Diplomacy and arms in Ukraine, April 2023

What did the days leading up to 23 April 2023 reveal about the contest over Ukraine's war, on the battlefield and in diplomacy? Three developments, reported between 18 and 21 April, point to the answer.

Kyiv presses Brasília

On 18 April, the Ukrainian government invited Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to visit Ukraine. In the same breath, it criticised his approach to the Russian invasion. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, for his part, welcomed Lula's position on peace efforts. The exchange showed Kyiv trying to engage a prominent Global South leader while objecting to his stance, and Moscow openly praising it.

Putin in occupied territory

Also on 18 April, Russian president Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to Russian-occupied parts of Kherson and Luhansk oblasts, where he met military commanders in charge of operations. The visit took place in areas covered by Russia's declared annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts on 30 September 2022. Russia did not fully control any of those four oblasts when it made that declaration, and still did not.

Stingers from Latvia

On 21 April, Latvian Defence Minister Ināra Mūrniece announced that Latvia would send all of its FIM-92 Stinger missile systems to Ukraine. She spoke after a meeting with NATO allies at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The pledge showed continuing military support from a Baltic state, delivered through coordination among allies.

The shape of the picture

Taken together, the reports show a conflict fought on several tracks at once. Ukraine sought support abroad, including from governments whose positions it disputed. Russia's leader appeared in occupied territory and its foreign minister welcomed a foreign leader's peace stance. Ukraine's partners kept supplying weapons, including Latvia's entire Stinger stock. By 23 April 2023, none of these threads had resolved, and each continued to shape how the war was viewed internationally.