Summary
At a meeting of the UN security council, the US representative said: “It seems every single week, Russia stoops to a new low.” She added that Russia was “waging war on the world’s food supply” and that the country had “upended peace and security around the world”.
The Russian representative accused the western members of the security council of “hiding the truth”. He claimed that 70% of the exports entered high- and upper-middle income economies, while barriers to Russian exports remained.
The Ukrainian representative described his Russian counterpart as an “oddball” and accused Russia of “attempting to eliminate a market competitor [Ukraine], to deliberately raise global food prices and make profit at the expense of millions around the world”.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, condemned a Russian artillery attack in Donetsk that he said killed two children and damaged a school.
Russia arrested Igor Girkin, a former battlefield commander of its proxy forces in eastern Ukraine who was convicted by a Dutch court over the shooting down of MH17, on extremism charges probably fuelled by his criticism of the Russian war effort in Ukraine.
The number of ships looking to pick up grain cargoes from the Black Sea area fell 35% week on week amid growing uncertainty over whether commercial traffic could be hit as Russia continues to pound food facilities in Ukraine.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, claimed at a meeting with members of the Russian security council that Poland planned to occupy part of Ukraine, after Warsaw moved troops nearer the border with Belarus following Minsk’s commencement of exercises with Wagner trainers.
Bulgaria said it had decided to send about 100 armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine in the Balkan country’s first shipment of heavy equipment to Kyiv. So far Bulgaria has only sent one military aid package to Kyiv, containing mostly flak jackets and helmets, but a pro-EU government took office last month.
The top diplomatic adviser to Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said China was delivering to Russia items that could be used as military equipment, although not on a big scale. French officials told CNN that he was referring to dual-use technologies and non-lethal assistance, such as helmets and body armour.
Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet, grounded by Covid-19 and then shunned in the west since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, will return to international touring next week for the first time since 2020 with a trip to Beijing.
And here is this morning’s summary from the UK.
Updated
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has praised Ukraine’s “amazing” progress in implementing reforms to fight corruption, preserve minority rights and ensure an independent judiciary.
Fighting graft is a top requirement for Ukraine to join the EU, which offered Kyiv candidate status last year. Ukraine is working on a number of changes “ranging from the independence of the judiciary to anti-corruption, from minority rights to media freedom”, said Von der Leyen, according to Reuters.
“I must say it is amazing to see how fast and determined Ukraine is implementing these reforms despite the war. They are defending their country and reforming,” she said, but did not specifically address Ukraine’s attempt to join the 27-country bloc or specify any particular measures she was referring to.
The IMF last month unlocked an $890m (£690m) tranche of its package based on Ukraine‘s “strong progress” in meeting reform commitments, but said other transparency and anti-corruption measures “need to proceed without delay”.
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