Ukraine updates: Poland pledges gear as Zelenskyy visits

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday thanked Poland for its "historic" help as he was on an official state visit to Warsaw.

"You have stood shoulder to shoulder with us, and we are grateful for it," Zelenskyy said after being welcomed by his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda.

Poland has been a close ally of Ukraine and played a major role in galvanizing Western military and political support for Kyiv.

Duda said Poland could send all its MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine "in the future," having already pledged 14 Soviet-made planes to Kyiv.

"I think that in the future we will be able to transfer our whole remaining fleet of MiG-29s to Ukraine if there is still such a need," he said.

Duda added that Poland was trying to secure additional security guarantees for Ukraine at a July NATO summit, which will be held in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.

"Today we are trying to get for Ukraine... additional guarantees, security guarantees, which will strengthen Ukraine's military potential," Duda said. "We have no doubt that your conduct is saving Europe from a deluge of Russian imperialism."

He also awarded Zelenskyy Poland's highest honor, the Order of the White Eagle, for deepening Polish-Ukrainian relations.

Zelenskyy said he hoped the Polish move to open the borders for refugees at the start of the war could become a permanent arrangement. 

The Ukrainian leader said he wanted "no borders in political, economic and — especially important — in historical terms."

Here are some of the other notable developments concerning Russia's war in Ukraine on Wednesday, April 5:

US ex-general Hodges: 'If you liberate Crimea, that changes everything' 

Speaking to DW on Thursday, Ben Hodges, the former comanding general of United States Army Europe, said he believed that Ukraine would target a high-value region in its potential spring counteroffensive. 

"Crimea is the decisive terrain," Hodges said. "You could kill every Russian soldier within 200 kilometers of Bakhmut [the scene of probably the heaviest fighting at present] and that would not change the strategic setting. 

"But if you liberate Crimea, that changes everything. So the counteroffensive will be aimed towards the liberation of Crimea and then the rest of the Donbas, I think that comes later." 

Crimea was annexed by Russia years before its full scale invasion of Ukraine, early in 2014. Russia moved in almost immediately after Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown in protests.

Crimea is of considerable strategic value to Russia. The large dock in Sevastopol has been the base of Russia's Black Sea fleet for centuries.

Fire breaks out in Russian Defense Ministry building

The Russian Defense Ministry says a fire broke out in one of its buildings.

The fire was extinguished shortly afterwards.

According to initial information, the fire broke out on the third floor of the former Alexandrovsk Miltiary Academy.

The TASS state news agency cited a representative of the emergency services as saying that the fire was caused by defective electrical wiring.

No-one was injured in the accident, TASS reported.

Latvia reinstates mandatory military service

Lawmakers in Latvia voted to reinstate compulsory military service for young men starting next year.

"The state defense service is our answer to the new geopolitical threat," Latvian Defense Minister Inara Murniece told lawmakers ahead of the vote.

"Since Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, we can ensure that Latvia is protected only through complex defense solutions, which include not just weapons systems but also a large segment of society at the ready for military action," she said. 

Men aged 18 to 27 will have to report for duty. 

Latvia's military has consisted of career soldiers since 2017.

Putin blames US and EU for Ukraine 'crisis'

Russian President Vladimir Putin told the United States ambassador in Moscow that her country was responsible for the "Ukrainian crisis."

In remarks at a ceremony at the Kremlin to receive new ambassadors, Putin told new US envoy Lynne Tracy that relations between Russia and the US were in a "deep crisis." 

He said US support for the Ukrainian revolution in 2014 that toppled a pro-Moscow president "in the end led to the current Ukrainian crisis."

Putin told the European Union's ambassador, Roland Galharague, that relations between Russia and Europe had "seriously degraded," blaming the EU for "geopolitical confrontation." 

Putin opens talks with Lukashenko, hails cooperation

Putin and Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko steered clear of mentioning the war in Ukraine during their opening remarks at a two-day summit in Moscow.

"I must say that we have done a lot as a result of our joint work in all areas," Putin told Lukashenko in comments broadcast
by state television.

 "We will discuss all of this tomorrow — this applies to our cooperation in the international arena and jointly solving
questions of ensuring the security of our states," Putin added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week the two leaders would discuss Lukashenko's call for an immediate
cease-fire in Ukraine. 

Lukashenko is one of Moscow's closest allies and allowed Belarus to be used a staging ground for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Zelenskyy says Ukraine will take action if troops risk encirclement

The situation in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut was really difficult, and "corresponding decisions" would be taken if Kyiv's troops there risked being encircled by Russian forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

"For me, the most important is not to lose our soldiers and of course if there is a moment of even hotter events and the danger we could lose our personnel because of encirclement, of course the corresponding correct decisions will be taken by generals there," he said.

