Amid 'zero' signs of peace negotiations, deadly battle of Bakhmut continues

Bakhmut: The devastated “fortress” city of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, saw fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces on Thursday. Ukrainian soldiers claimed they were prepared to start their long-awaited counteroffensive once the weather improved. At a meeting in Beijing, French President Emmanuel Macron urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to use his power to persuade Russia to end the conflict and enter negotiations. Xi stated that he anticipated the talks would begin quickly. The likelihood of peace negotiations beginning this year, according to a Putin advisor, is “zero.” Battle of Bakhmut One of the bloodiest battles of Russia’s incursion was fought for Bakhmut, one of the last urban centres in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province that has not yet fallen to Moscow. According to Andriy Yermak, a top advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, “the battles for Bakhmut continue.” The enemy’s efforts to encircle the city are failing, and they are in full swing in the streets. With the defensive “fortress,” our leadership has complete control of the situation, he said, using the moniker Zelenskiy gave the city. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the commander of Russia’s private Wagner militia, reported that combat was still going on in the western part of the city. On his Telegram channel, he declared, “It must be stated clearly that the enemy is not moving anywhere. Although Bakhmut’s strategic importance has been downplayed by Western analysts, Ukraine has framed its tenacious defence of what is now a completely destroyed city as a means of wearing down Russian troops. There have been significant casualties on both parties. According to Pavlo Narozhniy, a Ukrainian military analyst, “Bakhmut is carrying out the crucial task of inflicting as many losses on Russia as possible and, most importantly, to prepare for a counterattack to take place in late April-May.” Avdiivka, a town close to the regional centre of Donetsk, is also experiencing fighting further south, he added. Meanwhile, soldiers guarding the ditches close to Bakhmut said they are prepared for any counteroffensive. “We are prepared; the sooner we act, the better. The adversary must be driven away. The mud is a barrier right now while we wait for the weather to improve,” Naza, a 21-year-old squad commander, told Reuters. Vladyslav Selezniov, a military expert from Ukraine, predicted that as long as their route to the west, known as the “road of life” for transporting supplies and injured people out, stayed available, Ukraine would be able to defend positions in the more densely populated west of Bakhmut. On Wednesday, Zelenskiy stated that Ukrainian troops could leave Bakhmut if they ran the danger of being cut off. During a visit to Warsaw, he stated that Poland, a close ally of his nation, would assist in forming an alliance of Western powers to provide warplanes to Kyiv. In order to defend its security from what it perceives as a hostile and aggressive West, Russia claims that its “special military operation” in Ukraine was required. According to Kyiv and its allies in the West, Moscow is conducting an unprovoked war to seize territory. Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, defended Moscow’s recent move to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus on Thursday, claiming NATO, not Russia, is expanding along its borders with its military infrastructure. His remarks came two days after Finland, which borders Russia on three sides, became the alliance’s 31st member. On Thursday, Macron of France urged Xi of China to put weight on Putin to end the conflict in Ukraine. Beijing has refrained from condemning Russia’s invasion in light of Xi’s characterization of Putin as a “dear friend” and their nations’ declaration of a “no-limits partnership.” Standing next to Xi outside the Great Hall of the People before their meeting, Macron said, “The Russian aggression in Ukraine has given a blow to (international) stability. “I know I can rely on you to get Russia back to sense and everyone back to the negotiating table,” the speaker said. Xi expressed his desire for a political resolution in Ukraine as well as a “balanced, effective, and sustainable” security system for Europe. Crimea The conflict is still not being discussed, and Dmitry Suslov, a Putin adviser, was cited as saying there was “zero” chance that peace talks would take place in 2023. Suslov downplayed the likelihood that Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which is likely to concentrate on the Sea of Azov and cutting off the Crimea peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014, will be successful in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that was published on Thursday. If the Kiev offensive fails, the West will run out of weapons, and at that time, Russia will be able to round up 400,000 men for the decisive assault, he predicted. An adviser to Zelenskiy told the Financial Times in an interview that Kyiv would be ready to discuss the future of the Black Sea peninsula if its forces approached the boundary of Crimea, comments that appeared to confirm the significance of Crimea in any Ukrainian counteroffensive. Andriy Sybiha stated in the interview, “If we will be successful in achieving our strategic objectives on the battlefield and when we will be on the administrative border with Crimea, we are ready to open (a) diplomatic page to discuss this problem. The conflict has revealed Russia’s military’s flaws. The Russian military removed Colonel-General Rustam Muradov as head of its eastern forces in Ukraine on Thursday, according to the British defence ministry, because of “exceptionally heavy casualties in recent months” and repeated failures to take the city of Vuhledar in the Donetsk region. (With inputs from agencies) Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.