Ukraine Latest: Putin Lauds China Ties as Biden to Meet Leaders

(Bloomberg) — President Vladimir Putin lauded deepening ties with Beijing during a visit by China’s top diplomat, who said the relationship between the two countries was “solid as a mountain” and would withstand turmoil. 

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US President Joe Biden meanwhile was slated to meet in Warsaw with eastern European leaders who have supported Ukraine with weapons deliveries and by taking in millions of refugees fleeing Russia’s war. 

Russia’s War in Ukraine: Key Events and How It’s Unfolding

The front line has not moved despite Russian troops using an entire range of weapons against the Ukrainian army, including gas grenades in the Bakhmut, Lyman and Avdiyivka areas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)

Tune in for the next in our series of special Twitter Space conversations about one year of war in Ukraine. Today’s chat at 8am ET/1pm London will focus on the impact on global energy supplies and markets, and on the environment and renewable energy policies. You can listen via this link. You can also listen back to our conversation yesterday on the war itself and military lessons learned.

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How Does Ukraine Continue to Beat Back Russia? (Podcast)

Key Developments

On the Ground

Russian forces fired four missiles at an industrial facility in Kharkiv, Zelenskiy’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak said on Telegram. At least two people were lightly wounded after the attack, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said on Telegram. Kharkiv is Ukraine’s second-largest city, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the Russian border. Eleven explosions were heard Tuesday evening in the southern port city of Mariupol, occupied by Russian forces early in the invasion, the Unian news service reported, adding that two districts were hit, according to preliminary information. 

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(All times CET)

Polish Premier Tells Hungarian President Solidarity With Ukraine Needed (1:54 p.m.) 

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told Hungarian President Katalin Novak during a visit to Warsaw that solidarity with Ukraine is necessary to end the conflict. “The war in Ukraine is the most important topic that needs to be discussed,” Morawiecki said in a statement after the meeting.

Hungary and Poland have backed each other for years as they defied the EU over the rule of law. But the friendship soured after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban refused to make a clean break with Putin following the invasion. 

Putin Awaiting Xi Amid China Peace Push on Ukraine (1:22 p.m.) 

Putin said he’s waiting for his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to visit Russia. Cooperation between Russia and China is “very important for stabilizing the international situation,” Putin told Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi at talks in Moscow, asking him to pass on greetings to “my friend” Xi. Russia and China are reaching “new milestones” including in trade, which may grow to $200 billion sooner than their goal of 2024, Putin said.

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“The current international situation is indeed critical and complex but the relationship between China and Russia is solid as a mountain and can stand the test of international risks,” Wang replied, adding that the “strategic” ties between Moscow and Beijing won’t be subject to pressure from any third parties. 

Read More: Putin Says He Is Waiting for Xi Amid China Peace Push on Ukraine

More Ukrainians Want Zelenskiy Elected to Second Term (1:08 p.m.) 

Zelenskiy should be elected to a second term as Ukrainian president, according to 65% of respondents in a poll conducted this month by pollster Rating Group. That’s a jump over the leader’s prewar backing, when only 20% supported a second term as of October 2021. 

The number who say Zelenskiy should leave office dropped to 25% from 43% in 2021. The Ukrainian president is trusted by 59% of those polls, compared with 14% a month before the invasion. 

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Russia, South Africa, China to Simulate Air Attacks in Exercise (12:59 p.m.) 

The navies of Russia, China and South Africa will conduct maneuvers, including simulated air attacks on ships and liberating hostages from pirates, in 10 days of exercises off the African country’s coast. The participants will also fire artillery in the maneuvers, the “active portion” of which will take place Feb. 25-27, Russia’s Interfax quoted the country’s Northern Fleet as saying. 

Read More: Russia, South Africa, China to Simulate Air Attacks in Exercise

The exercises, known as MOSI II, have been criticized by some of South Africa’s biggest trade partners, including the US and the EU, who have questioned the timing of the exercises a year after the invasion started. Those countries have already been irked by South Africa’s abstention from United Nations resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion. 

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Scholz Planning to Speak With Putin Again Soon (12:15 p.m.)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is planning another telephone conversation with Putin “soon,” according to his chief spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit. 

“I would dampen expectations though as we’re doing so even though we know that it often has little chance of success,” Hebestreit said at the regular government news conference in Berlin. Scholz is convinced of the importance of keeping channels open to Putin even if there is no sign currently of an imminent change of policy in the Kremlin regarding the war on Ukraine, Hebestreit added.

Germany-Ukraine Trade Declined Less Than Feared (11:35 a.m.)

Although trade flows between Germany and Ukraine declined by nearly 7% last year, that was a smaller drop than expected and business has been recovering since the late fall, according to a Berlin-based lobby group that promotes commercial ties with eastern Europe and central Asia.

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German companies in Ukraine have maintained or quickly restored production wherever possible, Michael Harms, the managing director of the East Commission, said by email. German firms are also intensively involved in restoring destroyed infrastructure and the long-term reconstruction of the country, Harms said.

“Exports to Russia fell by 45 percent in 2022, to the lowest level in two decades,” Harms said. “However, the drastic losses were more than offset by double-digit increases in exports to other markets.”

