Latest in Ukraine: Putin will move tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus (March 27)
Updated March 27, 2023 at 1:59 PM ET
Here is an outlook and summary of the most important developments over the past week.
Something to see
The United Nations Security Council is due to hold an emergency meeting convened by Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
Russia will take over the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in April.
The United States is hosting the Pro-Democracy Summit this week, including a virtual meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Hungarian parliament has just ratified Finland’s application to join NATO. That leaves Turkey, whose president said he would start the process of ratifying Finland’s bid. But both NATO members have left Sweden’s application pending.
The Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, plans to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine to assess the safety situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov holds Talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian on Wednesday. Lavrov will also speak with the foreign minister of another friend of Russia, Nicaragua, on Thursday.
Ukraine is pushing for phone talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week.
What happened last week
China’s Xi paid a three day visit to Russia. Putin said the Chinese government’s peace plan could lay the “basis” for a possible deal “if the West and Ukraine are ready.”
Putin announced plans for a tactical deployment Nuclear weapons in Belarusa Kremlin ally wedged between the two warring countries that served as a launch pad for Russian attacks on Ukraine.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made one surprise visit to UkraineHours after Xi arrived in Russia.
IMF staff agreed with Ukraine on a $15.6 billion financing package. If approved by the IMF board, it would be Ukraine’s largest loan since the Russian invasion a year ago.
Russian drone strikes hit the Kyiv regionincluding an educational facility that killed at least four people and injured 20. Russia later attacked a humanitarian aid center in Kostyantynivka, killing at least three displaced women.
Ukraine said they were Russian cruise missiles destroyed in a strike in Crimea, but took no responsibility for the attack. The head of the city of Dzhankoi, deployed by Russia, reported drone attacks there.
The situation in Bakhmut could stabilizeUkrainian army chief General Valery Zaluzhny said on Telegram’s social app, speaking about a city that Russia has been fighting to take control of for months while attempting to seize the entire eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass.
incoming
Chinese and Russian leaders have ended talks. Here are some takeaways.
A seedy newscast in Kiev aimed at Russians counters Putin’s propaganda machine.
On the border with Belarus, Ukrainian troops are preparing for a long war – and the front line.
The IMF’s $15.6 billion loan to Ukraine will be the first given to a country at war.
Russian drone strikes in Ukraine kill at least 4, injure 20 more.
A shrinking reservoir signals Ukraine and Russia are locked in a dangerous water war.
China sees itself as a mediator in the Russia-Ukraine war, but many nations disagree.
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Previous Developments
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