Report # 244. Artyomovsk has been captured by Russian troops

May 20, 2023

1. Kiev lost key Donbass city

The key Donbass city of Artyomovsk, known as Bakhmut in Ukraine, has been fully liberated by the Russian forces, Evgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) has announced. “Today at noon, Bakhmut was fully captured,” he said in a video address published on May 20, and added that the last part of an area of high-rise buildings where the Ukrainians were holed up is now under full control of Russian forces.

The Wagner PMC control over the city will be passed on to the Russian Defense Ministry that also cooperated in liberation of the city having strategic importance for obtaining the rest of the territory of Donetsk People’s Republic.

The city will be renamed after acquiring advice and consent from the local population that overwhelmingly decided not to live under Kiev’s rule in 2014.

A commentator under assumed name as TBTB noted:

Zelensky has invested all he got on this battle. He staked his political future on defeating Russia in Bakmut. He has lost it all. This symbolic defeat has tremendous strategic consequences beyond Ukraine. This could lead to NATO fracture and the dissolution of the EU. If that is so, it could lead to the rapid demise of the US hegemony.

The capture of Artyomovsk/Bakhmut actually opens the way leading to Kramatorsk and other key Ukrainian cities.

2. Saudi Arabia refuses to change stance on Ukraine conflict

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has said that Riyadh and other Arab states are taking an impartial stance in the Ukraine-Russia conflict and want to maintain ties with both parties. He made the statement after the conclusion of the Arab League summit in Jeddah on May 19, which was attended by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. The Saudi foreign minister visited Kiev and Moscow for high-level talks in 2022, and later said that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in negotiating a prisoner swap between the two sides last September, which he hailed as a “humanitarian breakthrough.”

After meeting with Zelensky earlier on the same day, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke about “the Kingdom’s readiness to continue mediating efforts between Russia and Ukraine.” The Crown Prince said he would “support all international efforts aimed at resolving the crisis politically in a way that contributes to achieving security.”

Saudi Arabia has also declined to take part in the Western sanctions on Moscow, which include efforts to curtail its energy exports. Riyadh has continued its cooperation with Russia through OPEC+, a cartel of key oil exporters.

 

3. Washington will allow allied transfers of F-16s to Ukraine

 

The US government will not block allied countries from sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Sources cited by the Washington Post, CNN, NBC, and other outlets said the White House is prepared to allow F-16 shipments after months of Ukrainian requests for the aircraft, which is used by more than two dozen nations. A senior White House official told NBC that Washington had already informed its partners about the decision.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan on May 20, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said, “in the coming months, we will work with our allies to determine when the planes will be delivered, who will be delivering them, and how many.”

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced earlier that London would back the creation of an “international coalition” to supply the F-16s and other aircraft to Kiev.

Such deliveries will hamper all political efforts to forge any political settlement of ending Ukrainian/NATO aggression against Russia.

 

 

 

 

Written by Vladimir P. Kozin

 

21.05.2023
  • Эксклюзив
  • Конфликты
  • Россия
  • Европа
  • США
  • НАТО
  • СНГ
  • Новейшее время