War in Ukraine: what to remember on the 361st day of the Russian invasion

Europe1 .fr with AFP 6:50 a.m., February 20, 2023

THE ESSENTIAL

Beijing plans to supply "weapons" to Russia to support its offensive in Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Sunday after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

"We talked about the Russian-led war and the concerns we have that China is planning to provide lethal support to Russia," he said on CBS.

Asked what this would imply concretely, the head of American diplomacy replied: "Mainly weapons".

These statements were made even as the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell urged the Twenty-Seven on Sunday to "accelerate our military support for Ukraine", assuring that Kiev was in a "critical" situation in terms of ammunition.

Antony Blinken and Wang Yi met on Saturday evening in Munich, on the sidelines of the Security Conference, in an exchange that American diplomacy described as "frank and direct".

The main information to remember: 

- Beijing plans to supply "weapons" to Russia to support its offensive in Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Sunday after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

-- Secretary of State warns of 'implications and consequences' for China if it is found to be providing 'material support' to Russia in its war in Ukraine or helping it escape Western sanctions.

- President Emmanuel Macron assured his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday that he would support his peace plan "on the international scene", during a telephone conversation between the two heads of state.

Implications and consequences in the event of Chinese support for Russia

The secretary of state warned of the "implications and consequences" for China if it were found to be providing "material support" to Russia in its war in Ukraine or helping it to escape the Western sanctions, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in reporting on the interview.

The American vice-president, Kamala Harris, present in Munich on Saturday, had also questioned the neutrality displayed by China.

The United States is "troubled by the fact that Beijing has deepened its relations with Moscow since the beginning of the war", she underlined.

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"Any move by China to provide lethal support to Russia would only reward aggression, continue the killing and further undermine a rules-based order," the vice president warned.

During this same conference in Munich, European diplomat Josep Borrell warned of the shortage of ammunition in the hands of the Ukrainian army.

"It must be resolved quickly, it's a matter of weeks," he said.

A ten-point plan for peace

In France, President Emmanuel Macron assured his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday that he would support his peace plan "on the international scene", during a telephone conversation between the two heads of state.

Emmanuel Macron "reaffirmed his commitment to the ten-point peace plan proposed by President Zelensky and assured him that he would support this initiative on the international scene during the next diplomatic events", indicated the Elysée.

They also "referred to the reminder made (on Friday at the Munich annual conference on security) to European partners and NATO of the need to strengthen and accelerate military support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people" .

For his part, Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed on Twitter "the continuation of a friendly dialogue" with Emmanuel Macron and confirmed that they had both spoken about "the implementation of the peace plan".

"I thanked the president for his understanding of our needs, and for this shared feeling that we must defend ourselves against Russian aggression without losing any opportunity and without wasting a week," Volodymyr Zelensky added in his evening message.

This exchange took place after the interview granted by the French president to the Journal du Dimanche, Le Figaro and France Inter, in which he claimed to want Moscow to be "defeated" against Ukraine, while warning those who want "above all to crush Russia".