Kremlin: relations with Europe at lowest possible level
Relations with European countries are at their “lowest possible level”, the Kremlin has said, adding that each wave of expulsions of Russian diplomats was reducing the space for diplomacy.
Countries including Moldova, Sweden and Norway have all expelled Russian diplomats in recent days. The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said all such measures would be responded to in kind.
Key events
In the news conference Stoltenberg also welcomed the telephone conversation between Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Chinese president Xi Jinping on Wednesday– their first since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Beijing says it is neutral in the conflict and Xi has never condemned the Russian invasion. It has been thought he is trying to maximise potential political benefits from the conflict.
The Chinese leader, who made a friendly visit to Moscow last month, has come under increased pressure from western nations to step in and mediate. He said he will send a peace delegation to Kyiv.
“Maybe this war will end at the negotiating table,” Stoltenberg said.
But he stressed that “it is for Ukraine to decide what are the conditions for talks and what format any talks should have”.
In any case, Stoltenberg said, “any possibility for meaningful negotiations requires that Ukraine has the necessary military strength to send a very clear message to president Putin that he will not win on the battlefield”.
Following earlier comments by Nato’s Jens Stoltenberg that nearly all promised combat vehicles have been delivered to Ukraine, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has details on how much has been sent.
In a news conference, Stoltenberg said the total was made up of 1,550 armoured vehicles and 230 tanks. This equates to nine new Ukrainian brigades.
“This will put Ukraine in a strong position to continue to retake occupied territory,” the secretary general said.
Nato members have provided anti-aircraft systems and artillery while Poland and the Czech Republic have given Soviet-built MiG-29 aircraft.
Training has also been given to thousands of Ukrainian soldiers.
Stoltenberg emphasised this “unprecedented military support to Ukraine” but cautioned that “we should never underestimate Russia”.
Moscow was mobilising more ground forces and was “willing to send in thousands of troops with very high casualty rates,” he said, adding that Nato members need to “stay the course”.
Stoltenberg said that a Nato summit in July in Lithuania would set out plans for a “multi-year programme of support” for Ukraine.
Wagner stops Bakhmut artillery barrage to allow journalists to visit
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said on Thursday it was suspending artillery fire in Bakhmut to allow Ukrainian forces on the other side of the frontline to safely show the city to visiting US journalists.
Wagner has been leading Russia’s assault on Bakhmut in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war, but Ukrainian forces have so far thwarted its attempts to take full control of the city.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner’s founder, said in an audio message published by his press service: “A decision has been taken to suspend artillery fire so that American journalists can safely film Bakhmut and go home.”
Prigozhin in the same message warned the Ukrainian side not to try to bring in any extra forces under cover of the journalists’ visit.
Reuters could not immediately independently verify whether Wagner had suspended its artillery fire or not.
A day earlier, Prigozhin lambasted the defence ministry for not sending much-needed shipments of ammunition to his fighters.
Jennifer Rankin
The EU is expected to agree to keep its markets open to tariff-free Ukrainian grain for another year on Friday, despite objections from central and eastern European countries hit by declining agricultural prices.
A proposal to extend tariff-free access for Ukrainian grain into mid-2024 is expected to be approved by a majority of EU member states, overriding opposition from Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, according to a diplomatic source.
MEPs on the European parliament’s international trade committee on Thursday voted to keep in place the suspension of import duties on Ukraine’s agricultural products for another year, paving the way for an agreement with EU member states.
The EU dropped tariff barriers on Ukrainian farm produce following the Russian invasion and is now seeking to extend the policy, which expires on 5 June. But logistical bottlenecks have meant much of the grain has stayed in the EU, depressing prices and farm incomes in neighbouring countries.
The European Commission last week proposed €100m in compensation payments for farmers in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, after three of those countries banned the import of grain and other food products. These countries will also be allowed to ban the sale of Ukrainian grain inside their borders, although foodstuffs can continue to travel onwards to other EU states and countries around the world.
EU officials argue that Ukraine’s continuing grain exports are helping keep the country afloat at a time when the government in Kyiv risks running out of money. One senior EU official contrasted the €26bn Ukrainian businesses earned over the past 12 months from exports including grain, with the €18bn the EU intends to lend Kyiv this year to keep Ukraine’s public sector functioning. “If we didn’t have this €26[bn], [EU aid] would be even higher.”
Summary
As the time approaches 2pm in Kyiv, here is a roundup of developments in the ongoing conflict.
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Relations with European countries are at their “lowest possible level”, the Kremlin has said, adding that each wave of expulsions of Russian diplomats was reducing the space for diplomacy. Germany is one of the latest country to send diplomats home, expelling 20 on Saturday. Russia responded by expelling 40.
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Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated that the Kremlin welcomed the call between China and Ukraine on Wednesday, adding: “We are ready to welcome anything that could hasten the end of the conflict in Ukraine and Russia achieving all the goals it has set itself.”
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Nato allies have delivered almost all their promised combat vehicles to Ukraine, the transatlantic defence alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said. “More than 98% of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine have been delivered,” Stoltenberg said at a news briefing, adding that Kyiv “now has the military capabilities it needs to recapture territory”.
