22 April 2022 20:09

Politics

News

Francis' longing for Kirill, Scholz's fears, and Canada's protest: Western media digest as of April 22

Authors

Olexandr Zakharov , Ksenia Lisna

On the night of Sunday, April 24, it will be exactly two months after the start of Moscowia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since that time, our struggle has not left the pages of the Western media.

On April 22, the media covered Recep Erdogan's new peacemaking attempts and Olaf Scholz's fears of World War III, as well as Lithuania's demands for NATO.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis mourns that he cannot meet with the bloody Patriarch Kirill, and Canadian and British ministers are boycotting speeches by their Kremlin colleague in Washington.

offers an up-to-date digest of the 58th day of the active Russian invasion in English-language online outlets.

Johnson on India: "They want peace"

Photo: Getty Images

The BBC reports that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the British embassy in Kyiv will reopen next week.

During an official visit to India, the British leader spoke about "extraordinary fortitude and success" of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the country's people in resisting Russia's forces and assured that London would not stand aside:

"The UK and our allies will not watch passively as Vladimir Putin continues this onslaught."

Boris Johnson is questioned about his discussions with India's Prime Minister Modi, and whether he's asked Modi to use his influence in Moscow to put pressure on Russia. Johnson says Modi has been "very strong" in his language about what’s happened in Bucha.

According to the British leader, Modi has already asked Vladimir Putin several times "what on earth he thinks he’s doing and where he thinks this is going."

Photo: Getty Images

Johnson stressed: India says it wants peace "and wants the Russians out" of Ukraine, adding:

"I totally agree with that".

Ukraine may be bombed to the end of 2023

Photo: azov.org.ua

It is quite realistic, according to Boris Johnson, that Russian bombing of Ukraine will continue to the end of 2023.

"Putin has a huge army," he explained. "He has a very difficult political position because he's made a catastrophic blunder."

"The only option he now has, really, is to continue to try to use his appalling, grinding approach driven by artillery, trying to grind the Ukrainians down," the British Prime Minister believes.

Photo: Getty Images

The politician added that "no matter" the military superiority Vladimir Putin may be able to bring to bear over the next few months "he will not be able to conquer the spirit of the Ukrainian people".

Erdogan plans to bring Zelenskyy and Putin together

Photo: Getty Images

The Guardian quotes Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as planning to hold telephone conversations with the leaders of Ukraine and Russia.

In particular, he wants to talk with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the bloodthirsty Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin on April 22-23.

When asked about the peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow, Erdogan said he was "not without hope":

"Our friends will get in touch with them today, we plan to hold a call again with Putin and Zelenskyy today or tomorrow.

He added that with the calls, Turkey plans to carry the process in Istanbul to the leaders’ level.

Scholz is still afraid to provoke Putin

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The Guardian, referring to the German newspaper Der Spiegel, also quotes German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

He said that NATO should avoid direct military confrontation with Russia, which could lead to World War III.

He made such a statement, answering the question why Germany did not supply heavy weapons to Ukraine. According to him, there is no rule book that states when Germany could be considered a party to the war in Ukraine.

"That’s why it is all the more important that we consider each step very carefully and coordinate closely with one another," he said. "To avoid an escalation towards Nato is a top priority for me.

Scholz stated that he didn't focus on polls or let himself be "irritated by shrill calls".

"The consequences of an error would be dramatic."

UN: This war is a horror story of violations

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The New York Times quotes the UN Human Rights Office as calling the war in Ukraine on April 22 "a horror story of violations perpetrated against civilians."

"Over these eight weeks," Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement, "international humanitarian law has not merely been ignored but seemingly tossed aside."

According to her, almost every resident of Bucha had a story about the death of a relative, a neighbour, or even a stranger:

"We know much more needs to be done to uncover what happened there and we also know Bucha is not an isolated incident."

Francis regrets cancelling meeting with Kirill

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Sky News reports that Pope Francis has suspended his plans to meet with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a longtime ally of President Vladimir Putin, Patriarch Kirill.

