More than a dozen United Sikhs volunteers from the US, Germany and the UK have set up a relief base camp in Medyka (Poland) close to the Ukrainian border….reports Asian Lite News
United Sikhs, the United Nations affiliated human rights and advocacy organisation, has started relief work and humanitarian aid in Ukraine for more than three weeks, serving the emergency needs of refugees escaping the war.
United Sikhs is the only organisation of the Sikhs that has reached ground zero in the war-torn Ukraine and its neighbouring country Poland serving the Ukrainian refugees, selflessly, ignoring the danger of war when two nations Russia and Ukraine are locked in a severe war, leading to huge loss to men, material and properties.
More than a dozen United Sikhs volunteers from the US, Germany and the UK have set up a relief base camp in Medyka (Poland) close to the Ukrainian border.
At least 1,00,000 refugees have been served by the United Sikhs’ humanitarian mission till date and the relief work is continuing.
Pic credits IANS
Its teams have been serving hot meals, sanitation kits, water, clothing, other goods of daily needs and even toys for the newborn.
A team of volunteers drove for 36 hours with a commercial van full of supplies from the UK to reach the base camp last week, delivering power generators, water pumps, blankets, quilts, sleeping bags, sanitary pads, tents, stoves and utensils, etc.
The organisation is also providing heated shelters at the Ukraine border, serving hot meals and rescuing families from Lviv.
United Sikhs is also collaborating with Polish Red Cross Polski Czerwony Krzy to provide medical assistance to the refugees escaping Ukraine.
Ukraine handed over 11 civilian Russian sailors, who were rescued from a sunken ship near Odessa to Russia in exchange for 19 Ukrainian civilian sailors…reports Asian Lite News
Ukraine and Russia have conducted the first prisoner swap since Moscow waged its war on Kiev on February 24, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said here
Ten Ukrainian prisoners-of-war held by the Russian military were released in exchange for 10 Russian soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces, Xinhua news agency quoted Vereshchuk as saying in a Facebook post.
Besides, Ukraine handed over 11 civilian Russian sailors, who were rescued from a sunken ship near Odessa to Russia in exchange for 19 Ukrainian civilian sailors, she added.
“Under terms of exchange, the rescue ship itself will also be returned to Ukraine and will be sent to the port in Turkey.”
Oksana Baulina, a journalist for The Insider, died under fire in Kiev while performing an editorial task, said official…reports Asian Lite News
Oksana Baulina, a Russian journalist reporting for investigative website The Insider, was killed during shelling in Kiev, according to media reports.
“Oksana Baulina, a journalist for The Insider, died under fire in Kiev while performing an editorial task. She was filming the destruction after Russian troops shelled the Podolsk district of the capital,” Ukrayinska Pravda quoted the website as saying in a statement on Wednesday night.
“Another civilian was also killed, and two more people who accompanied her were wounded and hospitalised,” the statement added.
The website went on to say that it “will continue to cover the war in Ukraine, including such Russian war crimes as indiscriminate shelling of residential areas which result in the deaths of civilians and journalists”.
According to the Ukrayinska Pravda report, Baulina had previously worked for the Anti-Corruption Foundation founded by Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny.
And now it's someone I've known for 16 years and worked with at several independent outlets. Oksana Baulina, a Russian journalist with phenomenal sense of moral clarity, killed by Russian rocket fire on a reporting mission in Kyiv today. I'm yet to process this. pic.twitter.com/eUPuMoUw54
Baulina was “forced to leave Russia after the organisation was added to the extremist list. She went to Ukraine as a correspondent, where she managed to make several reports from Lviv and Kiev”, the report said.
Since Russia’s war started on February 24, several journalists have died in the line of duty.
Video journalist Brent Reno was killed at a checkpoint near Irpin, journalist Viktor Dudar was killed during hostilities near Mykolayiv, and live cameraman Yevhen Sakun was killed in a missile attack in Kiev, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.
