Ukraine updates: Russia warns it could quit grain deal again
Ukraine news from November 2: Moscow says Kyiv has guaranteed humanitarian corridors will not be used to launch attacks.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow reserves the right to withdraw from the grain agreements if Kyiv breaks its promise not to use the humanitarian corridor for military purposes.
- Russia has rejoined the grain deal days after withdrawing in response to an alleged Ukrainian attack on its fleet.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow reserves the right to withdraw from the grain agreements if Kyiv breaks its promise not to use the humanitarian corridor for military purposes.
- Russia has rejoined the grain deal days after withdrawing in response to an alleged Ukrainian attack on its fleet.
- Moscow reaffirms its commitment to preventing nuclear war as Washington says there are no indications Russia is making nuclear preparations.
- The United States says it has information suggesting North Korea is supplying Russia with artillery shells, without providing evidence.
This blog is now closed, thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Wednesday, November 2.
Erdogan and Zelenskyy discuss sending grain to African countries
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed sending grain to African countries after Putin proposed sending grain to countries like Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan first.
In an interview with Turkish broadcaster ATV, after Russia said it would resume participation in the Ukraine grain deal, Erdogan said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had changed his stance and was now saying common ground must be found with Putin.
Ukraine’s first lady urges West to keep up support
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, warns that her country would be in trouble if the West turns its attention away and stops helping.
“I don’t want to believe that support [for Ukraine] is fading. I believe it won’t diminish,” Zelenska told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of Europe’s largest tech event, Web Summit, held in Lisbon.
Her comment comes as a deepening economic crisis, triggered by the war, is sweeping through Europe. Some fear the record-high inflation along with the energy crisis are testing the solidarity of Ukraine’s Western allies.
“I believe common sense, empathy, human emotions and relations will win”, she added, urging people to think about the world they want to live in in the future.
“If that’s wrong, we are in trouble. If someone thinks that aggression can be justified … this person is under the influence of propaganda,” Zelenska said.
“The more the financial pressure and sanctions are put on the aggressor, the less opportunities they will have to wage a war against Ukraine. We hope this will work.”
Erdogan tells Zelenskyy ability of Ukraine, Russia to sell grain critical
Erdogan told Zelenskyy by phone that the ability of Ukraine and Russia to sell grain was of critical importance for the whole world, Erdogan’s office has said.
Speaking after Russia said it would resume its participation in a deal freeing up grain exports from war-torn Ukraine, Erdogan said diplomatic efforts should be increased to end the war with a just solution, his communications directorate said.
Zelenskyy thanks Turkey for role in preserving grain deal
Zelenskyy, via Twitter, has thanked Erdogan “for his active participation in preserving the grain deal, for his steadfast support of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.
I thanked 🇹🇷 President @RTErdogan for his active participation in preserving the grain deal, for his steadfast support of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We discussed further steps to return 🇺🇦 POWs and political prisoners. I also count on support of 🇹🇷.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 2, 2022
Kyiv region shutting down power supplies after use spike
Authorities in the Kyiv region have started emergency shutdowns of the power generating system after a spike in consumption, the Kyiv regional administration has said.
The move was necessary to “avoid major accidents with power equipment”, read a statement by the administration.
Russian drone and missile attacks have badly damaged the electricity grid in and around the capital.
Russian airlines’ passenger numbers down one-fifth as sanctions weigh
Passenger numbers on Russian airlines in September were down 20 percent from last year as the impacts of Western sanctions and flight bans continue to weigh on the industry.
Russian airlines carried 9.87 million passengers in September, data from Russia’s statistics agency Rosstat showed on Wednesday, down one-fifth from the same month a year ago.
Western countries banned Russian airlines from using their airspace in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, cutting them off from lucrative routes to Europe and the United States.
Putin threatens Russia’s withdrawal from grain deal again if Ukraine ‘violates’ guarantees
Putin has warned that Russia could withdraw from the Ukraine grain deal again if Kyiv violates security guarantees that Moscow says it has provided.
“Russia retains the right to leave these agreements if these guarantees from Ukraine are violated,” Putin said in televised comments hours after Russia announced it was rejoining the deal.
Moscow said it had received assurances from Kyiv that it would not use the secure shipping corridor or its designated Ukrainian ports for attacks against Russia.
Putin affirmed the receipt of those commitments and said that if Russia withdrew once more because of Ukrainian breaches, it would substitute the entire volume of grain destined for the “poorest countries” for free from its own stocks.
But in a nod to Turkey’s influence, as well as what he called its “neutrality” in Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, Putin added: “In any case, we will not in the future impede deliveries of grain from Ukrainian territory to the Turkish Republic.”