The 85-year-old pontiff had been considering a meeting with Patriarch Kirill in Jerusalem on 14 June, Reuters reported earlier.

However, Francis has now told the Argentine outlet La Nacion that he regretted the plan had to be suspended because Vatican diplomats advised that such a meeting could lend itself to much confusion at this moment.

The first meeting between Francis and Kirill was held in Cuba in 2016 and was the first between a pope and a leader of the Russian Orthodox Church since the Great Schism in 1054.

In March, Kirill, 75, appeared to endorse Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and claimed:

"Russia has entered into a struggle that has not a physical, but a metaphysical significance".

Putin is again asked for "green" corridors

Photo: Getty Images

CNN reports that the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, said he "strongly urged" for immediate humanitarian access and safe passage from Mariupol and other besieged cities.

He did this during a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday 22 April.

Michel also, following the negotiations with the bloodthirsty leader, firmly reiterated the EU’s position.

"Support for Ukraine and her sovereignty, condemnation and sanctions for Russia’s aggression," he tweeted on his verified account.

Lithuania demands more NATO troops

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CNN also reports that Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has called on NATO to send more troops to eastern Europe including to his own country.

Nausėda dicsussed the issue on Friday with Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who was visiting Vilnius.

The pair also discussed military assistance to Ukraine, Ukraine's status as an EU candidate country, and sanctions against Russia and Belarus.

Germany leads NATO’s battle group in Lithuania. At least 28,000 allied troops were stationed there as of March 22, according to the latest figures from NATO.

Nausėda said he wants to see an upgrade of air policing to air and missile defense, and a switch from forward presence to forward defense, according to the statement. He said:

"With the outbreak of a large-scale military offensive in the Donbas region, rapid and effective delivery of weaponry to Ukraine could become a decisive factor in this war. We no longer have time to hesitate, we must act decisively and quickly."

Nausėda also says he wants to strengthen NATO’s presence on the Suwałki Corridor, which sits on Lithuanian-Polish border and links Belarus to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad in the Baltics.

The Lithuanian President also stresses that the West should impose additional sanctions against the Russian Federation and Belarus.

Canada to Russia: "It's a perverse to hear you speaking today"

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Reuters reports that British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland walked out of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting in Washington to protest the invasion of Ukraine when Russia's delegate spoke on Thursday, April 22.

After Freeland returned to the meeting, she directly addressed Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who was attending virtually:

"It is perverse and absurd to hear you speaking today when your war is making us poorer, is causing food prices to rise and will cause people to go hungry. Your war is causing energy prices to rise. Your war is driving inflation, which hurts the most vulnerable."

Getty Images photos collage

Freeland, who is of Ukrainian descent, went on to speak about how women were the particular targets of this war.

"Rape is being used systematically as a weapon of war by Russia."

Addressing Siluanov by name, she concluded by saying Ukraine would win the war:

"Russia and the Russian leadership will bear full responsibility for the crimes being committed today".

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, who walked out of a G20 meeting in Washington on April 20 for the same reason, said there should be "no appeasement" of Russia due to the economic problems caused by the invasion of Ukraine.

Instead of an afterword. As we can see, while the German chancellor is afraid of once again provoking Putin, and the Pope regrets that he will not meet with Patriarch Kirill, the supporter of the cruel atrocities of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, Lithuania demands to protect it as much as possible from a possible attack by Russia. Obviously, Vilnius understands that the Kremlin will not stop in Ukraine.

For his part, Erdogan is not giving up hope of somehow bringing together Zelenskyy and Putin, although it is not very clear what can be negotiated with the bloodthirsty leader, not a single promise of whom cannot be trusted.

Representatives of Canada and Great Britain, fortunately, demonstrate an adequate position regarding the presence of the Kremlin colleague at the meetings of the G20 finance ministers in Washington.

It is also interesting whether India can be persuaded to back away from its longtime friendship with the terrorist country.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has been fighting for its borders for 58 days.