• 5:13 a.m .: Ukrainian intelligence chief does not see China delivering weapons to Russia

Ukraine's intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov sees "no sign" that China will deliver arms to Russia, he said in an interview broadcast Monday by Voice of America radio.

"I do not share this opinion," Kyrylo Budanov said in this interview conducted in Ukrainian on February 25, referring to US accusations - firmly denied by Beijing - that China is considering supplying arms to Russia. to help him in his offensive against Ukraine.

"Right now, I don't think China will agree to transfer weapons to Russia...I don't see any sign of such things even being discussed," he said.

Relaunched by Voice of America on the American accusations, Kyrylo Boudanov replied: "I am the head of the intelligence services and I base myself, with all due respect, not on the opinions of individual people, but only on facts. I see no such facts."

  • 4 a.m.: Finland takes another step to join NATO without Sweden 

Vote in advance to enter as quickly as possible: Finland begins its final debate in Parliament on NATO membership, without waiting for the last imperative yes votes from Turkey and Hungary.

With elections in sight on April 2 for the government of outgoing Prime Minister Sanna Marin, Helsinki wants to avoid any political vacuum in order to be able to jump on the NATO bandwagon, once the agreement of Ankara and Budapest has been gleaned. 

Including if necessary without waiting for neighboring Sweden, also a candidate since last year but currently facing a Turkish veto.

The 200 members of the Finnish Parliament, the Eduskunta, are due to begin their debates on Tuesday on the NATO membership bill, with a vote expected by Wednesday.

Their debate coincides with the visit to Finland by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for meetings with the main leaders of the Nordic country of 5.5 million inhabitants.

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden decided to turn the page on their policy of military non-alignment in force since the 1990s, itself inherited from decades of forced or chosen neutrality, by applying at NATO mid-May 2022.

  • 1:12 a.m .: Moscow lukewarmly welcomes Beijing's proposal on Ukraine

Russia gave a lukewarm response to China's plan presented last week to end the conflict in Ukraine, saying on Tuesday that nuances should be made to Beijing's document which urged the two sides to agree on a ceasefire. fire and promote de-escalation.

In comments published Tuesday by the Izvestia newspaper, the Kremlin spokesperson believes that the voice of Beijing, which last year sealed an "unlimited" partnership with Moscow, should be listened to but that "nuances" to the Chinese proposal were necessary.

Earlier, Dimitri Peskov said at a press conference that Russia was paying "great attention" to the project of its "Chinese friends".

"The details obviously have to be carefully analyzed to take into account the interests of all the different parties. It's a very long and intense process," he said.

Nothing indicates for the moment that a peaceful solution to the conflict can be found, added the spokesman of the Kremlin, underlining the will of Russia to continue what it describes as a “special military operation” in Ukraine .

With AFP and Reuters

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