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EU diplomats are still seeking to convince central and eastern European countries to extend Ukraine’s tariff-free access to the EU market for another year.
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The EU dropped tariff barriers on Ukrainian grain after the Russian invasion last year and is now seeking to extend the policy, which expires on 5 June. But logistical bottlenecks have meant much of the grain has stayed in the EU, depressing prices and farm incomes in neighbouring countries.
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A Russian missile strike hit apartment buildings in the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv overnight and has killed one person and injured 23 more.
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The remains of an “unidentified aerial military object” have been found in northern Poland near the city of Bydgoszcz, Poland’s defence ministry and justice minister have said. The broadcaster RFM FM said the object, found near the city of Bydgoszcz, was an air-to-surface missile measuring several metres, with its head missing.
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Russian forces pounded the city of Bakhmut, the months-old focal point of their attempts to capture the eastern Ukrainian industrial region of Donbas, and the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force said Ukrainian troops were pouring in ahead of an “inevitable” counter-offensive.
Dan Sabbagh
Britain’s opposition Labour party has asked the government why there has been no new weapons announcement since February and no fresh update from ministers to parliament since January.
In an urgent question to the defence minister Andrew Murrison, the shadow defence secretary, John Healey, said: “I am concerned momentum behind our military help is faltering, and our UK commitment to Ukraine is flagging.
“No statement on Ukraine from the defence secretary since January. No new weapons announced for Ukraine since February. No 2023 Action Plan for Ukraine, despite being promised last August. No priorities set for the London Ukraine recovery conference in June,” he told MPs.
“The prime minister said in February the UK ‘will be the first country to provide Ukraine with longer-range weapons’. What? And when? The defence secretary said on Friday that ‘delivery is accelerating’ of military aid. How? And what?”
The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, was not present to give a response, but Murrison, one of his deputies, said the UK was “one of the leading providers of military support for Ukraine”.
A total of 14,000 Ukrainian troops had been trained by the UK so far, and the total was expected to reach 20,000 this year, he added.
Vladimir Putin will speak to the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, later on Thursday, the Kremlin has said, before the two countries mark the inauguration of Turkey’s first nuclear power reactor, built by Russia.
The Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey’s southern Mersin province has been built by Russia’s state nuclear energy company Rosatom.
The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a regular news briefing that after their telephone conversation the two presidents would take part – virtually – in a ceremony marking the loading of nuclear fuel into the first power unit at Akkuyu.
The $20bn, 4,800-megawatt project to build four reactors will allow Turkey to join the small club of nations with civil nuclear energy.
Asked about alleged health problems that Erdoğan is having, Peskov said Moscow knew nothing of the issue.
Turkey faces landmark presidential and parliamentary elections on 14 May. But Erdoğan cancelled his campaign rallies scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday for health reasons.
While a member of Nato and sending arms to Ukraine, Turkey has maintained ties to Russia during the war and has hosted discussions between both sides.
Kremlin: relations with Europe at lowest possible level
Relations with European countries are at their “lowest possible level”, the Kremlin has said, adding that each wave of expulsions of Russian diplomats was reducing the space for diplomacy.
Countries including Moldova, Sweden and Norway have all expelled Russian diplomats in recent days. The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said all such measures would be responded to in kind.
Kremlin welcomes call between Chinese and Ukrainian leaders
The Kremlin said it welcomed anything that could bring the end of the Ukraine conflict closer when asked about Wednesday’s phone call between the Chinese and Ukrainian leaders, Reuters reports.
The call between Xi Jinping and Volodymyr Zelenskiy had long been sought by Kyiv. Moscow added that still needed to achieve the aims of what it continues to call its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was familiar with the details of what the two leaders had discussed and said their stances on the conflict were well known, according to Reuters.
“We are ready to welcome anything that could hasten the end of the conflict in Ukraine and Russia achieving all the goals it has set itself,” Peskov said.
“As for the fact that they communicated – that is a sovereign matter for each of these countries and a question of their bilateral dialogue.”
Nato’s Stoltenberg: almost all promised combat vehicles delivered to Ukraine
Nato allies have delivered almost all their promised combat vehicles to Ukraine, the transatlantic defence alliance’s general secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, has said.
“More than 98% of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine have been delivered,” Stoltenberg said at a news briefing, adding that Kyiv “now has the military capabilities it needs to recapture territory”.
He also welcomed Wednesday’s phone call between the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, their first since Russia invaded Ukraine, but said it “doesn’t change the fact that China has still not condemned” the Russian invasion.
Jack Teixeira, the US Air National Guardsman accused of leaking military secrets and keeping an arsenal of weapons in his bedroom, appears in court for a detention hearing today (see 06.29).
Reuters reports that federal prosecutors are expected to argue that Texeira, who was arrested on 13 April in Massachusetts and charged with violating the Espionage Act, should remain in custody as a national security risk.
The 21-year-old is alleged to have leaked classified documents, including some relating to troop movements in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, to gamers on the messaging app Discord.
He kept a gun locker two feet from his bed containing handguns, bolt-action rifles and a military-style rifle. FBI agents also found a gas mask, ammunition and what appeared to be a silencer in his desk drawer.
