Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy calls for ICC Russia probe

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for Russian leadership and all those involved in the Russian invasion of his country to be held responsible before an international court. 

"We will dismantle this entire Russian genocidal system, from the cogs to the architects, and bring them to legal verdicts," Zelenskyy said in his daily video address. The comments followed a meeting with International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan in Kyiv on Tuesday.

While the Ukrainian president admitted this would not be an easy feat, he said "responding to Russian crimes in the face of this aggression exactly in terms of the rule of law and exactly with the power of an international court is what will serve as one of the guarantees of the long-term future security of both Ukrainians and other nations."

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia would inevitably have legal consequences for those who planned, approved and implemented it, Zelenskyy went on to say. According to him, not only those who executed plans but also "the top political and military leadership of the terrorist state" needed to be held accountable. 

An investigation into the situation in Ukraine by the ICC is already underway. The court in The Hague looks at war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. However, as the Rome Statute is the legal basis for the court, it cannot take action against Russian leadership as neither Russia nor Ukraine are parties to the agreement. 

For this reason, Zelenskyy pushed for a special tribunal to be set up at the UN General Assembly in September. 

Here are some of the other notable developments concerning the war in Ukraine on Wednesday, March 1:

Germany to ramp up ammo production

Germany is planning to boost its ammunition production capacity while also ensuring its defense industry has enough replacement and repair capability after a year of providing military support to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday.

"This will remain an ongoing task because we have said that we will support Ukraine for as long as necessary," Scholz after a meeting with Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins in Berlin.

VW negotiating sale of plant in Russia

German carmaker Volkswagen is in talks about selling its plant in the Russian city of Kaluga, a year after the firm stopped making and exporting vehicles due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"One of the options is to sell the assets of Volkswagen Group Rus, and thus also the plant in Kaluga, to a third party," a spokesman for the company said on Wednesday. "Talks on this are ongoing and a  decision has not yet been finalized."

The Russian news outlet RBK had earlier reported that the Russian car dealership group Avilon was looking to buy the plant and that the deal was close to complete.

VW stopped production at its then two factories in Russia in March 2022 and vehicle exports to Russia were also stopped for all group brands. The group withdrew from production at the Russian assembly plant in Nizhny Novgorod in May. 
It had been involved in joint production there with the carmaker Gaz, whose co-owner Oleg Deripaska is on sanctions lists in connection with the war.

Fight for Bakhmut continues with heavy toll 

Ukrainian forces are fiercely resisting a Russian attempt to capture the strategically important city of Bakhmut and are contributing massive extra reserves, Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary force, said.

Prigozhin's men have led the offensive in eastern Ukraine for months, with Moscow regarding Bakhmut, which it calls by its Soviet-era name of Artyomovsk, as a strategically useful milestone to seize bigger cities in the region.

Ukrainian military officers recently warned that the situation on the ground was getting much more difficult while Russia was intensifying its attempts to encircle Bakhmut.

"The Ukrainian army is throwing extra reserves into Artyomovsk and trying to hold the town with all their strength," Prigozhin said in a short audio message released by his press service.

"Tens of thousands of Ukrainian army fighters are putting up furious resistance. The bloodiness of the battles is growing by the day."

Finnish parliament approves NATO membership law

Finnish lawmakers passed a bill with a overwhelming majority that will enable the country to join NATO in a bid to respond to Europe's altered security landscape. 

Sweden and Finland are both preparing to join the defense alliance. They handed in their applications in May 2022, suspending decades of neutrality. Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer (832-mile) border with Russia, partly motivating the move. 

For the two countries to join, NATO's 30 member states must unanimously agree to accept them. Turkey and Hungary have yet to ratify the Scandinavian countries' accession. Hungary's parliament was set to discuss the issue on Wednesday and will vote next week.

Turkey has been blocking the two aspirants' applications due to security concerns about Sweden. Ankara says Stockholm is supporting and protecting what Turkey believes to be Kurdish terrorists. 

Due to Ankara's tough stance on Sweden's accession, there has been speculation that Finland might join NATO first. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has repeatedly urged Turkey and Hungary to accept Finland's and Sweden's applications to join the Western military alliance.

G20 foreign ministers meet in India as Ukraine war looms big

The G20 foreign ministers were set to meet in New Delhi on Wednesday, with the war in Ukraine threatening to overshadow India's attempts to forge unity.

Russia's Sergey Lavrov was expected to attend the meeting. Top US diplomat Antony Blinken was also due to arrive in New Delhi, however a meeting between the two men remained unlikely as they had not been in the same room since a G20 meeting in July 2022. 

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov will use his attendance to accuse the West of wanting to "take revenge for the inevitable disappearance of the levers of dominance from its hands." 

"The destructive policy of the US and its allies has already put the world on the brink of a disaster, provoked a rollback in socioeconomic development and seriously aggravated the situation of the poorest countries," an English-language statement from the ministry said.

India intended its G20 presidency to focus on issues such as mitigating poverty and securing climate finance, however, the Ukraine war and its global impact are expected to dominate the meeting's agenda. 

Russia: Drone attack on Crimea repelled — reports

Russia's Defense Ministry said its military had repelled what it called a massive drone attack on Crimea by Ukrainian forces without any casualties, Russian news agencies reported.

It said six drones had been shot down and another four "disabled."

The reports came a day after Russian officials blamed Kyiv for a number of attempted drone strikes inside Russian territory.

Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Belarusian President Lukashenko meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping 

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko traveled to China to meet with Chinese leaders, leaving many concerned that Beijing might change its stance on the war in Ukraine. Lukashenko told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping his country "fully supports" Beijing's proposals for ending the Ukraine during a meeting between the two.

The visit by the Belarusian leader came only days after China proposed a detailed plan to stop the fighting in Ukraine.The proposal received a skeptical response globally as it did not mention any new initiatives to end the conflict or request the complete withdrawal of Russian troops.

However, Lukashenko made clear that he supported the plan. 

"Today's meeting is taking place at a very difficult time, which calls for new, unorthodox approaches and responsible political decisions," Lukashenko said, according to remarks released by his aides.

"They should be aimed at first and foremost preventing a slide into a global confrontation that will see no winners," he told Xi.

"That is why Belarus is actively coming up with peace proposals, and fully supports the initiative on international security you have put forward."

Russia is one of Belarus' closest allies, as Lukashenko allowed Russian troops to use his territory as a staging ground for their invasion just over a year ago. 

Beijing has not condemned Russia's war in Ukraine. Western leaders have recently warned China against supplying Russia with any weapons.  

More DW coverage

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine just over a year ago, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave a speech to the German parliament announcing that the German military would receive a special one-off fund worth €100 billion (€106 billion). Since then, Scholz's center-left coalition has been dogged by broadsides from the conservative opposition and critics who say Germany's troops have not benefited from this windfall. So what happened? 

The top US diplomat met with foreign ministers from the five former Soviet republics of Central Asia, who, unlike Belarus, have not rallied behind Russia in its war in Ukraine. Antony Blinken's visit came just days after the one-year anniversary of Moscow's invasion of its neighbor, which has tested Russian influence in the region. Read more here.

los/nm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)