Day 394 since the beginning of the war: Putin has announced the stationing of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Russia accuses Slovakia of breaching the treaty. All information in the news blog.
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Putin: Russia wants to station nuclear weapons in Belarus
6.40 p.m.: Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an interview broadcast on Russian television on Saturday, Putin said there was “nothing unusual” about that. The United States has long stationed tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of its allies.
The Russian President also announced that he would use enriched uranium missiles in Ukraine if Kiev received such ammunition from the West.
Erdogan thanks Putin for “positive attitude” to grain agreements
12.50 p.m.: In a telephone call, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan thanked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for his “positive stance” on the extension of the grain agreement with Ukraine. According to the Turkish Presidential Office, both have also discussed steps to improve relations between their two countries.
The developments regarding the war in Ukraine were also discussed. Erdogan underlined the importance of ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine through negotiations as quickly as possible. According to the Russian state news agency RIA, the spokesman for the Office of the President in Moscow, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed the phone call between the two presidents.
Polish ammunition company Dezamet significantly increases production
12.30 p.m.: According to the government, the Polish ammunition manufacturer Dezamet will significantly increase its production in order to be able to supply Ukraine with urgently needed EU-funded ammunition. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced this on the radio station RMF shortly before the visit of EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, which is expected on Monday. “We want to multiply the output as quickly as possible.”
For this purpose, new production lines should be put into operation, says Morawiecki. Dezamet is a subsidiary of the state-owned armaments group Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) and produces ammunition for artillery, mortars and grenade launchers. This week, seventeen EU countries and Norway agreed to jointly source ammunition to help Ukraine and replenish their own stockpiles.
Zelenskyj on counter-offensive: “We can’t start yet”
11:12 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the military situation in the embattled east of his country as “not good”. The reason is the “lack of ammunition,” Selenskyj said in an interview with the Japanese daily “Yomiuri Shimbun” published on Saturday. About the start of a possible counter-offensive, he said: “We can’t start yet.” Without tanks and artillery, “no brave soldiers” could be sent to the front.
According to the newspaper, Selenskyj made the serious shortage of weapons clear. “We are waiting for ammunition to arrive from our partners,” he said, adding that the Russian military fires three times more ammunition than Ukrainian forces every day. The newspaper conducted the interview on March 23 on the train, when Zelenskyy was on his way back to the capital Kiev after visiting the southern region of Cherson close to the front. He had previously visited the eastern regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv.
Ukraine: Putin’s allies flee Crimea
10.50 a.m.: Russia is said to have started evacuating Russia’s annexed Crimea peninsula from Ukraine. This is reported by the Ukrainian online medium “Kyiv Independent”, citing the Ukrainian military intelligence service. According to this, the Russian command and Moscow-appointed deputies began selling their properties and moving their families away.
On Wednesday, Crimean residents heard a warning over radio stations urging them to prepare to leave Crimea, a military intelligence spokesman said. He suspected the announcement was intended for those working with the Russian occupation authorities, the spokesman said. This information cannot be independently verified.
