Russia-Ukraine latest updates: Scholz, Putin discuss Ukraine war
Ukraine news from September 14: Vladimir Putin believes Russia was right to invade Ukraine, Olaf Scholz says, a day after the two leaders held a phone call.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin “unfortunately” does not seem to have realised yet that the decision to invade Ukraine is a mistake, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said, commenting on a phone call with Putin a day earlier.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits the recaptured town of Izyum after Kyiv’s troops expelled Russian troops from swathes of territory.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin “unfortunately” does not seem to have realised yet that the decision to invade Ukraine is a mistake, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said, commenting on a phone call with Putin a day earlier.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits the recaptured town of Izyum after Kyiv’s troops expelled Russian troops from swathes of territory.
- The Kremlin says Kyiv’s ongoing ambitions to join NATO still present a threat to Russia’s security.
- The front line in eastern Ukraine is approaching the borders of the self-proclaimed, Russia-backed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), according to a military commander in the breakaway region.
This live blog is now closed, thank you for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Wednesday, September 14:
Flood risk in central Ukraine city after Russian strike: Kyiv
Floods could hit the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine after a Russian attack damaged infrastructure causing the Inhulets River to flood, the Ukrainian presidency has warned.
“At the point of impact, we have observed a water flow of 100 cubic metres per second, which is a large volume,” said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office. “The water level of the Inhulets River is changing every hour.”
The centre and another district of the city of 600,000 people were “at risk of flooding”, he said. “It is a challenge for us all, but the situation is under control. All services are involved to eliminate the threat as quickly as possible,” he said via Telegram.
Biden administration discussing new Russia measures with Congress: State Department
The Biden administration is discussing with Congress “analogous measures” to impose on Russia in place of those carried by a “state sponsorship of terrorism” designation, US Department of State spokesman Ned Price has said.
“We’re discussing with Congress analogous measures,” Price told a news briefing, noting President Joe Biden’s recent statement that he would not approve designating Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism”.
Zelenskyy pledges ‘victory’ on visit to liberated Kharkiv region
Zelenskyy has promised “victory” on a visit to the strategic city of Izyum.
“Our blue-yellow flag is already flying in de-occupied Izyum. And it will be so in every Ukrainian city and village,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media.
“We are moving in only one direction – forward and towards victory.”
Ukrainians of recaptured Balakliya react with tears and relief
Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid travelled to the newly recaptured city of Balakliya. There, she spoke to people about their lives under Russian occupation.
Chance for peace ‘minimal,’ UN chief says
The prospects for peace in Ukraine are “minimal” at present, the United Nations chief has lamented after a telephone conversation with Putin.
“I have the feeling we are still far away from peace. I would be lying if I would say it could happen soon,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a press conference.
“I have no illusion; at the present moment the chances of a peace deal are minimal,” he added, noting that even a ceasefire is “not in sight”.
Biden to nominate career diplomat Tracy as US envoy to Russia: Source
US President Joe Biden plans to nominate career diplomat Lynne Tracy as US ambassador to Russia, a source familiar with the matter has said.
Tracy currently serves as US ambassador to Armenia. The US ambassador post in Russia has been vacant since September 4, when envoy John Sullivan concluded his tenure there amid soaring bilateral tensions due to Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The Department of State declined to comment on the news, which was first reported by CNN. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
US senators introduce bill to designate Russia ‘state sponsor of terrorism’
Democratic and Republican US senators have introduced legislation that would designate Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism”, a label pushed for by Ukraine but opposed by President Joe Biden’s administration.
“The need for this measure is more pressing now than ever before,” Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, one of the bill’s sponsors, told a news conference, citing the killings of civilians and other “brutal, cruel oppression” in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, another bill sponsor, said the designation would send a strong signal of support for Ukraine to Kyiv but also to US allies, while imposing stiff penalties on Russia like allowing it to be sued in US courts for its actions in Ukraine and tightening sanctions.
Putin hails ‘constructive cooperation’ with IAEA on Ukraine nuclear plant
Putin has hailed “constructive cooperation” with the UN’s nuclear watchdog over Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspected the plant in early September following repeated bombardment.