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Intel indicates N Korea supplying Russia with artillery shells: White House
The US has information that indicates North Korea is covertly supplying Russia with a “significant” number of artillery shells for use in Ukraine, according to White House national security spokesman John Kirby.
Kirby told a virtual briefing North Korea was attempting to obscure the shipments by funnelling them through countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
“Our indications are that the DPRK is covertly supplying, and we are going to monitor to see whether the shipments are received,” Kirby said, referring to the country by the acronym of its official name, adding that the US would consult with the UN on accountability issues over the shipments.
“It is not an insignificant number of shells, but we don’t believe they are in such a quantity that they would change the momentum of the war,” he said.
North Korea said in September that it had never supplied weapons or ammunition to Russia and has no plans to do so.
UN chief welcomes Russia rejoining grain deal
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes Russia’s move to rejoin the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal, secretary-general spokesman Stephane Dujarric has said.
Dujarric said Guterres was also continuing to push for a renewal of the pact, which is set to expire on November 19.
“The secretary-general continues his engagement with all actors towards the renewal and full implementation of the initiative, and he also remains committed to removing the remaining obstacles to the exports of Russian food and fertiliser,” Dujarric said.
Russia says it is committed to preventing nuclear war
Russia says it is fully committed to preventing nuclear war, stating that avoiding conflict between the world’s nuclear powers is its first priority.
“We fully reaffirm our commitment to the joint statement of the five nuclear-weapon states leaders on the prevention of nuclear war and the avoidance of an arms race from January 3, 2022,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
That statement by Russia, the United States, China, the United Kingdom and France said they agreed “a nuclear war cannot be won”.
Putin calls for modernisation of Russian weapons
Putin has called for the weapons used by Russia’s military to be modernised, the Reuters news agency reports.
“Weapons must constantly, continuously improve and remain effective,” Putin was quoted by Reuters as telling a meeting of Russia’s coordination council.
“To achieve this, I repeat, it is important to ensure that there is active competition between manufacturers and developers.”
Putin set up the coordination council earlier this month to boost support for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its ninth month.
No indications Russia preparing for nuclear weapons use: White House
The United States does not see any signs Russia is making preparations to use nuclear weapons, a spokesman for the White House has said.
“We’ve been clear from the outset that Russia’s comments about the potential use of nuclear weapons are deeply concerning, and we take them seriously,” John Kirby said.
“We continue to monitor this as best we can, and we see no indications that Russia is making preparations for such use.”
Kirby’s remarks came after the New York Times newspaper reported earlier on Wednesday that senior Russian military leaders had recently held discussions about when and how Moscow might deploy a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine, citing multiple unnamed US officials.
Russia can’t block ‘feeding the world’: US ambassador
Russia cannot block global food production and supplies, the US ambassador to the UN has said.
“They can’t stand in the way of feeding the entire world,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield told broadcaster CNN after Moscow said it would return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Thomas-Greenfield said she was “delighted” to hear about Russia’s decision to resume participation in the deal and that Moscow clearly had been “convinced” they needed to do so.
UK sanctions four Russian steel and petrochemical tycoons
The United Kingdom has imposed sanctions on four Russian steel and petrochemical tycoons over the war in Ukraine.
Those sanctioned included Alexander Abramov and Alexander Frolov, who the UK described as known associates of oligarch Roman Abramovich, who was sanctioned earlier this year.
“Today we are sanctioning an additional four oligarchs who rely on Putin for their positions of authority and in turn fund his military machine,” Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.
“By targeting these individuals, we are ramping up the economic pressure on Putin and will continue to do so until Ukraine prevails.”
Putin continues to rely on his cabal of selected elite to maintain control and fuel his illegal invasion of Ukraine.
We are sanctioning four oligarchs who rely on Putin for their positions of authority and wealth and in turn fund his military machine. https://t.co/HH5GIKePNy— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) November 2, 2022
German FM praises solidarity in face of Russian grain deal moves
The global community’s insistence on sticking to an agreement allowing Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea shows how much can be achieved by ignoring Russia’s attempts at blackmail, Germany’s foreign minister has said.
“Russia has once again tried to use hunger as a weapon, to use grain as a weapon. And the world community under the United Nations has made clear: No, we don’t believe your lies, we will continue to send ships,” Annalena Baerbock told German broadcaster Welt.
Turkey ‘de-facto mediator’ between Moscow, Kyiv: AJ correspondent
Turkey’s role in bringing Russia back to the Black Sea Grain Initiative highlights that Ankara is now the “de facto mediator” between Moscow and Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from Istanbul, says.
