Million shells in support of Europe to Kiev and Washington sends ammunition to Hemers launchers and howitzers

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced approval to supply Ukraine with $350 million worth of weapons and equipment, while the European Union approved a two-billion-euro plan to supply Kiev with munitions.

The U.S. military assistance package includes more ammunition for the Himars rocket launchers and howitzers that the United States has provided in support of Ukraine, as well as anti-tank vehicles and weapons.

The European plan would ensure that Ukrainian forces would be supplied with at least one million 155mm shells and replenish strategic stocks of ammunition for EU countries, some of which are close to running out.

The approval came within the framework of a meeting initiated by EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

For his part, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who participated in the meeting via videoconference, welcomed the approval of the plan, noting that this agreement "will strengthen Ukraine's capabilities on the battlefield."

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EU countries will be partially compensated for the transfer of their ammunition through an EU fund that in recent months has been funding arms shipments to Ukraine.

The agreement stems from concerns that important types of ammunition could run out of Ukraine in the near future.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the situation in Ukraine had worsened the humanitarian situation around the world and affected energy and food prices.

The foreign ministers will hold a joint meeting with the defense ministers of the Union to discuss future plans for armaments and the military missions in which the Union participates.

Battles of Bakhmut

On the ground, the owner of the Russian company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that his forces control 70% of the strategic city of Bakhmot in eastern Ukraine, stressing that his fighters continue offensive operations to seize the city.

In a letter to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Prigozhin said Ukrainian forces were planning a large-scale counteroffensive at the beginning of April aimed at cutting off channels of communication between Wagner's forces and Russian army units.

In his letter, Prigozhin called on Shoigu to take all necessary measures to prevent this from happening because it would negatively affect the conduct of the military operation.

For its part, the Ukrainian General Staff said that its forces repelled, on Sunday, about 69 Russian attacks towards Bachmot, Liman, Avdiivka, Marinka and Shakhtar, in the east of the country. In a statement, HTS described Bakhmout as the main hotbed of fighting, noting that its forces repelled three attempts to advance towards the city from several axes.

In the same context, the military site "Rebar" said that fierce battles are taking place between the forces of "Wagner" and the Ukrainian army inside the "Azum" steel plant, north of the city of Bakhmut.

Beijing Plan

Politically, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country is studying with interest the China-proposed settlement plan on the situation in Ukraine and stressed Moscow's openness to the negotiation process. During his meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Putin described China's positions as balanced on regional and international issues.

In turn, the Chinese president said that his country is interested in developing the relationship with Russia, describing it as a strategic partner, adding that the two countries have similar goals.

In a Ukrainian reaction to the Chinese president's visit to Russia, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said Kiev was waiting for Beijing to use its influence over Moscow to end Russia's war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, said that the main point for the successful implementation of the Chinese "peace plan" is the surrender or withdrawal of Russian occupation forces from Ukrainian territory, in accordance with the rules of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.

John Kirby, the US National Security Council's strategic communications coordinator, had pre-empted the Chinese president's arrival in Moscow by saying that China tacitly supported Russia, as it did not condemn the war in Ukraine and did not apply sanctions against Moscow.

Kirby added in press statements that the ceasefire plan proposed by Beijing in Ukraine is unacceptable, because it gives legitimacy to Putin on the territory occupied by Russia, according to him.