Tag: Russia-Ukraine War

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Putin: Ukraine Won’t Last A Week Without Western Aid

Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden said that he “does worry” US support for Ukraine might get derailed, reports Asian Lite News

As the West continues to provide aid for war-torn Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that Ukraine would not survive for more than “a week” without Western military and financial aid, reported Al Jazeera.

Putin made this claim on the same day when the European Union official warned that the bloc could not replace the funding gap if the US’s support dries up for Kyiv.

Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden said that he “does worry” US support for Ukraine might get derailed.

Putin while speaking at the meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, said that Ukraine was being propped up “thanks to multi-billion donations that come each month”.

“If one just stops, it will all die in a week,” Putin said.

“The same applies to the defence system. Just imagine the aid stops tomorrow. It will live for only a week when they run out of ammo,” he added.

Additionally, Putin further noted that Ukraine had lost over 90,000 troops since Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russian forces till date.

Moreover, while addressing a meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) in Spain on Thursday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that the EU could not replace the US as Kyiv’s primary donor.

At a meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) in Spain on Thursday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the EU could not replace the US as Kyiv’s primary donor.

“Can Europe fill the gap left by the US? Well, certainly Europe cannot replace the US,” Borrell said.

War in Ukraine. (Photo: Instagram)

Moreover, the EU and the US, which includes most NATO members are crucial in Ukraine’s fight against Russia.

Over this period of time, the EU and its member states have promised over USD 100 billion of aid to Ukraine, including financing weapon deliveries.

Meanwhile, Washington has committed USD 43 billion in military assistance, whereas, Congress has approved USD 113 billion, including humanitarian aid.

However, following the weekend deal struck with opposition Republicans to avert the US government shutdown, the new US funding for Ukraine has been at a standstill.

Following the US House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to oust Republican Kevin McCarthy as Speaker, it has made the Ukraine support even more uncertain.

Hours after the short-term spending bill was passed to avoid a government shutdown, US President Joe Biden assured that Washington will “not walk away” from supporting Ukraine, CNN reported.

“I want to assure our American allies and the American people and the people of Ukraine that you can count on our support. We will not walk away,” CNN quoted Biden as saying.

Moreover, some of the hardliners also want US aid to Ukraine to cease, according to Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking to the meeting in Spain of European leaders on Thursday expressed concerns about Washington’s “political storms” but noted that he was confident that he still had US bipartisan backing.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron reassured Zelenskyy of further support and pledged “tireless” support for Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron reinforced that message in a meeting with Zelenskyy, pledging “tireless” support for Ukraine. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Ongoing War Costs Ukraine’s Infrastructure $151.2 Billion

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US to Provide Ukraine With ‘Long-Range Missiles’

It is unclear when the Army Tactical Missile System known as ATACMS will be delivered, nor is it certain when a formal announcement will be made.

US President Joe Biden has told his Ukrainian counterpart that the Washington will send Kiev a type of long-range missile capable of striking inside Russia, local media reported.

According to NBC News, it is unclear when the Army Tactical Missile System known as ATACMS will be delivered, nor is it certain when a formal announcement will be made.

The report cited three US officials and a congressional official familiar with the discussions. They were not authorized to disclose the information publicly.

Ukraine has long asked for ATACMS, from the US to boost its fighting forces in the ongoing conflict with Russia, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Biden administration had feared that Ukrainian troops would hit targets inside Russia using the long-range missiles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Washington on Thursday for a meeting with Biden at the White House.

Biden told reporters after the meeting that “the first US Abrams tanks” will arrive in Ukraine “next week.”

ALSO READ: Biden announces $325 mn military aid for Ukraine

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War Puts Ukraine’s Historical Sites in Danger

The historical sites in Kiev and Lviv have been placed on Unesco’s List of World Heritage in Danger.

The Unesco has said that historical sites in the Ukrainian capital Kiev and the city of Lviv are in danger of destruction due to Russia’s ongoing war.

According to UN cultural body, the sites include the iconic Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, the medieval buildings of the city’s Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery site and the historic centre in Lviv, the BBC reported.

These sites have been placed on Unesco’s List of World Heritage in Danger.

In a statement, the unesco said its World Heritage Committee had concluded that “optimal conditions are no longer met to fully guarantee the protection of the Outstanding Universal Value of the property and that it is threatened by potential danger due to the war”.

“Faced with the risk of direct attack, these sites are also vulnerable to the shockwaves caused by the bombing of the two cities.”

Lviv’s historic old town was founded in the Middle Ages and has maintained much of its architectural and cultural heritage as an administrative, religious and commercial centre from the 13th to the 20th centuries, reports the BBC.

It was added to the World Heritage List in 1998.

The Saint Sophia Cathedral, meanwhile, was built in the 11th century and was designed to rival the Hagia Sophia in Turkey, which was then part of Constantinople.

It is one of the few surviving buildings from that age.

Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, otherwise known as Kiev’s Monastery of the Caves, was founded at around the same time as the cathedral.

It is the oldest monastic complex of the Rus people, who lived in eastern Europe during the Middle Ages, and became a prominent spiritual and cultural centre.

The latest additions to the danger list come after the Ukrainian port city of Odesa was added in January.

ALSO READ: ‘Ukraine Progressing Steadily in Counter-Offensive’

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Finland Bans Entry of Russia-Registered Passenger Cars

With this move, Finland complies with the guidelines of the European Commission issued on September 8.

As of midnight, Finland will close its borders to passenger cars registered in Russia, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press statement.

“In the future, only EU citizens permanently residing in Russia or their family members, diplomats or equivalent individuals, or people travelling for humanitarian reasons, can enter Finland with a passenger car registered in Russia,” the statement said on Friday.

With this move, Finland complies with the guidelines of the European Commission issued on September 8, prohibiting the entry of passenger cars registered in Russia into the European Union, Xinhua news agency reported.

The decision aims to prevent Russian citizens from circumventing sanctions imposed on the country, the Ministry said.

Cars that are already in Finland and have Russian license plates must leave the country by March 16, 2024, the Ministry added.

The move follows similar decisions made by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania earlier this week to bar the entry of vehicles registered in Russia.

ALSO READ: Russia expels two US diplomats, Washington vows to respond

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Russia bans dozens of UK journalists and politicians

People on the sanctions list include journalists from the BBC, the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph newspapers, as well as prominent politicians like Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, Minister of State for Defence Annabel Goldie and International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan, reports Asian Lite News

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that it has banned 54 British nationals, including journalists and politicians, from entering the country due to their alleged involvement in “propaganda support of the activities of the (Ukrainian) Zelensky regime” and of being “Russophobic”.

“We would like to emphasise again that any efforts by London to further spin the anti-Russian sanctions flywheel will inevitably receive a decisive response from our side,” CNN quoted the Ministry as saying in a statement late Friday.

“Work on expanding the Russian ‘stop list’ in response to the actions of the British authorities will continue,” it added.

People on the sanctions list include journalists from the BBC, the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph newspapers, as well as prominent politicians like Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, Minister of State for Defence Annabel Goldie and International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan.

In its statement, the Ministry said Khan featured on the list due to his involvement “in issuing a warrant for the arrest of the Russian leadership”.

In March this year, the International Criminal Court had issued the arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting children from Ukraine, which Moscow denies, the BBC reported.

With regards to banning Frazer, the Russian Foreign Ministry claimed that she was “actively lobbying for the international sports isolation of Russia.”

Lucy Frazer, UK’s Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

Earlier this year, Frazer said in a social media post that she asked sponsors of the Olympic Games “to join 35 like-minded nations and press the IOC for a continued ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes competing in international sporting competitions”, adding that “we must continue to ensure that Russia and Belarus cannot use sport for their propaganda purposes”, reports CNN.

Meanwhile, the Ministry accused Goldie of being “responsible for the supply of weapons to Ukraine, including depleted uranium shells”.

Russia has already barred a number of British journalists and defence figures as well as hundreds of elected MPs.

In June last year, the BBC’s Clive Myrie and Orla Guerin were among journalists who have reported from Ukraine to be banned.

BBC director general Tim Davie was also on the list.

