Ukraine and Russia have agreed a two-month extension to the wartime Black Sea Grain Initiative deal, which expires on Thursday, marking a rare example of cooperation between the two nations. The agreement enables Ukraine to ship grain across the Black Sea, subject to inspection off the coast of Istanbul, along a corridor past Russian naval vessels that have blockaded Ukraine's ports since the onset of Russia's full-scale invasion 15 months ago. The deal also serves President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey who acted as an intermediary, by averting a food price spike in the run-up to the country's presidential runoff.
The New York Post published an article on Wednesday suggesting that Hillary Clinton and "Clinton operatives" invented the investigation into Russian election interference. The article claimed that the entire investigation was based on disinformation in the "Steele dossier" compiled by former intelligence officer Christopher Steele, and that Clinton operatives invented the Russian collusion conspiracy and put it into the Steele dossier. The article was written by Jonathan Turley, an attorney who has become a vocal supporter of former US President Donald Trump’s claims of an unfair investigation. The claims made by Turley have been popular in right-wing circles, but have been refuted by the recent report of special counsel John Durham. In an attempt to counter the report, Turley incorrectly claims that the dossier was the origin of the Russia probe rather than based on credible intelligence sources, and that the Clinton campaign invented the conspiracy theory linking Trump to Russia. A detailed timeline of the events that preceded the investigation into Russia’s attempts to influence the 2016 US presidential election shows that the claims made by Turley are unfounded.
A Russian family has asked for permission to change their son's name from Putin back to Rasul. The family renamed the boy Putin in honour of the president when he was one-and-a-half years old, but in an unexpected move asked registry officials in the town of Aleksandrov, 90km north-east of Moscow, to restore his original name. No reason for the request to change the boy's name has been given. His grandfather is a strong supporter of Putin.
Ukraine's foreign minister has told a high-level Chinese envoy that Kyiv will not accept any proposals to end the ongoing war with Russia that could lead to Ukraine losing territory. Dmytro Kuleba also said that "just peace" could only be restored if "respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine" was observed. Li Hui, China's special representative for Eurasian affairs, was in Kyiv to promote Beijing-led negotiations to resolve the conflict and is now expected to visit Moscow to discuss a possible political solution to the conflict.
Myanmar's military, which has been accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity since toppling the country's democratic government, has imported more than $1bn of arms and other materials, according to a UN expert. In a report, Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, called for a global ban on arms transfers to the military, saying of the $1bn, arms transfers worth $406m had come from Russia and $267m from China.
Leaders of the G7 countries – the US, Japan, Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Canada – face several challenges as they gather in Hiroshima. The global economic outlook is unstable, while Russia continues its actions in Ukraine and China expands its economic and strategic growth. The G7 will need to address several issues, including enlisting middle countries such as those in Africa, and addressing China without creating undue confusion. Moreover, with concerns around nuclear proliferation and use re-emerging, the monitoring architecture of nuclear arsenals needs to be maintained to avoid future use of nuclear weapons. Finally, as global temperatures continue to rise and heatwaves become deadlier, coordinated responses and the regulation of cryptocurrency will become increasingly important.
Three Russian academics who have worked on hypersonic missile technology are facing accusations of "very serious" treason offences. The cases have raised concerns within the Russian scientific community. The accused academics are Anatoly Maslov, Alexander Shiplyuk and Valery Zvegintsev, who have all protested their innocence. Maslov and Shiplyuk were previously arrested in July and August 2018, respectively, but news of Zvegintsev's arrest has only recently emerged. The accusations suggest that "any article or report can lead to accusations of high treason", according to an open letter published on 4 February from their colleagues at the Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in Novosibirsk.
Since Mariupol in southern Ukraine fell to Russian control last year, steel-workers from the town have moved away to other towns; some found work in a central Ukraine steelworks in Kamianske, 168 miles away. Former Mariupol steelworkers, or the "Mariupol diaspora", connect over the loss suffered from their city and jobs. Some have saved their old work cards and hope one day to need them again. Others remember building holiday homes together when Russia invaded. A group of workers talk about one friend and former colleague who has disappeared. Managers say fewer than half the 10,500 workers at Azovstal are now accounted for. While keeping some semblance of community makes some workers feel stronger, for others it only serves to exacerbate their trauma. With there being no sign of Ukraine retaking the town, some of the steel-workers will contemplate nothing other than their current fate forwards.
Explosions were reported in central and southern Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv, on Thursday after air raid sirens sounded across the country. Missile attacks in central Vinnytsia and the death of one person in a strike on an industrial facility in Odesa were among other incidents reported. China's special envoy for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, has confirmed there is no remedy to the conflict and called for Kyiv and Moscow to engage in talks to end the war. Meanwhile, Joseph Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy chief, called for the amount allocated for military aid for Ukraine to be raised by $3.85bn.
The G7 will meet in Japan and there are increasing expectations that the group will tighten economic sanctions against Russia. Despite the reality that sanctions have affected Russia with a heavy toll, it is widely believed they have not succeeded in their geopolitical aims. The sanctions have instead driven Russia deeper into the embrace of emerging-market nations such as China, India and Turkey, providing leverage for Russian foreign policy and making a nonsense of western compliance efforts. There is even wider concern related to the potential that sanctions could collapse an already weak global economy. The EU has also recently announced that it was considering penalties for EU firms that help Russia evade western sanctions, such as providing financing, investing in sanctioned sectors, or sharing technologies that could aid the energy sector.
Accusations of collaboration with Russian troops have become a feature of everyday life across Ukraine. Six months on from the occupation, neighbours distrust neighbours in south Ukrainian city Kherson. According to the prosecutor general's website, more than 5,300 collaboration cases have been registered across the country. While farmers could face prosecution for registering their farms according to Russian rules under occupation just to keep their businesses going according to the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council lobby group. Kherson, along with some other parts of the country, has no functioning courts because of the conflict, slowing the process of bringing people to trial.
