Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Russia warned Wednesday that "no progress" had been made towards meeting the conditions it has set for extending a Ukraine grain exports deal aimed at easing the global food crisis.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, which has been brokered by Türkiye and the UN, has been in place since last July and allows Ukrainian grains to be exported after they were blocked following the conflict with Russia.

Rather than a 120-day renewal, Russia insisted on just a 60-day extension over objections to obstacles to its own exports.

The exports via the Black Sea are vital for world food security.

But Moscow has repeatedly threatened to block the continuation of the agreement — up for its third renewal next month — if obstacles to a parallel agreement on unhindered Russian food and fertiliser exports are not removed.

"So far we don't see any progress," Gennady Gatilov, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva and a former deputy foreign minister, told reporters.

While these products are supposed to be exempt from the sanctions slapped on Russia by Kiev's allies, Moscow says the problems are related to secondary effects from sanctions imposed on shipping and insurance companies as well as banks.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has written a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin presenting a "way forward" on extending and improving the grain deal, his office said Monday, after he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York.

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1838 GMT — Ukraine's Zelenskyy upbeat after talk with China's Xi

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping had a “long and meaningful” phone call Wednesday, their first known contact since Russia attacked Ukraine over a year ago, and Beijing appointed an envoy to pursue a "political settlement".

Thehour-longcall came two months after Beijing, which has long been aligned with Russia, said it wanted to act as a mediator and a month after Xi visited Moscow. The call also coincided with indications that Ukraine is readying its forces for a spring counteroffensive.

Zelenskyy was upbeat about the conversation, which offered him the chance to insert his views into what had been a bilateral dialogue between Moscow and Beijing. Russian President Vladimir Putin is eager to keep Xi close as a counterweight to the United States, which has sided with Ukraine.

"I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations,” Zelenskyy said on Facebook.

1434 GMT — Ukraine launches tech cluster to boost military capability

The Ukrainian government is launching an initiative to streamline and promote innovation in the development of drones and other technologies that have been critical during Russia's war in Ukraine.

As part of the initiative dubbed BRAVE1, the government hopes to bring state, military, and private sector developers working on defence issues together into a tech cluster that would give Ukraine a battlefield advantage.

"Considering the enemy that is right next to us and its scale, we definitely need to develop the military tech so that we can defend ourselves," Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's minister of digital transformation, said.

1308 GMT — Ukraine repatriates 44 POWs from Russian custody - presidential adviser

Ukraine repatriated 44 prisoners of war from Russian custody, a senior Ukrainian presidential adviser said on Wednesday.

Andriy Yermak wrote on the Telegram messaging app that 42 were soldiers and two were civilians, and that some of those freed had injuries sustained during torture.

1223 GMT — Moscow says Kyiv undermining peace attempts after Zelensky-Xi call

Moscow on Wednesday accused Kyiv of undermining any peace attempts after the first call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

"The Ukrainian authorities and their Western minders have already shown their ability to mess up any peace initiatives," the Russian foreign ministry said, noting "the readiness of the Chinese side to make efforts to establish a negotiation process."

0928 GMT — Italy hosting bilateral conference on Ukraine reconstruction

Italy is hosting Ukrainian authorities for a bilateral conference on the reconstruction of the war-torn country.

Italy’s Foreign Ministry has said the aim of the event in Rome is to hear from Ukrainian authorities what they need in both the short and long term to build back what has been destroyed in the war with Russia, now over 14 months old.

It is a process “that needs to start without waiting for the end of the war,” said Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in a statement.

0927 GMT — Ukraine condemns Russian nuclear 'blackmail' on Chornobyl anniversary

Ukraine has marked the 37th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster by urging the world not to bow to Russian "blackmail" over nuclear facilities it has seized during the conflict.

Former workers at what was then known as the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) began commemorative events, holding an overnight vigil in the northern town of Slavuytch to remember victims of the world's worst nuclear accident on April 26, 1986.

An explosion at the plant in what was then Soviet Ukraine sent radioactive material across Europe. About 30 plant workers and firemen died in the immediate aftermath and many more people died later from radiation-related illnesses.

"Thirty-seven years ago, the Chornobyl NPP accident left a huge scar on the whole world," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukrainian officials have accused Moscow of exploiting safety concerns raised by its occupation of Ukrainian nuclear plants to try to blackmail Kiev and its allies into meeting Russian demands over its invasion. Russia denies the accusations.

0854 GMT — Poland will keep ban on Ukrainian grain until year-end, minister says

Poland will keep in place an embargo on the import of Ukrainian grains at least until the end of the year, Development Minister Waldemar Buda has said as the European Union works on a deal to end unilateral bans introduced by some countries.

Some central European countries, which became transit routes for Ukrainian grain that could not be exported through Black Sea ports because of Russia's offensive in February 2022, banned imports of some food products from Ukraine this month to protect local farmers.

"We will not repeal our measures until similar measures are introduced at the European level.

Time plays in our favour. We will keep Polish solutions until the situation stabilizes," Buda told the private Radio Zet.

0836 GMT — Russian opposition ex-mayor on trial over Ukraine criticism

Yevgeny Roizman, a prominent Kremlin critic and popular former mayor, has gone on trial over accusations of discrediting the Russian army over the Ukraine offensive.

Since sending troops to Ukraine, Russia has intensified its crackdown on domestic critics, with almost all of the Kremlin's major opponents in exile or behind bars and top rights groups shut down.

Roizman is Russia's last prominent opposition figure who is still in the country and not behind bars.

He faces up to five years in prison.

0812 GMT — Russian military aircraft intercepted over Baltic Sea

Germany and Britain have intercepted three Russian military reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea, the German air force has said.

"Reconnaissance flights intercepted. German and British Eurofighters were alerted to identify three military aircraft. The two SU-27 Flankers and a IL-20 from Russia were flying again without transponder signals in international airspace over the Baltic Sea," said the air force on Twitter.

As a NATO member, Germany participates in monitoring the air space over the Baltic states.

Security has been heightened for the Baltic states after Russia began its offensive last year.

2142 GMT — Putin signs decree taking over Russian assets of foreign firms

President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree establishing temporary control of the Russian assets of two foreign energy firms, making clear Moscow could take similar action against other companies if need be.

The decree — outlining possible retaliation if Russian assets abroad are seized — made clear Moscow had already taken action against Uniper SE's Russian division and the assets of Finland's Fortum Oyj.

The decree said Russia needed to take urgent measures to respond to unspecified actions from the United States and others it said were "unfriendly and contrary to international law".

The shares in the two entities have been placed in the temporary control of Rosimushchestvo, the federal government property agency, the decree said.

The CEO of state-owned bank Bank VTB PAO had on Monday said Russia should consider taking over and managing the assets of foreign companies such as Fortum, only returning them when sanctions are lifted.

Asset sales by investors from "unfriendly" countries — as Moscow terms those that imposed sanctions against Russia following its February 2022 offensive in Ukraine — require approval from a government commission and, in some cases, the president.

For our live updates from Tuesday (April 25), click here.