The UK is among Western countries to have sanctioned Russia in response to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

These include a ban on the import of goods from Russia such as diamonds, oil and gas.

Earlier this month, the British government announced what it described as the “largest ever UK action” targeting Russia’s access to foreign military supplies, the BBC reported.

More than 1,000 Russian businesses and individuals have been sanctioned by the US, EU, UK and other countries.

ALSO READ: Russia-Ukraine conflict core agenda of upcoming G20 summit, says US

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Indian NSA in Jeddah for Ukraine peace talks

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has arrived in Jeddah to participate in a summit of national security advisers and other officials being hosted Saudi Arabia on Saturday to discuss the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Doval was welcomed at the Jeddah Airport by Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Suhel Khan and Consul General Mohammed Shahid Alam.

“Shri Ajit Doval, NSA arrived in Jeddah to take part in National Security Advisors’ meeting on Ukraine. He was welcomed at Jeddah Airport by Ambassador Dr Suhel Khan and Consul General Mohd Shahid Alam,” the Indian Embassy in Riyadh said on Twitter.

The meeting is being organised in the coastal city of Jeddah to discuss Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plan for peace amid the ongoing conflict with Russia.

The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday confirmed India’s participation in the summit.

“India will participate in this event and our participation is in consonance with our long-standing position that dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.

“Yes, India has been invited to a meeting being hosted by Saudi Arabia on Ukraine in Jeddah,” Bagchi said while replying to a question at a press briefing of the Ministry of External Affairs.

Russia’s state-run Tass news agency reported Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov as saying: “Russia will keep an eye on this meeting” but would need “to fully understand what goals are being set.”

The Wall Street Journal, on July 29 first reported on the summit citing “diplomats involved in the discussion”, and said the talks would take place on August 5 and 6, in the city of Jeddah, with some 30 countries attending.

WSJ also said that Ukrainian and Western officials are hopeful that the efforts could conclude in a peace summit later this year where global leaders would sign up to shared principles for resolving the war.

For the Jeddah summit, the 30 invitees include Chile, Egypt, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Zambia, according to WSJ.

Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said on Sunday that officials from several countries would take part in the Saudi Arabian summit but did not say when or in which city the meeting will be held, reported Al Jazeera.

Yermak wrote on Telegram, that discussions will take place on the Ukrainian Peace Formula, which “contains 10 fundamental points, the implementation of which will not only ensure peace for Ukraine, but also create mechanisms to counter future conflicts in the world”.

“We are deeply convinced that the Ukrainian peace plan should be taken as a basis because the war is taking place on our land,” Al Jazeera quoted Yermak as saying.

Regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India has always maintained that the conflict must be resolved by dialogue and diplomacy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also said, “India is ready to do whatever it can for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.”

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War which began in 2014. The invasion has killed tens of thousands on both sides. Russian forces have been accused of mass civilian casualties and of torturing captured Ukrainian soldiers. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Jeddah talks: Ukraine, allies push peace plan

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IAEA finds no explosives on rooftops of Zaporizhzhia

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant,(twitter)

IAEA chief said the expert team would continue its requests to visit the roofs of the other four reactor units at the facility.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that its experts had found no mines or explosives on the rooftops of two reactor units and turbine halls at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi in a statement on Friday said that “following repeated requests”, the agency’s expert team was given “unimpeded access” on Thursday afternoon to the rooftops of Unit 3 and Unit 4 reactor buildings at the Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine and “could also clearly view the rooftops of the turbine halls”.

Grossi said the expert team would continue its requests to visit the roofs of the other four reactor units at the facility.

On July 23, the IAEA experts stationed at the Zaporizhzhia plant spotted “directional anti-personnel mines on the periphery of the site”.

The IAEA chief said on Friday that experts confirmed “the mines first observed on July 23 were still in place” during an inspection on Aug. 1, but “no new mines or explosives were observed during any walk-downs over the past week”.

Grossi stressed the importance of the IAEA experts being granted timely access to all areas of the Zaporizhzhia plant, saying that “timely, independent and objective reporting of facts on the ground is crucial to continue the IAEA’s efforts to support nuclear safety and security”.

