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Russian-backed military officials in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region have said that nine people were killed on Monday after Ukraine shelled the city of Alchevsk in the east of the region.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, civilians have been suffering from a wave of shelling from Russia, who have targeted key energy infrastructure as well as civilians.
As the war rages on, leaders have warned against creating a new Cold War by dividing up the world.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for every effort to be made to build new partnerships, rather than dividing the world into blocks.
Mr Scholz shared his views in an opinion piece for Foreign Affairs magazine which was published online on Monday.
He explained how he feels that the West must stand up for democratic values and protect open societies, "but we must also avoid the temptation to once again divide the world into blocs.”
"This means making every effort to build new partnerships, pragmatically and without ideological blinders," he added.
In his writings, Mr Scholz singled out China and Russia as two countries that pose a particular threat to a multipolar world, which he feels requires stronger European and transatlantic unity to overcome.
He explained how he feels that the transatlantic partnership remains vital to confronting challenges posed by Russia’s threat of potential assaults on allied territory.
Meanwhile, China’s turn toward isolation and its approach towards Taiwan require Europe and North America to form new and stronger partnerships with countries around the world, he said.
"Germans are intent on becoming the guarantor of European security that our allies expect us to be, a bridge builder within the European Union and an advocate for multilateral solutions to global problems," Mr Scholz went on.
The piece comes just days after Mr Scholz held a one-hour call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, in which he apparently urged a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine including a withdrawal of Russian troops.
A firefighter walks amid smoke while working in an office building heavily damaged in shelling in Donetsk
(REUTERS)
Mr Scholz “stressed Germany’s determination to support Ukraine in ensuring its defense capability against Russia’s aggression,” a statement from Scholz’s spokesperson revealed. Mr Scholz also “condemned Russian airstrikes against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine,” the statement said.
According to the spokesperson, the two men discussed the global food situation, both “highlighted the important role of the grain agreement recently extended under the aegis of the United Nations.”
They are said to have agreed “to stay in touch.”
