What did 24 March 2022 reveal about the diplomacy of the war?
A look back at a day of cautious talk about a ceasefire, claims about Belarusian troops and new sanctions on Minsk and Russian media figures.
What did 24 March 2022 show about where the war's diplomacy stood? The reports from that day, and the one before it, point to three pressures running at once: talks, the position of Belarus, and economic and information measures aimed at Moscow and its allies.
Talks and cautious optimism
Ukrainian Presidential Administration head Andriy Yermak said on 24 March 2022 that progress had been made in the ongoing talks between Russia and Ukraine. He expressed what he called "cautious optimism" that a ceasefire could be reached to end the war. The phrasing was hedged, and it stopped short of announcing any agreement.
The Belarus question
On the same day, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Belarusian troops were not willing to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine. This was a statement by Kyiv about the mood among Belarusian forces, and it came as Belarus was already being treated as a participant in the invasion. Australia announced sanctions against Belarusian President Oleksandr Lukashenko and his family for supporting the Russian invasion.
Sanctions and the information front
Australia's measures also covered 22 people it described as Russian propagandists and disinformation operatives, including managing editors of Russia Today, the Strategic Culture Foundation, InfoRos and NewsFront. The targeting of media and information figures alongside a head of state showed that penalties were being applied to the wider machinery supporting the war.
Gas payments in roubles
A day earlier, on 23 March 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that countries he deemed "unfriendly" pay for natural gas deliveries in roubles. That put an economic demand on the table just as sanctions were widening.
Taking stock
Taken together, the reports describe a day on which talk of a ceasefire coexisted with continued external pressure on Russia and Belarus. Yermak's optimism was explicitly cautious, and the other developments of those two days show that pressure was being maintained rather than eased.
