{"id":237242,"date":"2023-03-09T11:26:08","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T09:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/?p=237242"},"modified":"2023-03-09T11:26:11","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T09:26:11","slug":"day-378","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/day-378","title":{"rendered":"Day 378: U.N. Secretary-General visits Kyiv, anti-government protests erupt in Georgia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

U.N. Secretary-General visits Kyiv<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday, March 8, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was in Kyiv. On his third visit to Ukraine since the invasion, Guterres met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi for talks on extending the grain export deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.N. Secretary-General was in Ukraine on August 17-19. He met with Ukrainian President Zelenskyi and Turkish President Erdogan in Lviv, and visited the port of Odesa, authorized to export grain. On April 28, when he first visited Ukraine, Russia carried out a missile strike that hit an apartment building in Kyiv, killing Ukrainian journalist Vira Hyrych. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guterres said the U.N.\u2019s ultimate goal is to secure a just peace based on the U.N. Charter and international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe position of the United Nations, which I have consistently expressed, is crystal clear: Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine is a violation of the U.N. Charter and international law. The sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine must be upheld, within its internationally recognized borders. Our ultimate objective is equally clear: a just peace based on the U.N. Charter, international law and the recent General Assembly resolution marking one year since the start of the war,\u201d the U.N. Secretary-General told a news conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guterres said that until a just peace can be secured in Ukraine, the U.N. would continue working hard to ease the suffering for the Ukrainian people and mitigate global implications of war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He expressed solidarity with all victims of war \u2014 those who had lost their loved ones or had to flee the Russian onslaught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukraine\u2019s chief commander avoids Russia\u2019s trap in Bakhmut, the Economist says<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A Russian offensive on Bakhmut that began in late January was intended, in part, to force Ukraine to commit the reserves, thereby making it much harder to mount a counter-offensive. But the battle for the town has resulted in far greater Russian losses than Ukrainian ones. And more importantly (Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces) General Zaluzhnyi has avoided the obvious trap, an article by the Economist says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of throwing sizeable reserves into Bakhmut to save the town, which is of far greater symbolic than military value, he has sent troops abroad to train on the new equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

General Valery Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine\u2019s top officer, hopes that he will eventually have three new army corps at his disposal, each with six brigades, and each comprising more than 20,000 men, the Economist says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anti-government protests erupt in Georgia<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Massive protests erupted in Georgia after the country\u2019s parliament passed the first reading of a controversial draft law on \u201cforeign agents\u201d on March 7. The bill follows the model of a law in Russia, used as a means to censor media and crack down on civil society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft law \u201cOn Transparency of Foreign Influence\u201d would require non-governmental organizations and media receiving more than 20 per cent of their funding from overseas to register as \u201cforeign agents\u201d or face fines. The bill mirrors a Russian law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill was introduced to parliament by the People\u2019s Power faction that formed after Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Its members call Georgian NGOs \u201cU.S. agents\u201d and promote narratives of the Russian propaganda. The movement describes its goals as opposing \u201cthe propaganda of liberal ideology\u201d and \u201cthe West\u2019s will to drag Georgia into war\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft law gained support from the ruling Georgian Dream party that together with the People\u2019s Power has majority control in the parliament. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the evening of March 7, thousands of people gathered on Rustaveli Avenue and outside the parliament in Tbilisi to protest against the draconian draft law. The protesters were holding Georgian and EU flags. Some placards expressed solidarity with Ukraine and objected Russia\u2019s growing grip on Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rally in central Tbilisi deteriorated into clashes with police. Police used beatings with batons, rubber bullets, and water cannons against protesters. The crowd responded with petrol bombs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, threw her support behind protesters. In a video address on March 7, she said she would veto the law if it crossed her desk. She also criticized the bill. \u201cI stand next to you because you are the very people who represent free Georgia today. The Georgia which sees its future in Europe and will not let anyone take this future away from it,\u201d Zourabichvili said. \u201cThis future belongs to next generations and all of us. This is the future that past generations were preparing for and that we are preparing for right now,\u201d she said. Yet the parliamentary majority may overcome the president\u2019s veto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anticipated effects of EU oil embargo on russian market. Ukraine in Flames #363<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The European Union has introduced a ban on imports of russian oil and oil products and agreed on a price cap for petroleum products, stepping up its economic fight against the Kremlin. The idea is to hurt the oil industry, whose massive profits are being used by russia to bankroll its war in Ukraine. Watch Ukraine in flames #363 to find out will it really hurt russian war machine and what would be the consequences for russian oil market and economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guests:<\/p>\n\n\n\n