He made the remarks, without expanding, while on an official state visit to Poland. 

Ukraine's armed forces said Bakhmut remains the epicenter of fighting — as it has been for several weeks.

The founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary force, Yevgeny Prigozhin, recently claimed his forces had captured Bakhmut "in a legal sense." Ukraine has insisted its forces still hold Bakhmut.

Turkish and Russian foreign ministers to discuss grain deal

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he would discuss the Black Sea grain deal between Russia and Ukraine with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

The Russian foreign minister was expected in the Turkish capital Ankara on Thursday. 

The United-Nations-backed deal that allows the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea was renewed last month.

The length of the extension of the pact, first reached in July 2022, had been a sticking point in the renewal process, with Russia wanting 60 days and Ukraine wanting 120 days.

Russia also said it might not renew the deal again if the guarantees for its own grain and fertilizer exports were not met.

IAEA chief holds Zaporizhzhia talks with Russian officials

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, held talks with Russian officials to discuss the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

He met the head of Russia's nuclear agency Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, and other officials in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania.

There have been persistent fears over the safety of the plant in Ukraine.

It has been under Russian control since March last year, and Ukraine and Russia have pointed fingers at one another over fighting near the installation. 

In a message posted on Twitter after the meeting, Grossi wrote it was "vital" to "protect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

Rosatom said in a statement the Russian side was "ready to work on" initiatives put forward by Grossi. 

Macron says China has a 'major role' in ensuring peace in Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron said China had a "major role" to play in finding a path to peace in Ukraine.

He was speaking at a gathering of the French community in Beijing. 

Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are visiting China for three days.

The visit will focus on the Russian war in Ukraine and include difficult trade talks and climate-related issues.

Macron was expected to warn China against sending arms to Russia and ask the country to use its influence to help peace efforts.

They were expected to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday.

You can read more about Macron's visit to China here.

Russian bank VTB lose billions due to sanctions

Russia's second-largest bank VTB reported a 612.6 billion rubles ($7.7 billion, €7 billion) loss for 2022 due to sanctions.

"In 2022, the VTB group faced unprecedented hardships and challenges... We were the first target for the maximum sanctions possible, which led to significant losses," the bank's chief financial officer Dmitry Pianov said.

The West blocked several major Russian banks' access to the international SWIFT payments system soon after Moscow invaded Ukraine last year.

VTB chief Andrei Kostin, an associate of President Vladimir Putin, was individually sanctioned by Britain and the United States.

The bank said it has since improved its situation and expects to return to profit this year.

Spanish Leopard tanks head for Ukraine later his month

Six Leopard 2A4 tanks that Spain had pledged to Ukraine would be delivered in the second half of April, Defense Minister Margarita Robles told 24H TV station.

She said the country's armed services were also in the process of getting another four tanks combat-ready and would likely send those to Ukraine too.

Several EU states have vowed to ship Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Last week,18 Leopard 2 battle tanks from Germany arrived in Kyiv. 

The United Kingdom has also delivered 14 British Challenger tanks, and the United States vowed to send 31 M1A2 Abrams tanks later in the year or early next year.

Germany demands sanctions for buying Russian uranium

Countries that buy uranium from Russia for their nuclear power plants should face sanctions, said German Economy Minister Robert Habeck on his way back from a two-day visit to Kyiv.

During his visit, Habeck was asked by Ukrainian officials why the purchase of Russian uranium had not yet been banned by the West.

"And I think there is no good answer to that," said the German minister to reporters.

He added that it only "seems reasonable" that countries which are still equipping their nuclear power plants with Russian uranium, will have to make adjustments.

He also insisted on a more consistent enforcement of the existing sanctions on Moscow for invading Ukraine.

"We have clear data that the existing sanctions are being circumvented via third countries," he said.

Habeck, Germany's vice chancellor, also pointed out that Berlin "must not become a party to the war. It is important that this boundary is always maintained."

Asked where he personally drew a red line, he said: "Having German troops in Ukraine."

Putin welcomes Belarusian President

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is scheduled to visit Moscow on Wednesday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

The leader will discuss the progress of their Russia-Belarus "Union State", said a statement from the Kremlin. 

The two countries are formally part of a political and economic union and have been discussing ways to move closer. 

On the second day the Belarusian strongman and Putin will speak on "current bilateral and international issues," said the statement. 

Putin, over the weekend announced that, on the bilateral agenda is a discussion on the stationing of tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory near Poland's border. 

Other international matters will include the war in Ukraine and a reaction to Finland joining NATO. 

rm,lo,ns/es (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)