US journalist and filmmaker Brent Renaud was shot dead on March 13 he was filming in the town of Irpin outside.
Two days later, Fox News journalists – cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Oleksandra Kuvshinova, were killed when their vehicle was struck by incoming fire on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital.
Meanwhile, local journalists Victoria Roshchyna and Oleh Baturin were abducted by Russian forces, but have since been released.
We are heading toward a more divided and unstable world geo-politically and geo-economically. The existing global structures that in any case needed reform are breaking up. A new Cold War has begun, writes Kanwal Sibal
India, as well as others, should draw some hard lessons from the wide fall-out of the Ukraine crisis. One, it has proved that possession of a mighty nuclear arsenal neither earns you the desired respect nor does it guarantee security beyond a point. Russia has been humiliated over the years, its security has been threatened with the relentless expansion of NATO and dismissal of its protests. Nuclear weapons are clearly not a deterrence against economic warfare, real economic muscle is necessary for that. The lesson for India’s political and entrepreneurial class is to understand better our vulnerabilities and double down on “atmanirbharta”.
Two, the structures of the existing “international order” are breaking down further. The UN is again demonstrating its impotency to establish peace, which is not the same as countries scoring diplomatic points against each other in the UN Security Council or the General Assembly.
Three, the Europeans themselves were bemoaning the decline of multilateralism after the advent of Trump. Now the Europeans have joined the Americans to deliver a major blow to multilateralism by imposing unprecedented sanctions on Russia without declaring a war with little concern about their damaging effect on the rest of the world.
The structures of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) were already being undermined by the US under Trump. Now, with the US and the EU withdrawing Russia’s MFN status, international trading rules are being seriously breached for purely political reasons. The idea of expelling Russia from the WTO and the IMF or, in the case of the latter, not allowing it access to SDRs- whether that is feasible or not- shows the weakness of the West’s inherent commitment to multilateralism.
Four, much is made of the arguments about observing the rule of law and upholding international rules. Unilateral sanctions by powerful countries without UN approval are an arbitrary exercise of power and rule-setting by the strong for other countries to adhere to under the pain of punishment. These sanctions have been applied by the US and EU to Russian members of parliament for voting legally on issues of national interest, even personally against President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov, members of Russia’s National Security Council and Putin’s close entourage, as well as top Russian businessmen for the sin of being close to Putin.
The Russian Central Bank and major Russian banks have been sanctioned, with Russia expelled from the Swift system. Visa and Mastercard have quit Russia, as also US and UK oil majors. The US has banned the import of oil and gas from Russia. American and European airspace has been denied to Russian airlines. Boeing and Airbus will no longer service Russian owned aircraft. The property and funds held abroad by Russians have been confiscated without due process of law. The frenzy of sanctions includes the Russians, including those handicapped, from international sports. Russian music conductors have been fired from their positions from western orchestras for not condemning Putin for invading Ukraine. An economic and societal war has been declared on Russia. President Biden claimed in his State of the Union address that Russia’s foreign exchange reserves of $630 billion had been made “worthless”. It is not clear under what provisions of a rules based order or the rule of law these steps fall. The lesson here is that a whole ruling political, business and cultural class of a country can be treated as outlaws and subject to reprisals by the West if required.
Five, the lesson to learn is that the West controls the global financial system to the point that the ownership of whatever assets governments, private companies or individuals from other countries hold abroad can be seized arbitrarily depending on politics. The hegemony of the US $ has been powerfully demonstrated in Russia’s case. The G-7 is once again calling the shots, with the G-20 losing its salience in stabilising the world’s financial system. If China has been rightly criticised for weaponising global supply chains and critical raw materials and triggered moves to decoupling, on-shoring, resilient supply chains etc., the US and EU have gone much further in trying to comprehensively weaponise finance, trade, investment and technology. The blow to globalisation and interdependence has been deep.
One can therefore expect countries to develop alternative systems of international bank transfers and payment systems as well as defences against the hegemony of the US $ by trading more in their respective currencies.
Six, the West’s double standards have become even more glaring. The US and Europe react sharply when freedom of speech and expression are seen to be curbed in any country, including India, as we have seen in the case of temporary restrictions imposed on the internet and social media in J&K after the revision of Article 370 and in some other cases to curb the potential of violence. Now one sees that Russian TV and media outlets have been banned in Europe on the disputable ground that they purvey disinformation and fake news. This is a clear violation of freedom of expression and constitutes a form of censorship.
Seven, the Ukraine conflict shows the West’s ability to control narratives at the international level on issues in which they have stakes, and prevent any alternative narrative to develop. The West controls the flow of information internationally through its news agencies, the mainstream media, the social media and the internet. The techniques of information warfare have been developed as part of hybrid warfare and these have been exhibited in the case of the Ukrainian crisis where only one side of the story is being heard even in India where the media is carrying reports and visuals only from western sources which are highly negatively oriented against Russia. This is at variance with the balanced position of the government on the crisis and detracts from our larger national interest. The gap is wide between the position of the government on the crisis and how it looks at ties with Russia and the manner in which the media is projecting the conflict and Russia’s culpability.
Eight, the role of the US controlled social media in the propaganda battle against Russia should be a cause of concern. Meta is making an exception for calls to violence against Russians for its invasion of Ukraine. This is a dangerous precedent being set up, as an exception made once can be made again. As it is, concerns about hate-speech, the use of these platforms to promote violence and even terrorism is a real one, including for countries like India. Social media cannot be allowed to establish its own rules on content outside the jurisdictions of countries in which they operate. The need to regulate the working of the social media has become pressing.
Finally, we are heading toward a more divided and unstable world geo-politically and geo-economically. The existing global structures that in any case needed reform are breaking up. A new Cold War has begun. The crippling of Russian power as a result of the crisis which the West is aiming for will create a void that China will fill. Europe’s ambition to develop a degree of strategic autonomy has been quashed with NATO’s rejuvenation under American pressure and internal European divisions. The US is reaching out to China to persuade it not to support Russia on Ukraine and if it succeeds- for which China will extract a price- the stage would have been set for a G 2 world that China aspires for. This can impact on the Indo-Pacific concept and the Quad. India will now pursue an even more nimble-footed foreign policy to protect its interests in an increasingly challenging external environment.
(Kanwal Sibal is India’s former Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to Russia. Views expressed are personal) (The article was carried under a special arrangement with indianarrative.com)
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said Russia and Ukraine have achieved some progress on a number of issues during the new round of talks….reports Asian Lite News
Following a new round of negotiations between Moscow and Kiev amid the ongoing war between the two sides, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that his country is prepared to continue high-level trilateral negotiations with Ukraine mediated by Turkey.
“If such initiatives appear, we would only be happy to continue communicating in this format,” Xinhua news agency quoted Lavrov as saying at a press conference following his talks with Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Moscow.
He explained that Russia would only be interested in talks with Ukraine if these would lead to concrete results and solve existing problems.
According to Cavusoglu, Turkey is ready to host a potential meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine.
Lavrov met his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Turkey’s southern province of Antalya last week on the sidelines of an international forum.
This was the first high-level meeting between Moscow and Kiev since Russia launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said Russia and Ukraine have achieved some progress on a number of issues during the new round of talks.
“Some progress has been achieved on a number of positions, but not all. The positions of the parties are quite clear, we are moving slowly,” local media reported, citing Medinsky, who is also the head of Moscow’s delegation.
“The preservation and development of Ukraine’s neutral status, Ukraine’s demilitarisation along with a whole range of issues related to the size of the Ukrainian army are being discussed,” Medinsky said, adding that the Ukrainian side had proposed a Swedish or Austrian example of a neutral demilitarised state.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict continues on Thursday as relevant parties are working to broker a peaceful solution.
