French President Emmanuel Macron said he believed there was a chance for peace in Ukraine, even as Russia warned the conflict there could escalate. “There is the prospect for peace, it will come around at some moment,” said Macron at a conference in Rome aimed at seeking ways to promote world peace. “And at a particular moment, given how things are evolving, and when the Ukrainian people and its leaders will have decided on the terms of this, a peace deal can be built up with the other side,” added Macron. France has repeatedly stressed the importance of keeping Western diplomatic channels to Moscow open since Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb 24. Russia’s defence minister discusses the situation in phone calls with his US, British, French and Turkish counterparts Russia fired missiles and drones into Ukrainian-held Mykolaiv on Sunday, and Moscow said the conflict was trending towards “uncontrolled escalation”.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed the Ukraine situation in separate phone conversations on Sunday with France’s Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu as well as with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and the defence ministers of Britain and Turkey. Without providing evidence, Shoigu said Ukraine could escalate with a “dirty bomb” — conventional explosives laced with radioactive material. Ukraine does not possess nuclear weapons, while Russia has said it could protect Russian territory with its nuclear arsenal. Kyiv’s energy operator on Sunday said scheduled power cuts have been introduced in the Ukrainian capital as Russia has repeatedly targeted the nation’s power network. More than one million Ukrainian households have lost electricity following recent Russian strikes, according to the Ukrainian presidency, with at least a third of the country’s power stations destroyed ahead of winter.

Moscow announced a new incursion on Sunday, saying it had destroyed a depot in central Ukraine that was storing over 100,000 tonnes of aviation fuel. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday evening denounced “vile strikes on critical objects” by Russia after fresh attacks on energy facilities and power outages were reported nationwide including in western Ukraine — far from the frontline. National energy operator Ukren¬ergo introduced “stabilisation shutdowns” in Kyiv on Sunday to “avoid accidents”, energy company DTEK said in a statement on its website.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP