March 17, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

The Kremlin has brushed off Poland and Slovakia's donations of fighter jets to Ukraine, and accused NATO of increasing its involvement in the war.

This week, the two nations announced further pledges of weapons to support Ukraine, including MiG-29 fighter jets. Poland has promised four of the planes, and Slovakia 13.

"It seems that these countries are thus engaged in the disposal of old unnecessary equipment," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

He told reporters that the move is "yet another example" of how NATO members are "increasing their level of direct involvement in the conflict."

Peskov said it would not chance the outcome of what Moscow consistently calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine, adding that the move could cause more problems for Kyiv.

The Kremlin has released the schedule of meetings planned between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Moscow next week. 

The two leaders will start with a one-on-one on Monday followed by an "informal lunch," with negotiations set to take place Tuesday, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. 

On Friday, Moscow and Beijing confirmed that Xi will travel to meet Putin in his first visit to Russia since the war in Ukraine began.

The visit will be seen as a powerful show of Beijing’s support for Moscow in Western capitals, where leaders have grown increasingly wary of the two nations’ deepening partnership as war rages in Europe.

Russian forces are carrying out fewer offensive actions in Ukraine than at any time since January, according to the UK's defense ministry.

Russian and Wagner Group forces have obtained footholds west of the Bakhmutka River in the center of the Bakhmut, but "more broadly across the front line, Russia is conducting some of the lowest rates of local offensive action that has been seen since at least January 2023," the ministry said in its daily bulletin Friday.

Ukrainian officials and other analysts have also noted a decline in Russian offensive action in recent weeks, even as fire from artillery and rocket systems, as well as airstrikes, continue.

A Ukrainian military spokesman, Col. Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskyi, said Wednesday that Russian ground attacks have decreased from 90-100 attacks per day to 20-29 per day and two to nine at night.

"The enemy has somewhat lost its offensive potential amid significant losses in manpower and equipment," Dmytrashkivskyi said. "In addition, it has significantly reduced the use of military equipment, especially at night."

And the Institute for the Study of War noted earlier this week that "the overall pace of Russian operations in Ukraine appears to have decreased compared to previous weeks."

However, indirect fire — from artillery, rocket systems and air strikes — continues to cause widespread damage across the Donetsk region.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of Donetsk region military administration, said that six people were wounded in two waves of shelling in the city of Kostyantynivka on Thursday, with Toretsk and Chasiv Yar also targeted.

Slovakia will send 13 MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, Prime Minister Eduard Heger said Friday, making it the second NATO member to pledge the aircraft after Poland.

"Promises must be kept and when [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky asked for more weapons including fighter jets, I said we'll do our best. Glad others [are] doing the same," Heger said on twitter. 

Military aid is key, he added, to ensure Ukraine "can defend itself" and Europe against Russia.

Some context: Poland has already announced that it will transfer four MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in the coming days.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said the planes – from about a dozen that it had inherited from the former German Democratic Republic – would be handed over after being serviced.

The White House said Thursday that Poland’s decision to send the fighter jets is a "sovereign decision" that won’t spur US President Joe Biden to send F-16 aircraft.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin declared a “no-limits” friendship in February last year, when the Russian President visited Beijing for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.

Weeks later, Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine.

Since then, China has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion — or referred to it as such, instead blaming the advance of NATO for provoking the conflict and repeating the Kremlin’s stance.

It has also provided diplomatic support for Moscow, while strengthening economic and military ties to its northern neighbor.

In recent weeks Western officials have begun publicly raising concerns that China may be considering providing Russia with lethal military assistance, an accusation denied by Beijing.

Here's a timeline of closer relations between Beijing and Moscow:

Read more here.

Xi Jinping’s upcoming visit to Russia is for “peace” and China will uphold its “objective and impartial position” on international and regional issues including the Ukraine crisis, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday.

Xi's trip comes as Beijing attempts to present itself as a neutral peace broker in the Ukraine war and as it struggles to balance its “no-limits” relationship with Moscow and fraying ties with the West.