For South Africa’s Deputy President David Mabuza, diplomacy remains “the key tool” to end the Ukraine-Russia conflict and no amount of condemnation and side taking will resolve this problem.
South Africa continues to call for the parties to work together towards building trust and confidence by “intensifying existing peace mechanisms and dialogue” in order to achieve long-lasting solutions to the conflict, he said.
In another development, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday in Brussels that the organization is working on resetting its deterrence and defense in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“We face a new reality for our security. So we must reset our collective defence and deterrence for the longer term,” said Stoltenberg following the extraordinary meeting of NATO ministers of defence, of which Defence Ministers from Ukraine, Georgia, Finland and Sweden also participated.
The NATO’s military commanders have been tasked with developing options on land, in air, at sea, in the cyber space, and in space, according to Stoltenberg.
The process for the reset started with a political decision, which is now followed by a consultation of the military commanders, who should issue their advice within weeks, he said, adding that leaders of NATO member states will make a decision by June.
A top official of Ukraine said that a “special operation” to release Fedorov from Russian captivity had concluded….reports Asian Lite News
Ivan Fedorov, the Mayor of Melitopol who was allegedly abducted by Russian forces on March 11, has been released from captivity, according to Ukrainian government officials.
The development was confirmed on Wednesday by Kyrylo Tymoshenko, Deputy Head of the Office of the President, reports the Ukrayinska Pravda.
Tymoshenko said that a “special operation” to release Fedorov from Russian captivity had concluded.
Meanwhile, Andriy Yermak, Head of the Office of the President, said after Fedorov was released, he held talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
But Yermak did not provide any details of the conversation.
Citing media reports, the BBC report said that Fedorov was “exchanged for nine Russian prisoners”.
Speaking on Ukrainian television, a Press secretary to Zelensky said the Russian conscripts were between 18 and 19 years old.
Earlier this week, the military administration of Zaporizhzhya region, where Melitopol is located, had said that Fedorov was taken to the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, “where he is incriminated with terrorism”.
Following his abduction, there were widespread protests in condemnation.
A protest rally in Berdyansk on Monday demanding the release of Fedorov was obstructed by Russian forces.
“Armed Russian troops surrounded the square and pushed people away. The occupying forces accompanied their actions with warnings from loudspeakers to ban rallies,” the military administration.
Since Russia began its invasion on February 24, there has been several abductions.
On March 10, the Russian forces abducted Leyla Ibragimova, a deputy of the Zaporizhzhya Regional Council, in Melitopol. She was later released, reports the Ukrayinska Pravda.
During a protest in the city on March 12, activist Olga Haisumova was kidnapped amidst the demonstration.
Meanwhile, the fates of abducted Dniprorudne Mayor Yevhen Matveyev and Head of Melitopol District Council Serhiy Priyma remain unknown.
The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said that Russia’s goal in negotiations with Kiev has not changed…reports Asian Lite News
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are not easy, but there is some hope for a compromise, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
“I am guided by the assessments given by our negotiators. They state that the negotiations are not going well for obvious reasons,” Lavrov said in an interview with RBC, RT reported.
However, according to him, there is some hope for a compromise.
The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said that Russia’s goal in negotiations with Kiev has not changed – Moscow needs a peaceful, free, neutral and independent Ukraine, and an “agreement for generations” is needed.
“We need a peaceful, free, independent Ukraine, neutral – not a member of military blocs, not a member of NATO, a country that is our friend, neighbour, with which we are developing relations together, building our future, and which is not a springboard for military and economic attacks against our country,” he said.
Medinsky also explained why negotiations with Ukraine began to take place online.
“Three face-to-face rounds of negotiations took place in Belarus, but we looked – since the logistics are very difficult, in order to save time, effort and money, we decided to avoid flights to Belarus with overnight stays and limit ourselves to daily work from morning to evening in the video conference format,” he said.
