 

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the talks with Sweden and Finland over their NATO membership bids would restart on 9 March.

“My colleagues will attend the meeting that will be held on March 9,” Cavusoglu said at a news conference in Ankara. He confirmed that the meeting would take place in Brussels.
 

After the US accused China of providing lethal aid to Russia, China fired back saying that Beijing is promoting peace talks and it is in fact Washington which is giving fuel to the fire.

“On the Ukraine issue, China supports an objective and just position and actively promotes peace talks. The U.S., however, has been fanning the flames and fueling the fight with more weaponry” for Kyiv, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.

Luhansk governor said that Moscow has intensified its shelling and infantry assaults in the Bilohoryvka, Svatove-Kupiansk and Kreminna areas for several weeks now. “There is no fleeing, our units do not leave territory… Of course, everything can change at any moment,” Serhiy Haidai said in a conversation with state television.
 

A spokesperson for pro-Russian separatists in Bakhmut said that Russian forces are now in control of all the roads leading into Donetsk city. While speaking with the TASS news agency, Yan Gagin, an advisor and spokesperson for the acting head of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic said, “Artemovsk [Bakhmut] has finally fallen into a classic operational environment, our forces completely control the roads leading to the city. The supply of ammunition to the garrison of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been disrupted and stopped, and the rotation and supply of replenishment of manpower have been stopped." The statement is as per an English translation of his comments. 
 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has triggered "the most massive violations of human rights we are living [through] today." 

"It has unleashed widespread death, destruction and displacement," Guterres said adding, "the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has documented dozens of cases of conflict-related sexual violence against men, women and girls."