Kremlin spokesman says Russia will achieve all its goals in Ukraine

Issued on: 24/05/2023 – 07:59Modified: 24/05/2023 – 08:05

7:50am: Russia PM says relations with China at ‘unprecedented’ high level

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Wednesday that ties with China are at an “unprecedented” high level, characterised by mutual respect of each other’s interests and the desire to jointly respond to challenges.

“As our Chinese friends say, unity makes it possible to move mountains,” Mishustin told Chinese Premier Li Qiang during a meeting in Beijing.

Mishustin was the highest ranking Russian official to visit the Chinese capital since Moscow sent thousands of its troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

6:32am: Russia extends arrest of US journalist Evan Gershkovich by 3 months

A Russian court on Tuesday extended the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich by three months in a closed-door hearing emblematic of the secrecy that has marked the case against the first United States correspondent since the Cold War to be detained in Russia on spying charges.

Gershkovich, a 31-year-old American citizen, was ordered to be held until August 30. He was arrested in March on espionage charges on a reporting trip in Russia. He, his employer and the US government have denied the charges.

Tuesday’s pre-trial hearing wasn’t announced in advance, and the entire case has been wrapped in secrecy.

Russian authorities haven’t detailed what – if any – evidence they have gathered to support the espionage charges. 

6:18am: China willing to work with Russia to take pragmatic cooperation to new level, says premier

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Wednesday that China was willing to work with Russia to promote their pragmatic cooperation in various fields and take it to a “new level”.

Pragmatic cooperation between China and Russia has shown a “good” development trend, and the scale of investment between the two is also continuously seeing an upgrade, Li told Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin during a meeting in Beijing.

Mishustin was the highest ranking Russian official to visit the Chinese capital since Moscow sent thousands of its troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

6:07am: Russia will achieve all its goals in Ukraine, TASS reports citing Kremlin spokesman 

Russia will achieve all its goals in Ukraine either through its “special military operation” or through all other means, the state TASS news agency cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Wednesday.

“Russia is taking under consideration only the completion of its special military operation: ensuring its interests, achieving Russia’s goals either through the special military operation, or by other available means,” Peskov told TASS, answering a question on whether Russia would consider the possibility of freezing the conflict.

Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation”, while Kyiv and its Western allies call it an unprovoked aggression to grab land.

4:05am: Russia’s newest nuclear submarine to move to permanent Pacific base in August, reports TASS

The Russian navy’s newest nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine will move to a permanent base in the Kamchatka Peninsula in August, Russia‘s TASS news agency reported on Wednesday, as Moscow steps up its Pacific military presence.

The Generalissimo Suvorov, which entered service at the end of 2022, carries up to 16 nuclear-tipped Russian Bulava missiles, each of which can carry more than one nuclear warhead.

“The submarine Generalissimo Suvorov will make an inter-naval transition from the Northern Fleet (in the Arctic) to the Pacific Fleet in August,” the state TASS news agency reported, citing a source close to the military department. “The transition will be carried out along the Northern Sea Route, including in a submerged position.”

Russia has been boosting defences in its vast far eastern regions bordering Asia-Pacific, accusing the US of expanding its presence there and raising security concerns in Japan and across the region.

• Key developments from Tuesday, May 23:

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that Training Ukrainian pilots in flying US-built F-16 fighter jets does not directly involve NATO in the war in Ukraine. “Ukraine has the right of self-defence … We help Ukraine to uphold that right,” he told reporters. 

Russia said Tuesday that its armed forces had beaten back and then wiped out a group of militants and military hardware that were dispatched to its southern Belgorod region from Ukraine. It reported that one resident of the Belgorod region was killed. Kyiv has denied involvement in the attacks.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said that it has launched criminal proceedings into “the forced transportation/deportation of over 19,000 children” from the occupied regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kherson, and Kharkiv, including to Belarus.

Read yesterday’s live blog to see how the day’s events unfolded.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)