ALSO READ: Jeddah talks: Ukraine, allies push peace plan

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Tensions rise as Russia reacts to Pak-Ukraine presser incident

The Russian Embassy in Pakistan has asked the Pakistan Foreign Ministry to provide clarity on the incident, reports Asian Lite News

The Russian Federation has expressed its serious dismay after Russian journalist Ruslan Bekniyazov was expelled minutes before the joint press briefing of Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his visiting Ukrainian Counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, DND News Agency reported.

The matter pertains to the Senior Correspondent of the Russian ITAR-TASS News Agency in Islamabad, Ruslan Bekniyazov being forced out of the press room while he was waiting along with other Foreign Affairs Correspondents before the Joint Press Conference of the Pakistani and Ukrainian foreign ministers at the Ministry of Foreign of Affairs in Islamabad on Thursday. “It is inadmissible to violate reporters’ rights to access information,” the Russian Embassy in Pakistan said on Twitter.

It further said that “it stands in solidarity with the Russian journalist Ruslan Bekniyazov” and the Embassy has requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad to provide clarity on the incident.

Notably, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was on a bilateral visit to Pakistan from July 20-21.

DND News Agency stated citing a report by ‘Pakistan Daily’ that a day before the mentioned joint press stakeout, the Pakistani Foreign Office Press Wing collected and registered the names of Foreign Office Correspondents and Ruslan Bekniyazov’s name was also enlisted to cover this media briefing a day ago by Pakistani Officials.

However, when the journalists in the press room acknowledged the absence of Bekniyazov and asked the spokesman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch about the reason, she was totally “unaware” of the matter, DND News Agency reported. (ANI)

ALSO READ: New US sanctions target Russian access to battlefield supplies

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Yoon makes surprise visit to Ukraine in show of support

Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee arrived in Ukraine following a three-day official visit to Poland, reports Asian Lite News

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Saturday, sending a strong signal of support for the war-torn nation, his office said.

Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee arrived in Ukraine following a three-day official visit to Poland, according to senior presidential secretary for press affairs Kim Eun-hye.

He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later in the day to discuss areas where South Korea can provide additional aid, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Earlier Saturday, Yoon visited the site of mass killings in Bucha, near Kyiv, before visiting Irpin, a civilian residential area that has been subject to large-scale missile attacks, the press secretary said.

He was also scheduled to lay a wreath at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine in Kyiv.

Further details are yet to be disclosed.

Yoon has shown strong support for Ukraine in line with his campaign for freedom, human rights and the rule of law in solidarity with like-minded nations.

South Korea has provided humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in its protracted war with Russia but denied the country’s requests for lethal weapons.

This will be the second Yoon-Zelensky meeting after one held on the sidelines of a G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in May.

At the time, Yoon promised additional non-lethal aid, including demining equipment and ambulances.

Yoon’s visit to Ukraine came at the end of a two-leg trip that earlier took him to Lithuania for the NATO Summit and then to Poland for an official visit.

ALSO READ: Turkey preparing to host Putin in August

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Turkey preparing to host Putin in August

MOSCOW, March 5, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Moscow, Russia, on March 5, 2020. Russia and Turkey agreed Thursday on a ceasefire in the de-escalation zone in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan which lasted for about six hours. (Sputnik/Handout via Xinhua/IANS)

One of the key issues expected on the agenda is whether the Black Sea Grain Initiative will be prolonged, reports Asian Lite News

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan he is ready to host his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Ankara next month for talks on several issues.

“We are preparing to host Putin in August,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul.

According to Erdogan, one of the key issues expected on the agenda of the two leaders’ talks is whether the Black Sea Grain Initiative will be prolonged, reports Xinhua news agency.

The deal, brokered by Turkey and the UN that allows Ukraine to export grain and other agricultural products from its Black Sea ports, will expire on July 17.

Erdogan had called for extending the deal last week, stressing that poor African countries in particular are in desperate need of grain shipments from Ukraine.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative was launched in July 2022 to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships with food and fertilizer exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

ALSO READ: Pentagon to deploy 3000 reserve troops in Europe