March 14 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s future hinges on the outcome of battles in the east, including in and around Bakhmut, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, with both sides describing brutal fighting as Russia intensifies a winter campaign to capture the city.
FIGHTING
* The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia’s goals in Ukraine could only be achieved by military force at the moment, and that Kyiv needed to accept the “new realities” on the ground before a peaceful settlement could be reached.
* Russia does not recognise the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the TASS news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying when asked about reports the ICC was expected to seek its first arrest warrants against Russian individuals.
* Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, voted on Tuesday to approve an amendment that would punish those found guilty of discrediting “volunteer” groups fighting in Ukraine, extending a law that censors criticism of Russia’s armed forces.
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* Ukraine has accused two Russian soldiers of sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl and gang raping her mother at gunpoint in front of her father, as part of widespread allegations of abuse during the more than one-year-long invasion. Russia’s Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Russia has strongly denied its forces have committed war crimes.
* Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday ordered a top Russian arms manufacturer to double its production of high-precision rockets, the TASS news agency reported.
GRAIN AND GAS
* A Russian official said a landmark deal allowing Ukraine to export grain through its Black Sea ports has been extended for 60 days, though Kyiv said it would stick to a 120-day extension and Turkey said talks were ongoing.
* Informal dialogue between the United Nations and parties to the Black Sea grains deal continue, a U.N. spokesperson said on Tuesday, adding that the in-person talks with Russia had already ended.
* Russia said on Tuesday it had agreed out of “goodwill” to extend the Black Sea deal, but a key part of the agreement was still not being implemented to Moscow’s satisfaction.
* Russia has not been informed about the progress of an investigation into last year’s Nord Stream pipeline blasts and has handed in a report to prove this to the United Nations, a senior diplomat said.
DIPLOMACY
* The Mayor of Paris said it was unthinkable that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed to take part in the 2024 Summer Olympics under their national flags, adding she would do everything she could to prevent it.
* Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday that the likelihood that Finland joins the NATO military alliance before Sweden had increased, though Swedish membership was only a matter of time.
Compiled by Reuters editors
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