A diplomatic push to resolve the war in Ukraine returned to the forefront on Friday, even as the United States committed more weapons to assist Kyiv in preparing for a counteroffensive and Russian soldiers launched unrelenting attacks in the eastern city of Bakhmut.
After withstanding a brutal, months-long assault in eastern Ukraine, its military commanders have stated that a counteroffensive is imminent. However, they have emphasized the need to hold Bakhmut and inflict losses in the interim.
The director of the newspaper Defense Express, Serhiy Zgurets, stated that American and European political circles are actively discussing the issue of our counterattack, probably to an excessive degree.
On the Espresso TV website, he argued that Ukrainian officials must persuade friends that a single advance against Russian forces would not be sufficient for victory.
It will necessitate training our soldiers in NATO member states, procuring the necessary equipment and ammunition, and deciding when and where to launch the counterattack or if it should be launched in many locations.
French President Emmanuel Macron was scheduled to arrive in China on Wednesday after he and U.S. President Joe Biden decided to contact Beijing to expedite the war's conclusion.
China and Russia inked a partnership agreement with "no limits" at the beginning of 2022, only weeks before President Vladimir Putin launched tens of thousands of troops in Ukraine.
China has refrained from criticizing Putin's move and has advocated for a Ukrainian peace plan.
Zelenskiy will travel to Poland, which has accepted nearly a million Ukrainian refugees in the past thirteen months of fighting. The NATO member also convinced other Western governments to supply Ukraine with combat tanks and other weapons.
'Act Now'
Tuesday, the United States announced an additional $2.6 billion in military support for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's administration, including three air surveillance radars, anti-tank rockets, and fuel trucks. Since Russia's invasion, the United States has supplied more than $35 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
"The most important thing is not to waste time or our opportunity. Help now, act, "Zelenskiy stated via a video link to the U.S. National Governors Association. "Ukrainians act so that Americans don't have to fight - and together, we gain new strength for our countries."
Russian news source TASS said that the Russian embassy in the United States accused the United States of aiming to prolong the confrontation as long as possible.
During what Russia called a "special military operation" to clear the neighbouring country of Nazis, tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and troops on both sides were slain.
The West views the conflict as an unjustified attempt to subjugate a sovereign nation.
The struggle for Bakhmut was one of the deadliest of the war, with severe casualties on both sides and the destruction of the little city.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the creator of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, recently claimed that his soldiers had captured the mining and logistics hub.
Ukraine has frequently disputed Russian control of the city, recognizing that at least half of it has been captured.
"In the Bakhmut sector, the enemy's assault on the city of Bakhmut continued unabated. In the previous twenty-four hours, at least twenty enemy assaults have been repelled here alone, "The Ukrainian military staff stated in a Facebook post.
Ukrainian forces recalled repelling regular Russian strikes from muddy dugouts at the village of Niu-York, 50 kilometres south of Bakhmut.
"They infiltrate, fire, and attempt to exhaust us. Then they can examine the situation and proceed further, "The commander of an infantry battalion, who identified himself as "Bodia," told Reuters. "Meanwhile, we attempt to draw them closer to strike them more precisely."
Finland Joins NATO
Ukraine hailed Finland's membership to NATO on Tuesday, 13 months after Moscow invaded Ukraine in part in retaliation to the alliance's "aggressive" eastward expansion. Finland shares a 1,300-kilometer (810-mile) border with Russia.
Zelenskiy remarked in his evening address, "I congratulate all the people of Finland," "Russian aggression proves that only collective guarantees, only preventive guarantees, can be reliable."
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia spurred Finland, after decades of strategic nonalignment, to seek security within the collective defence treaty of NATO, which declares that an assault on one member is an attack on all.
Russia, which has observed consecutive waves of NATO expansion since the conclusion of the Cold War three decades ago, has stated that it will increase its military power in its western and northwestern territories in response to Finland's membership.
Separately, the Kremlin announced that Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko would fly to Moscow on Wednesday for two days of meetings with Putin.
