China: We didn’t know; Ukraine: There's no chance of joining NATO; Japan sent weapons
The war in Ukraine has been going on for three weeks. Negotiations between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine continue today.
Source: B92
According to the American media, it is expected that the President of the USA, Joseph Biden, could announce a new decision of the American administration on sending military aid to Ukraine worth one billion dollars.
Humanitarian corridors are in operation and, according to Ukrainian authorities, about 29.000 people have been evacuated from the blocked cities. Also, the Crimean authorities claim that Ukraine will recognize Crimea as soon as Russia completes the process of demilitarization of that country. The Russian-Ukrainian negotiations will continue today, said the adviser to the head of the cabinet of the Ukrainian president, Mikhail Podolyak.
As he stated, there are fundamental contradictions in the positions of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations during the talks, but there is also the possibility of a compromise, reports Sputnik.
NATO will continue to send weapons to Ukraine
The Netherlands and other NATO members will continue to send weapons to Ukraine even if those shipments could become the target of Russian attacks, said Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren.
"Ukraine has the right to defend itself, we will continue to support it," she said upon arriving at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.
The heads of Russian and Turkish diplomacy met
Scholz rules out the possibility of NATO intervention in Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz again ruled out the possibility of NATO military intervention in Ukraine.
The West still hopes for sanctions against Russia, Scholz said at a gathering organized by the daily "Welt" in Berlin. "We will not establish no-fly zones over Ukraine. That would lead to a direct military confrontation with Russia and Russian planes", the German Chancellor explained.
Scholz said that he agreed with US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and other allies that there should be no military conflict between NATO and Russia. "No one can want that," he said.
Japan sent weapons to Ukraine
C-17 aircraft carrying JSDF’s bulletproof vests and helmets for Ukraine departed from Yokota Air base. Japan and the U.S. are going to assist Ukraine in solid collaboration.
C-17 aircraft carrying JSDF’s bulletproof vests and helmets for #Ukraine departed from Yokota Air base. Japan and the U.S. are going to assist Ukraine in solid collaboration. For #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/ZT6jODCN1O
— Japan Ministry of Defense/Self-Defense Forces (@ModJapan_en) March 16, 2022
Kyiv claims that more than 100 children were killed
Today a tragic bloody line was crossed: more than 100 children were killed during 20 days of 🇷🇺 war against 🇺🇦. Every second 1 child leaves Ukraine to escape the war. Russia will be held to account and will pay for everything.#StopRussianGenocideinUkraine
— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 16, 2022
China: If we had known we would have tried
Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang stated that the Chinese government did not know that there would be a war in Ukraine.
"Claims that China knew, agreed to or tacitly supported this war are pure misinformation. All these claims serve only the purpose of shifting the blame to China and throwing mud at China," the Chinese Ambassador told the Washington Post.
He said that commenting on media speculations and claims that China allegedly knew about the Russian military action before and that he allegedly asked Russia to postpone it until the Winter Olympic Games are over.
"There are more than 6.000 Chinese citizens in Ukraine. China is the largest trade partner of both Russia and Ukraine, and the largest importer of crude oil and natural gas in the world," Qin pointed out.
He emphasizes that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine does not bring anything good to China.
"If China had known about the imminent crisis, we would have tried to prevent it," said the Chinese Ambassador to Washington.