Western officials have also raised concerns that China may be considering providing Russia with lethal military assistance, an accusation denied by Beijing.

CNN reported last month that the US has intelligence suggesting the Chinese government is considering providing Russia with drones and ammunition for use in the war in Ukraine, with sources familiar with the intelligence saying negotiations between Russia and China about the price and scope of the equipment were ongoing.

China and Russia's deep defense spending ties have not changed even in face of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, customs records reviewed by CNN have also showed.

Speaking at the briefing Friday, Wang said China has always taken a “prudent and responsible” attitude and controlled the export of military and civil dual-use items in accordance with the law.

Economic and trade cooperation between China and Russia is “open and transparent,” he said. 

Chinese leader Xi Jinping's planned trip to Russia on Monday for a state visit comes as Beijing attempts to present itself as a neutral peace broker in the Ukraine war and as it struggles to balance its “no-limits” relationship with Moscow and fraying ties with the West.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Friday repeated Beijing's often-stated position that China-Russia relations are based on the principles of “non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third parties.”

Wang said Xi will discuss bilateral relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and “major international and regional issues,” while drawing a new blueprint for the two countries' relations and deepening cooperation in various fields.

Last month, China’s Foreign Ministry released a position paper on the Ukraine war that called for a resumption of peace talks, an end to unilateral sanctions, and stressed Beijing's opposition to the use of nuclear weapons — a stance Xi communicated to Western leaders last year.

But Beijing’s claim to neutrality has been severely undermined by its refusal to acknowledge the nature of the conflict — it has so far avoided calling it an “invasion” — and its diplomatic and economic support for Moscow.

Western officials have also raised concerns that China may be considering providing Russia with lethal military assistance, an accusation denied by Beijing.

Wang, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, appeared to take aim at China's Western critics Friday, without naming any country specifically.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit Russia next week at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

It will be Xi's first visit to Russia since Putin invaded Ukraine last year.

The Kremlin confirmed the visit would take place, saying the two leaders would discuss “strategic cooperation.”

“During the talks, topical issues of further development of comprehensive partnership relations and strategic cooperation between Russia and China will be discussed,” the Kremlin said Friday.

“An exchange of views is also planned in the context of deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation in the international arena,” the Kremlin added. “A number of important bilateral documents will be signed.”

Some context: The visit comes as China tries to present itself as a neutral peace broker on Ukraine, but the effort has been met with skepticism in Western capitals due to Beijing’s growing partnership with Moscow.

China has refused to condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine — or referred to it as an “invasion,” instead blaming the advance of NATO for provoking the conflict.

It has also provided diplomatic support for Moscow, while expanding trade and military ties to its northern neighbor.

Western officials have also raised concerns that China may be considering providing Russia with lethal military assistance, an accusation denied by Beijing.

Read more here.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on Thursday repeated his complaints of inadequate munitions supplies from Russia in yet another sign of the mercenary group's growing isolation from the Kremlin with his fighters locked in fierce fighting for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

"Shells are being made, but we don't have any for some reason. But the global reason, I think, is the following. Wagner PMC is the most effective unit, and all the military know this," Prigozhin said in a video interview published by the outlet RIAFAN.

The media group is is part of Prigozhin's holding company Concord and believed to be associated with the troll factory he admitted having funded.

Prigozhin placed a bet on his mercenaries raising the Russian flag in Bakhmut, albeit at a considerable cost to the ranks of his force and probably to his own fortune.

He spent heavily on recruiting as many as 40,000 prisoners to throw into the fight, but after months of grinding battle and staggering losses he is struggling to replenish Wagner’s ranks, all the while accusing Russia’s Ministry of Defense of trying to strangle his force.

Many analysts think his suspicions are well-founded — that Russia’s military establishment is using Bakhmut as a “meat-grinder” to cut his forces down or eliminate him as a political force altogether.

Wagner has made incremental gains around Bakhmut and now holds the eastern part of the city. But it seems unable to generate enough force to expel Ukrainian forces from the rest of Bakhmut. And its fighters are spread thin as they push northwest and southwest beyond the city.