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Live blog: Blinken deplores Russia 'step in wrong direction' on nuclear ban
Russia-Ukraine conflict enters its 617th day.
Live blog: Blinken deplores Russia 'step in wrong direction' on nuclear ban
The United States as well as China, unlike Russia, have never ratified the treaty, a key obstacle for it coming into force. / Photo: AFP
November 2, 2023

Thursday, November 2, 2023

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has criticised Russia for leaving the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and called on Moscow to commit not to test.

"Unfortunately, it represents a significant step in the wrong direction, taking us further from, not closer to, entry into force" of the treaty, Blinken said in a statement.

"This continues Moscow's disturbing and misguided effort to heighten nuclear risks and raise tensions as it pursues its illegal war against Ukraine," he said.

"Russian officials say Russia's planned move to withdraw its ratification does not mean that it will resume testing, and we urge Moscow to hold to those statements."

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1538 GMT — Italy's premier acknowledges 'fatigue' over Ukraine war in call with Russian pranksters

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office has expressed "regret" that she fell prey to a prank call that induced her to acknowledge "fatigue" over the war in Ukraine.

Meloni, believing she was speaking with officials of the African Union, told a pair of Russian pranksters that "there is a lot of fatigue, I have to say the truth, from all the sides. We are near the moment in which everybody understands that we need a way out."

The problem is to find a way out which can be acceptable for both, without destroying the international law.

- Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni

1529 GMT — Russia jails two more captive Ukrainian soldiers

Russia has sentenced two more Ukrainian soldiers who fought in the city of Mariupol to jail, as it continued to put dozens of captive soldiers on trial.

Thousands of Ukrainian fighters were taken prisoner after Russia seized control of Mariupol last May, some of whom were sent to Russia or tried by Moscow-backed courts in occupied east Ukraine.

Ukrainian soldiers Roman Andrienko and Volodymyr Gorbatyuk were found guilty of shooting at a car carrying civilians in Mariupol, killing one man, Moscow's Investigative Committee said.

1447GMT — US House speaker Johnson says Ukraine aid next on agenda

Republican US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson has said that a bill pairing Ukraine aid with border security "will come next" following the body's vote on a standalone Israel aid measure.

1430 GMT — US sanctions more foreign firms in a bid to choke off Russia's supplies for its war in Ukraine

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the US has imposed a new round of sanctions targeting Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions, imposed by the Treasury Department, target third-party firms and people alleged to assist Moscow in procuring equipment needed on the battlefield, including suppliers and shippers.

1444GMT — Kiev names Nestle 'sponsor of war' over Russia operations

Kiev has named Swiss food giant Nestle as a "sponsor of war" over the Kit Kat-maker's continued operations in Russia.

Hundreds of Western firms quit the Russian market following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February last year, and Kiev has not shied away from publicly criticising those that have remained.

"Despite Russian aggression, Nestle continues to operate in Russia, supply goods to the aggressor and expand its Russian production base," Ukraine's national anti-corruption agency said Thursday.

This is the basis for the company being entered into the list of international sponsors of war.

- Ukraine's national anti-corruption agency

1243 GMT — Ukraine 'optimistic' on opening EU accession talks: FM

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said Kiev was confident about its quest to open EU membership talks this year, touting reforms it made even in the face of the Russian invasion.

Speaking ahead of a conference on Europe in Berlin, Kuleba told reporters Ukraine was on track to fulfill its obligations to open negotiations on accession.

"We are optimistic. We did a lot of reforms and we passed legislation necessary to meet, to implement the recommendations," he said.

"So we are looking forward to the presentation of this report and I have reasons to believe that it will pave the way to the decision of the European Council on opening accession talks with Ukraine."

1008 GMT — Kremlin denies ‘stalemate’ in Russia-Ukraine conflict

Russia has denied a claim from Kiev's most senior military official that the nearly two-year conflict in Ukraine had reached a deadlock.

"No, it has not reached a stalemate," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"Russia is steadily carrying out the special military operation. All the goals that were set should be fulfilled," he added.

Peskov was responding to an interview in British media with Ukraine's General Valery Zaluzhny, who said the two sides had reached an impasse along the sprawling frontline.

"Just like in the First World War, we have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate," he told the Economist, adding that: "There will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough."

0820 GMT — Ukraine says Russia regroups for new attacks at besieged Avdiivka

Russian forces are trying to regroup and recover their losses near the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka before trying to press on with attacks to try to encircle the besieged settlement, Ukraine's military said.

The enemy continues to try to encircle Avdiivka, but now not so actively - the enemy is trying to regroup and recover losses in order to attack further.

- Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesman for Ukraine's Tavria military command

0534 — Split US Congress quarrels over new aid to Israel and Ukraine

President Joe Biden wants Congress to quickly pass billions of dollars in new aid for both Israel and Ukraine, but the Republican-controlled lower chamber is set to consider a bill that puts Kiev on the back burner.

Debate over the funding request is beginning in earnest after a weeks-long delay while House Republicans struggled to name a new speaker, and it is unclear what, if anything, can get through both chambers.

Biden's pledge of undisrupted financial support, reiterated during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Washington in September, looks to be in jeopardy.

0532 GMT — North Korea likely sent ammo, missiles to Russia: Seoul

North Korea has likely supplied several types of missiles to Russia to support its war in Ukraine, along with its widely reported shipments of ammunition and shells, South Korea’s military has said.

The assessment was released a day after South Korea’s spy service told lawmakers that North Korea recently provided more than a million artillery shells to Russia amid deepening military cooperation between the two countries, both key US adversaries.

In a background briefing for local journalists, South Korea’s military said that North Korea is suspected of sending an unspecified number of short-range ballistic missiles, anti-tank missiles and portable anti-air missiles to Russia, in addition to rifles, rocket launchers, mortars and shells.

The contents of the briefing were shared with The Associated Press.

0455 GMT — Russia downs Ukrainian drones over Crimea

Russian air defences downed five Ukrainian drones over Crimea and one over the Black Sea early on Thursday, the TASS news agency cited Russia's defence ministry as saying.

0324 GMT — Wheat rises as Russia accused of interfering with Ukrainian Black Sea corridor

Chicago wheat futures rose after Russia allegedly dropped explosives in a Black Sea grain shipping route, while traders looked ahead to harvests hit by dry weather in Argentina and Australia that are likely to tighten supply over time.

Soybean prices also rose, while corn dipped.

Ukraine said Russian warplanes dropped "explosive objects" into the likely paths of civilian vessels in the Black Sea three times in the last 24 hours, but its fledgling shipping corridor was still operating.

0109 GMT — Deadly Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine damage central Kherson — Governor

A Russian attack on Kherson in eastern Ukraine killed one person and caused serious damage in the city's centre, the region's governor has said, and a Russian drone strike killed another civilian in the frequently targeted city of Nikopol.

The attack on Kherson, which Russian forces seized early in the war but then abandoned a year ago, also wounded two people. Despite the withdrawal, Russian attacks from the other side of the Dnieper River persist.

“Again an apocalyptic scene," regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said on the Telegram messaging app. “Broken glass, torn window frames, ruined homes. People with trembling voices telling about what they have been through."

In Nikopol, which is on the opposite bank of the Dniper from the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, four people were wounded in the drone strike along with the woman who was killed, according to regional Gov. Serhii Lysak.

For our live updates from Wednesday (November 1), click here

SOURCE:TRTWorld and agencies
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