Russia signals scaled-back war aims as Ukrainians advance near Kyiv
Moscow signalled on Friday it was scaling back its ambitions in Ukraine to focus on territory claimed by Russian-backed separatists as Ukrainian forces went on the offensive to recapture towns on the outskirts of the capital Kyiv.
In the first big sign that Western sanctions on Moscow were impacting investment from China, sources said state-run Sinopec Group, Asia’s biggest oil refiner, halted talks on a petrochemical investment and a venture to market Russian gas.
In the month since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops have failed to capture any major city. Their assault has met stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces and has been halted outside Kyiv.
The Russians have instead been bombarding and encircling cities, laying waste to residential areas and driving around a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million people from their homes. [Continue reading…]
Ukrainian authorities and Western officials reacted cautiously to the claim of a change of military strategy, which comes as Russian advances on Kyiv and other towns have stalled or been hindered by fiercer than expected Ukrainian defence. A US official accompanying Joe Biden during a trip to Belgium and Poland said on Friday that they were not treating the Russian statements as new and that they would have to see if anything changes tactically.