German Chancellor Olaf Scholz cannot detect any willingness of Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, he told German media.
"Unfortunately, I don't see any willingness at the moment," Scholz said, according to Reuters, adding that Ukraine must decide what terms it is willing to accept for peace.
Scholz said that energy supplies in Europe's biggest economy will be sufficient next winter and that the German economy is heading for growth rates last seen in the 1950s and 1960s due to big investments in climate protection.
Russia has "severely violated nuclear security" by cutting off the power supply to the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhzhia today due to the Russian attack, said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borel.
Due to a power outage that was restored mid-day today, it was necessary to use auxiliary diesel generators to cool the reactor, which greatly increased the risk of a nuclear accident, Borel said on the sidelines of a European meeting in Stockholm.
"This serious violation of nuclear safety was caused by Russia," said the high representative of the EU.
Russia's Ministry of Defense announced that its forces carried out a massive strike on Ukrainian infrastructure after what it said was last week's terrorist attack on Russia's Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, reports Reuters.
Today, the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, assessed as "complicated" the negotiations on the extension of the agreement with Moscow that allowed Ukraine to export grain from the Black Sea ports during the Russian invasion.
Claiming that the clauses of the agreement aimed at Russia "do not apply at all", Lavrov said that "the question of extension becomes quite complicated, if the agreement is half applied".
The grain export agreement, which is vital to the world's food supply, expires on March 18.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) Antonio Guterres called yesterday in Kyiv for the extension of the agreement.
The agreement, whose signing was brokered by the UN and Turkey last July, is scheduled for 120 days. It was extended for the first time in November.
To convince Russia to allow Ukraine to continue exporting grain from the Black Sea, a three-year deal was struck last year in which the UN agreed to help facilitate Russian food and fertilizer exports.
Western powers imposed harsh sanctions on Russia for invading neighboring Ukraine on February 24 last year.
The Kremlin said it doubts that the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines last September could have been carried out without state support.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's comments came after the New York Times reported this week that US officials were investigating whether a pro-Ukraine non-governmental group was responsible for the blasts.
"As for the pro-Ukrainian angle, it is hard to believe the idea that it was organized by 'some evil doctor'. It was too difficult a task, for which probably only a well-trained 'special civil service, of which there are not too many in the world', was capable," he replied said Peskov when asked about the report.
The New York Times wrote on Tuesday that new intelligence reviewed by US officials suggests that a pro-Ukrainian group – possibly made up of Ukrainians or Russians – attacked the Nord Stream gas pipelines, but that there are no firm conclusions, Reuters reminds.
Russia has repeatedly asked to be allowed to join investigations into the explosions that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines connecting Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
Investigators in Sweden, Denmark and Germany are currently conducting separate investigations.
"We continue to demand a quick and transparent investigation, as well as to be allowed to participate in this investigation," Peskov told reporters at a regular briefing in the Kremlin, according to Reuters.
As he emphasized, it is necessary to determine who is behind the diversion. To carry out a terrorist attack on part of the vital international energy infrastructure is too dangerous a precedent," Peskov added.
Peskov again denied the "absurd hypothesis" that Russia itself might have been behind the attack on its own infrastructure.
Ukraine's Russian-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant has lost its external power supply and is relying on diesel generators, the last line of defense to prevent a core meltdown caused by overheating reactor fuel, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed.
"This morning around five o'clock local time, the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant lost its power supply, when the only remaining 750-kilovolt transmission line was disconnected, while the damaged 330-kilovolt transmission line is being repaired," the statement said, according to Reuters.
Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nagy announced that the country should make a decision on sending MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, adding that Poland expressed its readiness to act jointly on this matter.
"I think it's time to make a decision," Nagy said on Facebook, Reuters reports.
"People are dying in Ukraine, we can really help them, there is no place for Slovakian politicking," said Nagy.
Ukraine is determined to win the war with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, adding that he cannot currently imagine a situation in which he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenski said that there are no such circumstances for them to be able to talk to the President of Russia.
"He doesn't keep his word. We don't trust him," Zelenskiy said in an interview with the American CNN.
He repeated Kiev's position that Russia should first leave the territory of Ukraine and that then a format for organizing diplomatic negotiations can be sought.
The Russian military administration of the Zaporizhzhya region assessed as a "provocation" the interruption of electricity supply to the nuclear power plant from the part of the territory controlled by Kiev, reports Reuters.
At least five people were killed this morning in Russian attacks on energy infrastructure across Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said.
Four civilians were killed in Ukraine's western region of Lviv, regional governor Maksim Kozicki announced on Telegram.
A Russian rocket fell on residential buildings in Zolochiv district and destroyed three houses, the governor added.
Another person was killed and two were wounded in the attacks in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
The targets of the attack were energy infrastructure and industrial facilities, said Governor Serhij Lisak.
At least two people were injured this morning in an explosion in the west of Kiev, Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said, while Russian forces launched new strikes across Ukraine at dawn.
"Another explosion in the capital. Rescuers are on the scene. Cars are burning in the courtyard of a residential building," Klitschko said on Telegram, adding that two of the injured were hospitalized.
Russian forces also carried out strikes in the areas of Kharkiv and Odesa, as well as on infrastructural targets.
This morning before dawn, in Kharkiv, in the east of the country, "the enemy carried out about 15 attacks on the city and the region. The occupiers are again targeting key facilities," said regional governor Oleg Sinegubov.
"According to the first information, a residential building in the Kharkiv region was hit," he added.
Mayor of Kharkiv Igor Terehov said that the target of the attack was the city's "energy infrastructure" and that there are problems with electricity in some parts of the city.
The nuclear power plant in Zaporozhye was disconnected from the Ukrainian electricity grid after a Russian strike, the Ukrainian nuclear operator said, warning of the danger of an accident.
"The last line of communication between the occupied Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and the Ukrainian power grid was cut off due to Russian missile attacks," Energatom said in a statement.
The war in Ukraine entered the 378th day. For details and events in Eastern Europe, see the link below.
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