The Kremlin said that in a phone call with UN chief Antonio Guterres, “Vladimir Putin made a positive assessment of the constructive cooperation with the agency.”
UN chief pushes Russian fertiliser exports
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports and that he was hopeful a UN-brokered deal would be maintained and expanded to include Russian ammonia.
“To remove the obstacles that still exist in relation to the export of Russian fertilisers is absolutely essential,” Guterres told reporters shortly after speaking to Putin.
“There are … talks in relation to the possibility of Russian ammonia exports through the Black Sea,” said Guterres, adding that there was a “dramatic situation” in the world fertiliser market.
Putin says ‘priority’ to send Ukraine’s grain to countries in need
Putin has told UN chief Antonio Guterres during a phone call that the “priority” should be to send Ukrainian grain to countries in greatest need, the Kremlin has said.
During the conversation between the two men, “the attention was mainly focused on implementing the Istanbul agreements on exporting Ukrainian grain… Both sides emphasised the importance of meeting the needs, as a priority, of those in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America who need food,” the Russian presidency said in a statement.
Ukraine confirms UN initiative to reopen ammonia pipeline
Ukraine’s foreign minister has said that the United Nations started talks on reopening an ammonia pipeline from Russia to Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa.
The pipeline has been shut as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Ukraine did not initiate these talks; this is an initiative from the UN,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said at a news conference in Odesa, adding that Ukraine would not approve any deal that contradicted its national security interests.
Russia launched cruise missiles on Ukrainian city
Russian forces have launched eight cruise missiles against the southern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region, aiming to disrupt water supplies, a senior Ukrainian official said.
Kirill Timoshenko, the deputy head of the president’s office, said in an online post that there had been no civilian casualties in the attack.
This attack aligns with Ukrainian concern that Russia will continue to target the country’s infrastructure in retribution for Ukraine’s continued success in recapturing occupied territories.
Ukrainian officials say the attacks were directed at hydraulic structures, and the damage to the structures is now causing the water level of the Inhulets river to rise, posing a serious threat to the city.
8 Russian rocket strikes on Kryvyi Rih today.
Rockets were directed at hydraulic structures.
This caused water level of Inhulets river to increase, threatening the city.
Russia obviously wants to cause a crisis situation, – deputy head of Presidential office Kyrylo Tymoshenko pic.twitter.com/t7jf6E1qT0
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) September 14, 2022
Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Kazakhstan before summit with Putin
Chinese President Xi Jinping has started his first foreign trip since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic with a stop in Kazakhstan, in advance of a summit in Uzbekistan with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and other leaders of a Central Asian security group.
Read more here.
Ukraine’s western creditors agree debt service freeze
Ukraine’s Western government creditors say they have concluded a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a planned debt service suspension.
The group, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, said in July that they would provide a coordinated suspension of Kyiv’s debt servicing to the end of 2023 and potentially for an additional year.
“This MoU eases Ukraine’s liquidity pressures and allows its government to increase social, health and economic spending in response to Russia’s unjustified, unprovoked and illegal war of aggression,” the group said in a statement issued by France’s finance ministry.
The group called on other official bilateral creditors to also quickly reach a debt service suspension deal with Ukraine. With a monthly fiscal shortfall of $5bn, the war-torn country is heavily reliant on foreign financing from Western allies and multilateral lenders including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Russia’s reasons for invading Ukraine ‘nonsense’, says ex-soldier
Pavel Filatyev, an ex-Russian soldier now seeking asylum in France, has told Al Jazeera about his experiences of life on the Ukrainian front lines.
Read his account here.
EU Commission still exploring Russian gas price cap: Energy commissioner
The European Commission still wants a European Union price cap on Russian gas, but more work is needed to assess the effects of the measure, the bloc’s energy commissioner has said.
“We continue to believe that a gas price cap on Russian pipeline imports is warranted, but more work is needed to assess adverse impacts on some member states,” Kadri Simson said, adding that Brussels was analysing how a broader price cap on all EU gas imports could work.
