French President Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of "allowing, even encouraging" war crimes by its army in Ukraine, a year after the Russian withdrawal from the town of Buch, which has become a symbol of such crimes.
"Russian aggression led to the systematization of war crimes against Ukraine and its people," Macron said in a video message shown during a summit in Kiev on the Bucha crimes.
Macron added that the world is still "far from sanctioning those crimes that are in violation of all the laws of war."
"Russian officials allowed these crimes to happen, they even encouraged them, in defiance of international law and with the clear aim of subjugating the Ukrainian people by violence," added Macron.
Ukraine estimates that "more than 1.400" civilians died in the Bucha area, 637 of them in the city itself.
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The EU's high representative for foreign policy and security, Josep Borelj, announced that China cannot be a mediator in the war in Ukraine because it leans too much towards conqueror Russia, but it could play the role of an adviser in reaching a peace agreement with Moscow.
"China does not differentiate between the aggressor and the victim of aggression," said Borelj at the panel in Madrid.
"China does not call for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine," he said, according to Reuters.
He points out that China should use its influence on Russia to press for peace in Ukraine.
In Borel's view, the only peace plan on the table is the one presented by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in November, including demands for the withdrawal of Russian troops and the return of Ukrainian territory to the status quo, prior to Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.
On March 31, Russia adopted a new foreign policy strategy citing the US and the West as sources of an "existential threat" to Moscow, amid a diplomatic crisis linked to the conflict in Ukraine.
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At least two civilians were killed in today's Russian bombing of several areas of Ukraine, which marks the anniversary of the liberation of the city of Buch from Russian forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Bucha, a town near Kiev, was a "symbol of the crimes committed by the Russian army" since the start of the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
"We will not allow these crimes to be forgotten. Human dignity will not allow them to be forgotten. On the streets of Buca, the world saw Russian evil. Evil laid bare," Zelenski said at a state ceremony in Buca, promising to punish the perpetrators of crimes in that city.
In the presence of the president of Moldova and the prime ministers of Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia, Zelenski presented medals to soldiers, policemen, doctors, teachers and members of the emergency services in Buča.
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The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, called today to declare a ceasefire in Ukraine and establish a truce "without the right for either side to redeploy equipment and regroup troops".
Addressing the Belarusian parliament and citizens today, Lukashenko said that negotiations on a ceasefire in Ukraine should begin immediately, reports the Russian state news agency TASS.
"I will risk and suggest that there should be a cessation of hostilities. Without the right for the parties to redeploy equipment and regroup troops," he said.
However, the Belarusian president added that if the West "once again tries to use the truce to fraudulently strengthen its position," then Russia is "obliged to use all its power."
"Given the military-political situation surrounding our country, I have started talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin about returning nuclear weapons to Belarus," Lukashenko said, referring to the atomic bombs his country gave to Russia in the 1990s.
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Senior adviser to the President of Ukraine, Mihailo Podoljak, rejected any truce that would involve Russian forces remaining in the territory they now occupy in Ukraine.
Podoljak reacted on Twitter after Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko's call for an immediate ceasefire.
"Any ceasefire will mean the right of Russia to remain in the occupied territories. This is completely unacceptable. Ukraine has the right to move the army within its territory as it wishes," said Podoljak.
Russia targeted the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv with rockets and drones overnight, the Ukrainian military said on March 31, as fighting continues between Ukrainian and Russian forces for control of Bakhmut and other key cities in the eastern Donetsk region. Radio Free Europe.
Russian forces targeted civilian infrastructure in the city of Kharkiv with nine missile strikes from the S-300 air-to-ground system and 10 Iranian-made Shahid drones, according to the daily report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, adding that nine drones were destroyed.
Emergency services are assessing the situation on the ground. It was not immediately known if there were any casualties among the civilian population.
"The enemy continues to ignore the laws and customs of war, using terror tactics against peaceful citizens of our country," the Ukrainian military said.
Heavy fighting continued in and around Bakhmut, where Ukrainian defenders repelled 22 attacks in the last 24 hours, and in Avdiyivka, Liman and Marjinka.
One civilian was killed and six others were wounded in Russian shelling in the area around Bakhmut, Donetsk region governor Pavlo Kirilenko wrote on Telegram on March 31.
Bakhmut, a mining town with a pre-war population of 70.000, has become the epicenter of Russia's offensive to control eastern Ukraine. About 2.000 civilians are thought to be left in the nearly razed town.
In the south of Ukraine, the city of Zaporozhye was also targeted by Russian shelling during the night that damaged civilian infrastructure, Zaporozhye City Council Secretary Anatoly Kurtev reported on Telegram. He said there were no injuries.
The President of Belarus told Ukraine not to launch the expected counter-offensive, stating that it would make negotiations between Moscow and Kiev impossible.
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On the occasion of 400 days of war in that country, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, spoke about the enormous journey that Ukraine has made since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
"Ukraine will win on the front... We will not leave a trace of Russia on our land, and we will not leave any enemy unpunished. We are preparing news about it," he said.
Reuters reports that he did not provide details, but that the Ukrainian army is planning a counter-offensive.
The 400th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has begun. You can see what happened yesterday at the link below.
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Bonus video:
