Eurotopics.net

After announcing a Chinese peace initiative for Ukraine in Munich, the country's top diplomat Wang Yi has travelled to Moscow to present the plan there. It is due to be officially revealed in detail on 24 February, one year after the Russian invasion began. The Russian foreign ministry has said it appreciated China's efforts. Ukraine said that its own peace plan had priority, but that it was open to ideas. The press focuses on Beijing's motives.

In February 2018 the contract killing of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová shook Slovakia and led to massive protests, ushering in the fall of the government under populist Robert Fico, who was suspected of corruption, and a spirit of optimism. But five years on disillusionment has set in, commentators note.

Has Ukraine increased the depth of the Bystre Canal in the protected Danube Delta from 3.9 to 6.5 metres without permission to improve navigability for freight ships? The Ukraine Ministry of Infrastructure posted a Tweet to this effect, but the message was quickly deleted and replaced with the explanation that only maintenance work had been carried out. What really happened remains unclear, but there have been indignant reactions on the Romanian side of the Delta. Some commentators stress that now is not the time to challenge Ukraine.

In his state of the nation address on Tuesday, Vladimir Putin once again blamed the West for the ongoing war in Ukraine. He said that because the West has systematically undermined Russia's peace efforts the offensive in Ukraine will continue, and that defeating Russia either militarily or economically would be impossible.

After meetings in London and Paris, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the EU Parliament in Brussels on Thursday. Ukraine needs more arms and in particular fighter jets from the West to defend democracy in Ukraine and all Europe, he said. Europe's press is divided on the issue.