Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,290

On Saturday, September 6, 2018, this is how things are going.

Fighting

• According to the Ministry of Defense, Russian forces seized control of the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine’s Markove settlement, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.
• According to Robert Brovdi, the commander of Kyiv’s drone forces, Ukraine attacked Russia’s Ryazan oil refinery as well as an oil depot in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region.
• According to Pavel Malkov, the regional governor of Ryazan, debris fell on the grounds of an industrial complex after the Ukrainian attack, and eight drones were shot down by air defense and electronic warfare systems in the area, causing no injuries.
• Under post-war security guarantees reached this week with the so-called “coalition of the willing,” led by French President Emmanuel Macron, led by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “thousands” of foreign troops could be deployed to his country.
• Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, declared that Ukraine’s foreign troops would be legitimate targets. Putin stated at an economic forum in Vladivostok, Russia’s far eastern city, that “we proceed from the fact that these will be legitimate targets for destruction” when some troops showed up there, especially now, during military operations.
• Putin added that he “does not see any sense” in the presence of foreign troops “on the territory of Ukraine, full stop,” if an agreement is reached on “long-term peace” with Ukraine.
• Russian-based forces are only being deployed on Russian territory, according to Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, according to RIA Novosti news agency in Russia.

Ceasefire

• According to President Donald Trump, the United States is still pursuing security guarantees for Ukraine that will put an end to the nation’s conflict with Russia.
• Trump’s “quite cynical” but “good sense” approach to diplomacy is sounded, according to Kremlin spokesman Peskov. Poskov compared Trump’s position to that of Europe, which, he claimed, was putting all efforts into preventing a peaceful settlement.
• Trump, in contrast, is much more approachable. In a good way, he is incredibly cynical. In the context of “why fight when you can trade?” And he does everything to stop wars, Peskov said, citing these American interests.
• Putin and Trump could meet again “very quickly,” Peskov added, adding that it was “necessary” for the Russian leader to do so.

Sanctions

• According to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the allies of Ukraine are working to impose new sanctions on Russia as part of a campaign to pressure President Putin into a ceasefire.

International affairs

After their leaders met with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, Trump claimed that Russia and India appear to have been “lost” to China. “Looks like we’ve lost China’s deepest, darkest, and India’s economies. May they together have a prosperous and fulfilling future together”! Trump accompanied a photo of the three leaders at Xi’s summit in China in a post that Trump posted on social media.

Russian gas and oil

• Chris Wright, the US energy secretary, stated that he is not concerned about the impact of Russian gas exports to China. This week, Russia and China granted the construction of a gas pipeline known as Power of Siberia 2, underscoring Xi’s disregard for Western demands that he step down from a more strategic partnership with Moscow.
• Despite criticism from Slovakia and Hungary, which have experienced Russian oil supply disruptions as a result of Kyiv’s strikes, President Zelenskyy declared that Ukraine would continue to reciprocately respond to Russian attacks on its energy facilities. After speaking with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, with whom he had previously had issues over Russian energy supplies, at his first high level meeting.
• Even as other European Union nations cut ties with Russia as a result of Moscow’s war on Ukraine, Slovakia and Hungary have continued to purchase Russian gas and oil via the Druzhba pipeline.
• According to Dan Jorgensen, the bloc’s energy chief, the EU will continue to pursue its plans to phase out Russian oil by 2028. He added that he had not been under pressure from Washington to push this forward.
• The EU’s phase-out plan, according to Hungary and Slovakia, would raise energy prices and cause shortages.
• Jorgensen claimed he was speaking with Hungary and Slovakia about their concerns, but that the EU countries could not agree on the phase-out plans. If there are nations that don’t feel they can support it because of domestic reasons, he said, “this is not something that calls for unanimous consent.”