Ukraine shrugs off Macron, Merkel, Putin talk on Donbas

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s spokesperson Yulia
Mendel commented on March 31 regarding a March 30 video call involving the
presidents of France, Germany and Russia. Mendel told ukrinform.net that the
three presidents had had a wide-ranging conversation, and that it would be
“strange if the war in eastern Ukraine fell out of the international agenda…”
Germany’s dw.com notes that the conversation also included a discussion of the
Navalny case, the use of Sputnik COVID-19 vaccine in the EU, and the situations
in Syria and Libya.

James Hydzik: In this
case, we have to agree with Mendel. It is normal for Ukraine to be brought up
in this context, and it would be odd to discuss everything else without it. For
as long as relations between Ukraine and its European partners remain solid,
such conversations should be welcome.

Combined with the U.S. calls we focused on in today’s
news, there is no doubt that the Kremlin knows that it is under increased
observation. Every indication is that this attention is wanted – NATO also
intercepted 10 Russian planes in six hours on Monday.