“The defendant undoubtedly poses a danger to the US at large based on his ability to cause exceptionally grave danger to the US national security,” a motion filed by the office of US attorney Rachael Rollins said.
“There is also evidence to suggest that the defendant may also pose a physical danger to the community.”
The remains of an “unidentified military object” found in a forest in northern Poland (see 08.03) could be part of a missile stuck in the ground, Polish broadcster RMF FM has said.
Reuters cites RFM as saying the object, found near the city of Bydgoszcz, was an air-to-surface missile measuring several metres, with its head missing. No sources were named.
Poland has been on alert for possible spillover of weaponry from the war in Ukraine after two people were killed last November by what Warsaw said was a misfired Ukrainian air defence missile.
The analyst Ulrich Speck has an interesting thread on what may lie behind Wednesday’s phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (see 05.30), their first since Russia invaded Ukraine.
For Xi, who said China would send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties seeking peace, “the war in Ukraine is first and foremost an opportunity to advance his geopolitical agenda”, Speck argues.
The Chinese leader aims to weaken Russia (though not too much), split Europe from the US by playing nice to the EU, and similarly weaken the US by isolating it from Europe, he says.
“Making peace in Ukraine or defending its sovereignty is nowhere on the list,” Speck concludes. “It’s debatable whether Chinese interests as defined by Xi are helped more by an ongoing and even escalating war in Ukraine or by a ceasefire.”
The Twitter thread begins here:
For Xi, the war in Ukraine is first and foremost an opportunity to advance his geopolitical agenda. His goals:
— Ulrich Speck (@ulrichspeck) April 27, 2023
EU diplomats are still seeking to convince central and eastern European countries to extend Ukraine’s tariff-free access to the EU market for another year, reports Politico.
The EU dropped tariff barriers on Ukrainian grain following the Russian invasion last year and is now seeking to extend the policy, which expires on 5 June. But logistical bottlenecks have meant much of the grain has stayed in the EU, depressing prices and farm incomes in neighbouring countries.
The European Commission last week proposed €100m in compensation payments for farmers in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, after three of those countries banned the impact of grain and other food products. These countries will also be allowed to ban the sale of Ukrainian grain inside their borders, although food can continue to travel onwards to other EU states and countries around the world.
Officials hoped this emergency help for central and eastern Europe would ease the decision on extending Ukraine’s duty-free access for one year, but a deal is yet to be reached. Officials are still hopeful of finding a deal, with diplomats due to vote on the plans on Friday.
A jailed former presidential hopeful in Belarus, which has been hit with western sanctions for allowing Russian troops to launch their invasion of Ukraine from its territory, has been transferred to hospital from prison, AFP reports.
Viktor Babariko, 59, a high-profile candidate who wanted to challenge President Alexander Lukashenko in 2020 elections, is undergoing surgery in a hospital in Novopolotsk, authorities confirmed.
Babariko was jailed in 2021 on charges of bribery and tax evasion and sentenced to 14 years in prison. Belarus has jailed or forced into exile all the leading political figures who contested Lukashenko’s re-election.
A reminder that Alessio Mamo, one of several freelance photographers who have worked extensively with the Guardian in Ukraine since the start of the war, last night won the photojournalism category in Amnesty International’s media awards.
Alessio won for this remarkable piece, with Guardian reporters Lorenzo Tondo, Emma Graham-Harrison and Isobel Koshiw, documenting the scale of the violence that has been integral to Russia’s campaign.
A Russian missile strike hit apartment buildings in the Ukrainian town of Mykolaiv overnight, authorities have said (see 05.49), injuring 23 people.
Here are some agency pictures of the aftermath of the strike that have just come through.
The remains of an “unidentified aerial military object” have been found in northern Poland near the city of Bydgoszcz, Poland’s defence ministry and justice minister have said.
Reuters reported that it was not immediately clear what the object was, where it came from, or how long it had been there. The justice minister said it was found in a forest.
“The situation does not threaten the safety of residents. The location of the discovery is being investigated” by Polish officers and military police, the interior ministry said.
The Globsec thinktank has published a report – you can read it here – on the “complex, costly and almost impossibly challenging” task Ukraine will eventually face in demining its territory and clearing it of deadly ordnance and explosives.
About 30% of Ukraine’s territory (174,000 sq km) will require survey and clearance of vast amounts of ordnance, it says, making the country “the largest mined territory in the world, surpassing such former frontrunners as Afghanistan and Syria”.
Much of the area affected is of course difficult or impossible to assess since fighting is still ongoing: around 18% of Ukraine’s territory remains under occupation. Russian troops are also “infamously creative in leaving mine-traps”, the report says, planting “victim-activated devices on animals and dead bodies, as well as double and even triple booby-traps on roads, fields and forests”.
And it says the pace of demining work is cripplingly slow, with operations in areas controlled by Ukraine in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions between 2015 and 2021 succeeding in clearing only about 6% of potentially contaminated territory .
That represents about 64 sq km a year, with most of the work done by the special services of Ukraine’s defence and interior ministries supported by international NGOs such as the HALO Trust.