Wednesday, May 31, 2023
The United Nations has proposed that Kiev, Moscow and Ankara start preparatory work for the transit of Russian ammonia through Ukraine as it tries to salvage a deal allowing safe Black Sea grain exports, a source close to the talks said.
As the preparatory work starts, the UN wants parallel talks to be held on widening the Black Sea deal that was agreed last July to include more Ukrainian ports and other cargoes, said the source, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Russia agreed this month to a two-month extension of the deal but has said the initiative will cease unless an agreement aimed at overcoming obstacles to Russian grain and fertiliser exports is fulfilled.
The UN has handed "an official appeal to the leaders of Ukraine, Türkiye and Russia with a proposal for a specific mutually beneficial algorithm to radically improve" the work of the grain corridor, the source told Reuters.
"Ukraine and Türkiye have confirmed their readiness to work on the algorithm proposed by the Secretary General. At the same time, as of May 30, Russia has not given its consent, despite the presence of favourable positions in the algorithm."
Ukrainian officials have said that since mid-April, Russia has "unreasonably restricted" the work of the Black Sea grain deal.
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1748 GMT - White House announces new military aid package for Ukraine
The White House has announced the latest in a series of aid packages for Ukraine that includes up to $300 million worth of air defence systems, ammunition and other defence equipment.
The security assistance package represents the 39th drawdown of equipment from the Department of Defence inventories, the Pentagon said. The package includes Patriot air defence batteries, Stinger anti-aircraft systems, tank ammunition and a list of other equipment, according to the Pentagon.
In total, the US has committed more than $38.3 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration, including more than $37.6 billion since Russia’s offensive in February 2022.
1428 GMT - Russia blames UK for inciting Ukraine to commit ‘terrorist acts’
Russia's foreign minister has blamed the UK for not only inciting Ukraine to commit "terrorist acts," but also for being one of the main actors inciting the West to openly support Kiev.
"London is one of the main puppeteers, inciting the whole West to support Ukraine more and more openly and more seriously,” Sergey Lavrov said, adding that the Russian army is dealing with the consequences of the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine, which he claimed a "criminal policy."
It is a “lie” as the West supplies Ukraine with weapons while pretending not to support attacks against Russia, he said.
1251 GMT - Macron urges 'tangible' NATO security guarantees for Kiev
French President Emmanuel Macron has called on the West to offer Ukraine "tangible and credible" security guarantees as it battles Russia's offensive.
Stressing that Ukraine "is today protecting Europe", Macron said in Bratislava that it is in the West's interest that Kiev have security assurances from NATO.
"That is why I'm in favour, and this will be the subject of collective talks in the following weeks... to offer tangible and credible security guarantees to Ukraine," he added.
1227 GMT - Ukraine receives $1.25B from US through World Bank
Ukraine has received $1.25 billion from the US under the World Bank’s Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance (PEACE) instrument.
“The funds will be used to support the state budget, especially for social & humanitarian spending. Grateful to the US & the World Bank. We appreciate the help of our partners in the fight against the aggressor,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Twitter.
PEACE is a financing instrument for Ukraine providing international donors a way “to unite their efforts to provide fast, targeted and predictable support,” according to the World Bank.
The Ukrainian Finance Ministry said in a statement on May 8 that the country received $14.5 billion from international donors through the instrument.
1121 GMT - Russia claims it destroyed Ukraine's 'last warship'
Russia's defence ministry has said its forces had destroyed what it described as Ukraine's "last warship" two days ago in the port of Odessa in a missile strike.
"The last warship of the Ukrainian navy, the Yuriy Olefirenko, was destroyed at a warship mooring in the port of Odessa," Defence Ministry Spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said in a daily briefing on the conflict.
He said the vessel had been hit with "high-precision weapons" - a phrase he uses to mean missiles - on May 29, but gave no further details.
Oleh Chalyk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian navy, said he would not respond to any assertions made by Russia. The Ukrainian navy will not disclose any information about losses during the conflict, he added.
1018 GMT - Ukraine: EU bans on its grain help Putin
Ukraine has warned that bans on its grain exports imposed by some EU countries were helping Russian President Vladimir Putin divide Europe.
"Continuation of restrictions means putting additional weapons in Putin's hands against unity in Europe," the Ukrainian agriculture ministry said on Twitter, adding: "Current restrictions must be cancelled."
Several of Ukraine's neighbours, including staunch ally Poland, imposed temporary restrictions on Kiev's agricultural products last month.
European Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski on Tuesday called for restrictions on grain imports imposed by some EU states to be extended at least until the end of October. They are currently set to end on June 5.
0935 GMT - Russia evacuates children from border villages amid 'alarming' situation
Russia has begun evacuating hundreds of children from villages due to intensifying shelling in the border region of Belgorod, where the situation was deemed "alarming" by the Kremlin.
Russia has seen stepped-up attacks on its soil over a year into its Ukraine campaign, with an unprecedented incursion last week in the southern region of Belgorod and a drone attack on Moscow on Tuesday.