Ukrainian Finance Minister to Address G-7 Counterparts (11:30 a.m.)

Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko will make a video address and have discussions with Group of Seven finance ministers and central banks chiefs at their meeting Thursday, Deputy Minister Olha Zykova said on the We-Ukraine TV channel. She said Ukraine expects to obtain information about the funding the country can receive as additional financial aid this year.

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German Tech Lobby Warns on Cyber Attacks (10:50 a.m.)

Germany could experience a sharp increase in Russian cyber attacks should the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine escalate further, according to the head of the country’s technology lobby Bitkom.

As well as digital attacks, the possibility of physical sabotage of cables or IT hardware must also be considered, Bitkom President Achim Berg was quoted as saying by the Handelsblatt newspaper. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser also warned of an increased threat from espionage, disinformation and cyberattacks instigated by Russia, the paper reported.

China Says Willing to Maintain Good Relations With Russia (10:05 a.m.)

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said in opening remarks as he sat down with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday that regardless of changes in the international arena, China is willing to maintain its good relations with Russia.

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Wang said ahead of the encounter that relations with Russia were “solid as rock” even as Beijing moves to portray itself as a neutral actor that can broker peace in Ukraine. In a meeting on Tuesday with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Wang said China sought to “promote mutually beneficial cooperation in all areas” as the two nations defend national interests.

Wagner Head Deepens Feud With Russian Defense Ministry Over Munitions (9:35 a.m.)

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, continued a dispute with Russia’s Defense Ministry over ammunition supplies, saying his fighters receive only 20% of the amount they need in battles with Ukrainian troops at Bakhmut and claiming that top military leaders were trying to “destroy” his organization.

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The Defense Ministry had earlier called his criticisms about supplies “absolutely untrue” in a statement on Telegram that listed deliveries of artillery and ammunition to Russian assault units in recent days.

Prigozhin, a close ally of Putin, dismissed the ministry’s claims as “a spit at the Wagner Group” in an audio file on Telegram that accused Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and head of the army Valery Gerasimov of “actions comparable to state treason.” He has repeatedly criticized Russia’s military chiefs for failings in the conduct of the war.

How Ordinary Ukrainians Are Crowdfunding a War (9:25 a.m.)

Despite a ravaged economy, businesses, civic groups and citizens in Ukraine are helping replenish arms on the front and boost morale. In Bloomberg’s Big Take story for Wednesday, Marc Champion and Daryna Krasnolutska look at how crowdfunding is helping raise money for everything from drones to mortars to covering costs for military training, medical supplies and the design of apps to calculate artillery trajectories.

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Though smaller in scale than Ukraine’s defense budget or weaponry sent by its allies, the domestic aid fills supply gaps on a fast moving battlefield that the army can’t, either for lack of money or an excess of bureaucratic procedures. It allows arms manufacturers to improve weapons systems in response to experience on the battlefield, something that procurement rules make more complicated for the Defense Ministry.

Ukrainians Are Crowdfunding Their Defense From Drones to Mortar

Russia’s Invasion Seen as a War on Europe, Survey Shows (9:05 a.m.)

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is no longer seen as a war in Europe as was the case last summer, but as a war on Europe, according to an international public opinion survey published by the European Council on Foreign Relations, a think-tank.

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The prevailing view in Europe (44% in the UK, and 38% across nine EU countries) is now that Ukraine needs to regain all of its territory, even if it means a longer war, the survey showed. The survey used data from nine EU states as well as the UK, Russia, China, India and Turkey.

No Russian ICBM Test While Biden Was in Kyiv: US Official (8:15 a.m.)

There was no intercontinental ballistic missile test by Russia while Biden was in Kyiv, according to a US defense official. The US was properly notified before Biden’s visit to Kyiv was public. Russia provided advance notice of this launch under its New START treaty obligations that it planned to test this missile, the official said. Such testing is routine and was not a surprise and the US did not deem the test a threat to it or its allies, the official added.

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CNN reported earlier that Russia conducted an ICBM test while Biden was in Ukraine on Monday that appears to have failed, citing two unnamed US officials familiar with the matter. 

Russia Could Mobilize 1 Million More Troops: Germany (8 a.m.)

Russia has the potential to mobilize as many as 1 million more troops for its war on Ukraine, according to the head of Germany’s BND foreign intelligence service.

“Last fall, around 300,000 people were mobilized and recruited, some of them are still being trained, some of them have already been introduced into the fray,” BND President Bruno Kahl was quoted as saying by Germany’s RND media group. “Russia’s further mobilization potential is a reservoir of up to a million men, if that is deemed necessary in the Kremlin,” Kahl said, adding that he currently sees no willingness on the part of Putin to engage in peace talks.

Zelenskiy Says Front Line Unchanged Despite Pressure (7:45 a.m.)

Russian troops are using an entire range of weapons against the Ukrainian army, including gas grenades in the Bakhmut, Lyman and Avdiyivka areas, but despite all the pressure on Ukrainian forces, the front line has not changed, Zelenskiy said in his regular night address. “We are doing our best to deter enemy attacks there – constant intense assaults, which Russia does not stop, even though it suffers huge losses there,” he said.