US Vice President Joe Biden has cancelled a scheduled trip to Australia following his attendance at the G7 summit in Japan. Biden has been required to return to Washington to deal with the debt-ceiling stand-off in Congress, an impediment caused by Republican opposition to aid Obama’s manoeuvrability within fiscal responsibility. This marks the latest casualty in the US’s frustrating attempts to refocus foreign policy towards Asia; Obama experienced a similar setback when his bid to turn US attention away from the Middle East towards the East was disrupted by the surge of ISIS and the civil war in Syria. It is believed that the breakdown in US foreign policy could lead to China becoming a dominant force in the Asia-Pacific region, and highlights the difficulty faced by President Biden in his ongoing attempts to build a counterweight to China’s economic dominance.
Robert Habeck, Germany's vice-chancellor and Green economy minister, has faced a sudden decline in popularity after sacking one of his closest aides over a scandal involving nepotism. This, along with a controversial new law to ban oil and gas heating systems by 2024, has led to criticism, while consumer groups have criticised the law's tight deadline. Meanwhile, party polling data indicates that the scandal could also be damaging the Green Party. A recent Forsa poll put the Greens on 15%, one point behind the far-right Alternative for Germany.
Recent satellite images reveal the devastating damage inflicted upon the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which has been a frontline city in the ongoing conflict with Russia for almost 10 months. Infrastructure, including apartments, schools, and stores, has been reduced to rubble, and vegetation has disappeared. The images also show signs of ongoing fighting and artillery shelling in the city. Bakhmut has become a symbol of the conflict in the region and Moscow has called it a stepping stone to other cities in the Donbas region.
On 13 May Russian officials reportedly froze the bank accounts of Finnish embassies and consulates in Russia. The Kremlin claims that this move is in response to the "unfriendly acts of the collective West", which Finland is included in, following Helsinki's decision to formally join NATO on 4 April. Meanwhile, Danish diplomatic accounts in Russia have also been affected. Many Russian embassies across the continent have reportedly experienced similar issues since their country's actions in Ukraine prompted funds to be confiscated and banks to freeze in response.
GAIL (India) has announced a 77.5% slump in its quarterly profit, reflecting the weakness in its petrochemicals segment. Despite its revenue from operations rising about 22% to INR 328.58bn, GAIL's petrochemicals segment saw a 46% drop in sales. Gail's natural gas marketing segment, which contributes 96% of the total revenue, however increased by 37%.
China says Ukraine envoy met with Zelenskyy during talks in Kyiv
The Toronto Star
23-05-18 09:13
China's special envoy Li Hui has met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss ways to resolve the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Li visited Kiev over two days and met with Ukraine's foreign minister to discuss a "stable and just peace based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine". Zelenskyy and Chinese leader Xi Jinping previously spoke over the phone. China has proposed its own peace plan in response to the 15-month-long conflict, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin must withdraw his forces. Ukraine has repeatedly emphasised that it will not entertain any proposal related to the loss or freezing of territorial conflict. Despite China's claim of positioning as a mediator, Beijing has often come across as siding with Moscow both politically and economically.
Russia and China have supplied the Myanmar military with $406m and $267m worth of military technology and related materials respectively since the start of the Myanmar coup in February 2021, according to a report by the UN Human Rights Council. The report by Special Rapporteur Tom Andrew found that Myanmar has purchased at least $1bn in “arms, dual-use goods, equipment, and raw materials to manufacture weapons” since the coup, with Singapore ($254m), India ($51m) and Thailand ($28m) also contributing to the trade. The report also outlines the role played by 28 Russian private and state-owned companies in providing fighter jets and missile systems to the Myanmar military, as well as the contribution of 41 Chinese and Hong Kong companies to modifying and repairing tanks and fighter jets used in civil conflict. At least 3,500 civilians have been killed since the military took over the country, with an estimated 22,000 political prisoners also being held.
Ukrainian military and Russia’s Wagner private army have reportedly retreated on the outskirts of Bakhmut, as the Ukrainian army advanced its biggest advance for six months. Ukrainian troops had advanced over a mile in some areas; soldiers said that Russian troops were pounding supply lines to try to halt the gains. Meanwhile, Wagner boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin reported that his forces inside Bakhmut continued to advance; however, he accused commanders of Russia’s regular forces of abandoning crucial ground, leaving his troops exposed. Reports of gains for Ukraine represent a significant change of momentum in the east, where Ukrainian forces had been on the defensive for much of the past six months having weathered a winter and spring offensive by Moscow that saw only slow gains.
Ukrainian forces have made significant territorial gains against runners fighters north and south of Bakhmut in what Ukrainian commanders are calling the “first success of offensive operations during the operation for the defence of Bakhmut.” While Ukrainian troops liberated 7.7 square miles from the enemy in the north and south of the suburbs of Bakhmut, Wagner Group mercenaries continued to push through the eastern city itself, claiming much of the last Ukrainian foothold in its western suburbs. Reports circulated about whether Ukraine’s anticipated counteroffensive had begun, which were denied by Ukrainian and Western officials. Ukraine would suffer too many casualties if it launched prematurely, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During the week, Zelenskyy was on a whirlwind tour of European capitals in which he garnered large new promises of weapons. France told Zelenskyy that it would provide dozens more capable of an AMX-10RC light tanks. Ukraine’s UK allies said it would supply Ukraine with long-range attack drones with a range of over 200 kilometres, as well as hundreds of additional air defence missiles. Germany also promised its biggest batch of weapons yet was priced at $3bn.