"We are starting today to evacuate children from the Shebekino and Graivoron districts," regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram, referring to the most affected border areas.
The governor said the first 300 children will be taken to Voronezh, a city around 250 kilometres further into Russia. A correspondent for state-run agency RIA Novosti near Voronezh said buses had arrived with around 150 people on board.
0926 GMT - Russia 'torturing' workers of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Ukraine's national nuclear energy provider has alleged that Russian forces are torturing its workers at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant.
“At the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the occupiers increased the pressure on workers and forced them to sign a contract with the Russians under torture,” Energoatom said in a statement.
“The occupiers are torturing the workers, they unceremoniously beat several of them, forcing them to agree to cooperate with the aggressor,” the statement added.
Russian authorities have not yet responded to the claims.
0720 GMT - Medvedev: UK officials helping Ukraine conflict are legitimate target
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has said Britain was Moscow's "eternal enemy" and that any British officials who facilitated the conflict in Ukraine could be considered legitimate military targets.
Medvedev, responding to British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly's remark that Ukraine had a right to project force beyond its own borders, said Britain's "goofy officials" should remember that Britain could be "qualified as being at war".
"The UK acts as Ukraine's ally providing it with military aid in the form of equipment and specialists, i.e., de facto is leading an undeclared war against Russia," Medvedev said on Twitter.
"That being the case, any of its public officials (either military, or civil, who facilitate the conflict) can be considered as a legitimate military target."
0554 GMT - Several dead in Ukraine shelling of Luhansk village
Five people have been killed and 19 injured as a result of Ukraine's shelling of the Karpaty village in the Luhansk region, the Moscow-backed local coordination centre said.
The centre said on the Telegram messaging service that Ukrainian forces had used HIMARS rocket launchers to attack a poultry farm in the village.
There was no immediate response from Ukraine, but Kiev almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia and on Russia-controlled territory in Ukraine.
Both sides deny targeting civilians in the 15-month long offensive that Russia launched in February 2022.
0437 GMT - Ukraine shells border town Shebekinofor third time in week: Russia
The shelling has injured four people, damaging buildings and setting vehicles on fire, the governor of the region said.
Two people were hospitalised as a result of the artillery strike on Shebekino, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging app.
The shelling smashed windows and damaged roofs of an eight-storey apartment building, four homes and a school, among others, he said.
Gladkov said on Monday that two industrial facilities in the town had been hit. On Saturday, he said he had come under artillery fire when trying to enter the town, which is only about 7 kilometres (4.5 miles) north of the border with Ukraine.
0229 GMT - Russia accuses Washington of encouraging Ukraine in its attacks
Washington is encouraging Kiev by publicly ignoring the drone attack that struck several districts of Moscow, Russia's envoy to the United States has said, after President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for the strikes.
The White House said it did not support attacks inside of Russia and that it was still gathering information on the incident, which Putin called an attempt to scare and provoke Moscow.
"What are these attempts to hide behind the phrase that they are 'gathering information'?" Anatoly Antonov, the ambassador, said in remarks published on the Telegram messaging channel. "This is an encouragement for Ukrainian terrorists."
0159 GMT - Fire at oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar likely caused by drone: governor
A fire that broke out at the Afipsky oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar region was likely caused by a drone, the region's governor has said.
The fire was soon extinguished and there were no casualties, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on the Telegram messaging app on Wednesday.
The Afipsky refinery lies not far from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk in Krasnodar.
2325 GMT - UN nuclear chief urges Russia, Ukraine to ban attacks at nuclear plant
IAEA Director-general Rafael Grossi has said avoiding a nuclear accident is possible if five principles are observed at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, where fighting on several occasions, most recently last week, disrupted critical power supplies, "the last line of defence against a nuclear accident".
Grossi "respectfully and solemnly" asked Ukraine and Russia to observe the principles, saying IAEA experts at Zaporizhzhia will start monitoring and he will publicly report on any violations.
The principles include banning attacks against or from the plant, banning the storage of heavy weapons or the presence of military personnel, ensuring the security of an uninterrupted off-site power supply to the plant, protecting "all structures, systems and components" essential to the plant’s operation and taking no action to undermine any of the principles.
2219 GMT - Ukraine working with BAE to set up weapons production facility
Ukraine is working with major British defence company BAE Systems to set up a Ukrainian base to both produce and repair weapons from tanks to artillery, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
Zelenskyy spoke after talks with senior officials from BAE, including Chief Executive Charles Woodburn.
"It is indeed a massive manufacturer of weaponry, the kind of weaponry that we need now and will continue to need," Zelenskyy said in his fresh video address.
"We are working on establishing a suitable base in Ukraine for production and repair. This encompasses a wide range of weaponry, from tanks to artillery," he added.
Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy said the two sides had agreed to start work on opening a BAE office in Ukraine.
For our live updates from Tuesday (May 30), click here.
