The government of Ukraine is aiming for a peace summit by the end of February. This was stated by the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kulebain an interview with Associated Press. The summit, in Kiev’s intentions, should be held at United Nationswith the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in the role of mediator, and would take place about a year after the start of the Russian invasion.
Finding a solution will not be easy. To the question “will you invite Russia to the summit?”, Kuleba replies that first “Moscow will have to agree to be prosecuted for war crimes by an international tribunal”. Furthermore, the Foreign Minister minimizes once again the Russian openings on negotiations. “They regularly say they are ready to deal which is not true because everything they do on the battlefield proves otherwise”. According to Kuleba, therefore, Ukraine will do everything to win the war in 2023, even if diplomacy always plays an important role.
Moscow proposes to the EU to reopen the direct gas pipeline to Poland
Russia is ready to resume gas supplies to Europe. This was revealed by the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Alexander Novakto the state news agency tax: «The European market remains relevant. The gas shortage persists, so we would like to resume supplies through, for example, the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which has been stopped for political reasons.”
The pipeline mentioned by Novak remained blocked because Poland preferred to use gas stored in Germany rather than buy Russian gas. In May, Warsaw terminated its contracts with Russia after rejecting a Russian request to be paid in rubles. Gazprom then cut supplies and explained that it would no longer be able to export gas through Poland due to sanctions imposed by Moscow against the company that owns the Polish subsidiary of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline.
Russia diverts gas away from Europe
Novak also talks about the new routes and underlines how Moscow is focusing on supplies through Turkey, where it intends to create a gas hub. Russia has also agreed with theAzerbaijan an increase in exports for domestic consumption and would be discussing higher gas supplies with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. In the long run, Moscow will also be able to serve theAfghanistan and the Pakistanusing the infrastructure of Central Asia, or through the territory of Iran.
Supplies to the European Union
Finally, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister focuses on exports to Europe. Russia has calculated that it has shipped 21 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the Old Continent in 2022. «Until November, the LNG deliveries have increased to 19.4 billion cubic meters and by the end of 2022 21 billion cubic meters are expected», explains Novak.
The supplies of Russian natural gas, on the other hand, will decrease by about 25% and production will fall by 12% in 2022. Ongoing exports to Europe via Ukraine, however, have remained stable. On December 26, Gazprom will transport 42.4 million cubic meters of gas, a volume in line with the previous days.
End-of-year talks between Putin and Xi
Russia has diverted to China a large part of the supplies that were intended for the EU and plans to further increase exports to Beijing. The issue could be tackled by the presidents of the two states, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinpingin the interview which the two leaders have set by the end of the year. This was once again reported by the Russian state press agency tax which, quoting Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, clarifies how «details will be announced in due course».
Some more information was provided by the Russian economic newspaper Vedomosti,: the two presidents will focus on the events that took place in 2022. Xi has already met with the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedevnow deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, with whom he discussed the strategic partnership between the two countries, as well as the war with Ukraine.
At least 40 Russian rocket attacks on Christmas Day
Speaking of the conflict, Russia made December 25th about 40 attacks with rockets against Ukrainian territory. This was reported in a note by the military general staff of Kiev. Dozens of locations affected, in Lugansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions. In Kherson Oblast, settlements on the right bank of the Dnipro River were especially targeted. To try to stop the attacks dadatAngelushe returned to ask for “peace for those populations tormented by war, peace for dear and tormented Ukraine and its inhabitants”.
Kiev calls for Moscow to be excluded from the UN
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine it also continues in institutional settings. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry asked the removal from the United Nations of the country commanded by Vladimir Putin. Moscow, however, has the veto power, privilege belonging to permanent members of the Security Council. Therefore, the resolution cannot be implemented. “Ukraine calls on UN member states to deprive the Russian Federation of its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and to exclude it from the UN as a whole,” the statement presented by Kiev reads.
Relations with the West
The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, focuses instead on relations with the West. «It will soon lose the ability to lead the world economy» declares the minister, quoted by Ria Novosti, «I assure you that in the near future we will see a very serious reduction in the ability of Western countries to lead the world economy. Like it or not, they will have to negotiate.
In short, relations remain tense. “We won’t run after the West, they have severed almost all relationships» comments Lavrov. «We have other states with which to develop cooperation in the economy, in the social, cultural and sport spheres. And we prefer to focus on those who have never let us down or deceived us». (All rights reserved)
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