“We know that Russia over the weekend had withdrawn from the agreement … but after intensive talks between Ankara, Moscow, Kyiv and of course, the involvement of the United Nations as well, it seems that the deal is once again alive and working,” Serdar said.
Russia confirms it is resuming participation in grain deal
Russia’s defence ministry has confirmed Moscow will resume its participation in the Black Sea grain deal.
The ministry said in a statement it had obtained the “necessary guarantees” from Ukraine on “not using the humanitarian corridor set up by the agreement and Ukrainian ports designated for the export of agricultural products for military operations against the Russian Federation”.
It added Turkey and an unnamed international organisation had helped secure the commitments from Kyiv.
“The Russian Federation believes that the guarantees received at the moment appear sufficient, and resumes implementation of the agreement … which was suspended after the terrorist attack in Sevastopol,” the ministry said, citing an attack over the weekend on Russia’s Black Sea fleet in the annexed Crimean Peninsula which Moscow has blamed on Ukraine.
Russia to summon UK envoy over Black Sea fleet drone raid
Russia’s foreign ministry has said it will summon the UK’s ambassador to Moscow over what it said was the involvement of UK specialists in an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
“In this regard, the British ambassador will shortly be summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry,” ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.
The UK has dismissed Moscow’s allegations as false and said they are designed to divert attention away from Russian military failures in Ukraine.
Turkey says Russia agrees to rejoin grain deal
Russia has agreed to rejoin a Turkish and UN-brokered deal on the shipment of millions of tonnes of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, Turkey’s president has said.
Erdogan said Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, had called his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar and informed him the grain corridor agreement would “continue in the same way as before” as of Wednesday.
Erdogan added that the deal would prioritise shipments to African nations, including Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan, in line with Russia’s concerns that most of the grain was ending up in richer nations.
Russia suspended its participation in the grain deal over the weekend, citing allegations of a Ukrainian drone attack against its Black Sea fleet. The UN had said vessels would not move on Wednesday, raising concerns about future shipments.
Russian military leaders held talks on nuclear weapons use: Report
Senior Russian military leaders recently had discussions about when and how Moscow might deploy a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine, the New York Times newspaper has reported, citing multiple US officials.
The newspaper said Putin was not part of the conversations, which US intelligence services reportedly alerted Washington to in mid-October and came against the backdrop of intensifying nuclear rhetoric from the Russian president.
It cited the unnamed US officials as saying they had seen no evidence Moscow was moving nuclear weapons into place or taking other measures to prepare for an attack, despite the discussions taking place.
Ukrainian man detained over alleged plot to sabotage Crimea power line, Russia’s FSB says
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) says a Ukrainian citizen has been detained in Crimea on suspicion of planning to “sabotage” a power line in the occupied Black Sea peninsula.
The FSB said a man in his 40s had been found carrying diagrams of power lines, three explosive devices and instructions on how to use them. It said it suspected the man had been recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services.
There was no immediate response from Kyiv.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Moscow has repeatedly accused what it calls Ukrainian “saboteurs” of trying to take down its energy infrastructure, including in August when it blamed Ukraine for damaging an electricity substation in Russian-annexed Crimea. Ukraine did not claim involvement in the incident.
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Turkey says Russia concerned over security, its exports in grain deal
Russia is concerned about its security and the obstacles it faces exporting fertiliser and grain, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says as his country tries to bring Moscow back on board a Black Sea grain export agreement.
Speaking in Ankara, Cavusoglu cited two reasons for Moscow’s decision to pull out of the deal, which allowed Ukraine to resume its grain shipments during the war with Russia.
“Russia has some security demands after the recent attack on its ships,” he said of a weekend strike on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
Moscow is also concerned about its own fertiliser and grain exports, “which are not on the list of sanctions [imposed on Russia], but the ships that are carrying these still cannot dock,” Cavusoglu said.
“They still cannot get insurance, and payments are not made,” he said. “Therefore, a lot of countries’ ships are shying away from carrying these loads.”
Ukraine grain exports down nearly 32 percent so far this season: Ministry
Ukraine’s grain exports are down year on year in the 2022/23 season so far to almost 13.4 million tonnes from 19.7 million tonnes at the same date a season earlier, data collated by the country’s agriculture ministry has shown.
Ministry data showed that exports so far in the July 2022 to June 2023 season included 5.1 million tonnes of wheat, 7.1 million tonnes of corn and 1.1 million tonnes of barley.
The government has said that Ukraine could harvest between 50 million and 52 million tonnes of grain this year, down from a record 86 million tonnes in 2021, because of the loss of land to Russian forces and lower yields.