Lviv city under drone attack – DW – 09/19/2023

Russia and China are closely aligned on their stand on resolving the Ukraine conflict, said Moscow’s foreign ministry after talks between their top diplomats on Monday. 

China’s Wang Yi kicked off his four-day visit to Moscowwith a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Segei Lavrov. 

Moscow, in its statement said that both parties “discussed in detail the current state of affairs in Ukraine, noting the futility of attempts to resolve the crisis without taking into account Russia’s interests and, all the more so, without Russia’s participation.” 

Meanwhile, Wang reiterated Beijing’s position on the Ukraine conflict and called for peace talks. 

He told Lavrov that the intended peace talks will take into account “the security concerns of all parties and is conducive to eliminating the root causes of the conflict,” reported the Chinese state media outlet Xinhua

So far, China has positioned itself as a neutral partyin the Ukraine conflict. However, Beijing has continuously offered Moscow a vital diplomatic and financial lifeline as its international isolation deepens. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to take center-stage as world leaders gather for the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. 

Zelenksyy is expected to use his speech to demand further condemnation of Russia. 

He will also meet leaders with differing views including Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvawho has previously said that Ukraine is to partly blame for Russia’s attack on Kyiv and criticized the millions of dollars of aid being sent to Ukraine. 

On Wednesday Zelenskyy will take part in a special session on Ukraine at the Security Council where Russia is a permanent member wielding a veto over any binding action. 

Zelenskyy, who earlier called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “second hitler” also said that the  UN is still providing“a place for Russian terrorists.”

The world must “decide whether we want to stop Putin, or whether we want to start the beginning of a world war,” Zelensky said.

Ever since its invasion, Russia has met overwhelming criticism at the General Assembly but the focus on the warhas also drawn criticism from developing countries who believe it has distracted from other urgent priorities.

Putin will not be attending this year’s UN summit. 

Ukraine’s western city of Lviv was attacked by droneson Tuesday. Numerous explosions and movements of heavy vehicles on the streets were observed during the nightly curfew. 

Andriy Sadoviy, the city’s mayor said that apart from explosions being heard “as a result of a strike on Lviv, there was a fire at an industrial warehouse. All necessary services have gone to the site.”

He urged residents to seek shelter.

The head of the Lviv region’s military administration, Maksym Kozytskyi, said: “Two people were rescued from the rubble in Lviv, a man and a woman. The woman is initially believed to have no injuries. The man is in a serious condition.”