Till now, the crisis has led to a global spike in international prices of crude oil, natural gas, coal, nickel, copper, aluminium, titanium and palladium…reports Rohit Vaid
The rise in the cost of commodities led by the Russia-Ukraine war is expected to trigger an inflationary trend in India. The blow is expected to push up prices of everything from food items to manufactured goods.
Besides, the trend might force the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee to raise key lending rates, thereby hitting the automobile and housing sectors.
India’s main inflation gauge — Consumer Price Index (CPI) — which denotes retail inflation, has crossed the RBI’s target range in January.
Till now, the crisis has led to a global spike in international prices of crude oil, natural gas, coal, nickel, copper, aluminium, titanium and palladium.
Moreover, India is a major importer of these precious as well as industrial commodities. Furthermore, high prices of Potash and natural gas will drive up fertiliser cost.
Similarly, expensive coal and nickel will push up steel as well as cement prices. But, the main concern for India is the impact high crude cost will have on domestic prices of petrol and diesel.
Lately, Brent-indexed crude oil price has skyrocketed. On Friday, it stood at $112 per barrel. Just a few days ago, Brent crude oil price rose to a 14-year high and crossed the $130 per barrel mark. The price neared the $140 per barrel mark but retreated thereafter.
India imports 85 per cent of its crude oil needs, and estimates range from Rs 15 to Rs 25 per litre rise in prices of transportation fuels. However, an excise duty cut may lessen the impact on prices of petrol and diesel to an extent, but not entirely.
Industry calculations cite that a 10 per cent rise in crude oil prices adds nearly about 10 basis points in CPI inflation. “Inflation risks could also become material, especially as pump prices are still subdued,” said Madhavi Arora, Lead Economist, Emkay Global Financial Services.
“Not accounting for a full pass through oil prices to retail pump prices, retail inflation in FY23 could be 120 basis points higher than that of the RBI’s modest estimate of 4.5 per cent.”
According to Suman Chowdhury, Chief Analytical Officer, Acute Ratings & Research: “There is a significant likelihood of CPI averaging 6 per cent in FY23 if crude oil prices remain above $100 per barrel over an extended period.”
In a diplomatic cable, the US relayed to its allies in Europe and Asia that China had conveyed a willingness to assist Russia, which has asked for military support….reports Asian Lite News
It is not yet clear whether China intends to provide Russia with that assistance, US officials familiar with the intelligence told CNN.
But during an intense, seven-hour meeting in Rome, a top aide to President Joe Biden warned his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping of “potential implications and consequences” for China should support for Russia be forthcoming, a senior administration official said.
The series of events underscored the growing concern among American officials at the budding partnership between Moscow and Beijing as Biden works to isolate and punish Russia for its aggression in Ukraine.
While officials have said the Chinese President was alarmed at what has taken place since Russia invaded, there is little to indicate China is prepared to cut off its support entirely, CNN reported.
(XinhuaLi XuerenIANS)
That leaves open a troubling possibility for American officials — that China may help prolong a bloody conflict that is increasingly killing civilians, while also cementing an authoritarian alliance in direct competition with the US, the report said.
In a diplomatic cable, the US relayed to its allies in Europe and Asia that China had conveyed a willingness to assist Russia, which has asked for military support.
The cable did not state definitively that assistance had been provided.
One official also said the US warned in the cable that China would likely deny it was willing to provide assistance.
The fourth round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine occurred earlier on Monday through video link….reports Asian Lite News
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are being held daily, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, also the head of the Russian delegation, has said.
“The negotiations with Ukraine are being held every day, seven days a week, in a format of video conferences,” Medinsky posted on his Telegram account on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported. Medinsky said video meetings save time and are more efficient.
“We are striving to do everything that is possible to fulfill the tasks set by (Russian President) Vladimir Putin for Russia’s peaceful future,” he wrote.
The fourth round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine occurred earlier on Monday through video link.
According to Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak, a member of the delegation, a technical pause has been taken in the negotiations until Tuesday.
