Russia accuses Ukraine of attack on Russian territory as talks resume

As talks with Ukraine resumed, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said an airstrike attack at an oil depot on Russian territory by a pair of helicopter gunships caused fires, wounded two people and damaged several nearby businesses. Russia was quick to place the blame for the attack Friday. When asked if he thought it was “further escalating the conflict,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “Well, certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks.”

Ukraine was also asked about the attack on Russian territory Friday. Defense Ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said he “will not confirm nor deny” Ukraine’s responsibility.

“We are carrying out defensive operations on our territory. Russian authorities bear responsibility for everything that happens in the Russian territory. They must figure out what’s going on in Belgorod,” Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Friday. “Maybe someone smoked in a wrong place. Maybe there was something else. Maybe Russian troops are sabotaging orders and don’t want to enter Ukrainian territory by available means.”

Friday’s talks between Russia and Ukraine took place virtually. It followed “the most meaningful progress since the beginning of negotiations” reported earlier this week. Just ahead of Friday’s talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there was “movement forward” in negotiations with Ukraine over the recognition of the “impossibility” of Kyiv joining NATO.

“This is much more profound and wider than just the military operation in Ukraine, much more profound and wider than providing neutrality to Ukraine under security guarantees which will be collectively adopted,” Lavrov said Friday. “This is the world order question, in which all the standards of decency and all the norms of international law, and as I said, all the values implemented by the West within its model of globalization – was violated by the West itself.”

While Ukraine and Russia were focusing on attacks and talks, the European Union was focusing on China’s role in the invasion. European Council President Charles Michel and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held a virtual summit with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Friday. They urged China to help end the war, even if it means abandoning the country’s support of Russia.

“Let me remind you that every day, China and the European Union trade almost 2 billion euros worth of goods and services. And in comparison, trade between China and Russia is only 300, some 330 million euros per day,” von der Leyen said at a briefing after the summit. “So a prolongation of the war and the disruptions it brings to the world economy is therefore in no one’s interest, certainly not in China’s.”