The Commission mooted a Russian gas price cap earlier this month, but EU countries rejected the idea, with some worried Moscow would retaliate by cutting off the remaining gas it still sends to Europe.
Pope reiterates appeal for peace in Ukraine
Pope Francis has again spoken out against the war in Ukraine, questioning “how many deaths will it take?” for peace to prevail in the country.
Addressing an outdoor mass while on a visit to Kazakhstan, the head of the Catholic Church said the only solution to the conflict is peace and the only way to arrive at such an outcome is through dialogue.
The pope had earlier told the Russian Orthodox hierarchy and other faith leaders at the Seventh Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, a meeting that brings together Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and other faiths, that religion must never be used to justify the “evil” of war.
In the audience was Metropolitan Anthony, in charge of foreign relations for the Russian Orthodox Church, which has firmly backed Russia’s invasion.
Zelenskyy heaps praise on Ukrainian military for counteroffensive efforts
Ukraine’s president has thanked the country’s armed forces for their success in retaking territory from Russian forces in recent days, hailing them as “heroes”.
“It is probably possible to temporarily occupy the territory of our state. But it is definitely impossible to occupy our people, the Ukrainian people,” Zelenskyy said while on a surprise visit to the retaken town of Izyum.
“Before, when we looked up, we always looked for the blue sky, the sun. And today we, and especially the people in the temporarily occupied territories, looking up, are looking for only one thing – the flag of our state. This means the heroes are here. This means the enemy is gone, they have fled.”
Izyum is located on an important highway that runs from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, to the eastern city of Sloviansk, which Russian forces had been trying to advance towards prior to Kyiv’s counteroffensive.
India, France reiterate calls for negotiations to end war
India and France have reiterated calls for negotiation to end the conflict in Ukraine.
“There should be a return to dialogue and diplomacy,” Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India’s foreign minister, told reporters after a meeting with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna in New Delhi.
India has not publicly criticised Moscow’s offensive, despite outcry over the invasion in the West, including from France.
Ukrainian president visits recaptured Izyum: In pictures
Here are some of the latest images of Zelenskyy’s visit to the recaptured town of Izyum.
Loss of Izyum a ‘huge blow’ to Russia: AJ correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, says the loss of Izyum will be a “huge blow” to Russia.
“Izyum is a logistical hub … and it is from there that Russia was supplying its troops that are further east in the Donbas region … around places like Kramatorsk and Sloviansk,” Abdel-Hamid said.
“It [Izyum’s capture] is certainly the most significant win for the Ukrainians since their counteroffensive started, and by the same breath is the most significant loss for the Russians,” she added.
Zelenskyy pays visit to recently recaptured Izyum: Ukrainian military
Ukraine’s president has visited Izyum, a key supply hub in the northeastern Kharkiv region recently recaptured by Kyiv’s forces, a Ukrainian military brigade said.
“The President of Ukraine thanked the soldiers for liberating Ukrainian lands, and solemnly raised the Ukrainian flag over the city council,” the 25th Separate Airborne Sicheslav Brigade said in a statement posted on Facebook.
The post included photographs of Zelenskyy, Hanna Malyar, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister, and senior military personnel at the ceremony.
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Kremlin says Ukraine’s NATO ambitions remain a threat to Russia
The Kremlin says Ukraine’s ongoing ambitions to join the transatlantic NATO military alliance continue to present a threat to Russia’s security.
In a conference call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the idea of Ukraine joining the US-led alliance was “the main threat” to Russia.
He added that Kyiv’s ambitions emphasised Moscow’s “urgent need” to ensure Russia’s security and national interests.
Before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in late February, Moscow had demanded guarantees from NATO members that Ukraine would never be permitted to join the alliance.
Russia now ‘trying to avoid defeat’: Analyst
Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at the UK-based Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies think-tank, says Ukraine’s recent counteroffensive marks a “very significant” moment in the war.
“Ukraine certainly has the momentum for the moment and they have caught the Russians by surprise,” Ramani told Al Jazeera.
“Russian military experts were warning for weeks that Kharkiv was going to be the most likely centre of vulnerability for the Russians that they [the Ukrainian forces] could blitz,” he added, citing the northeastern region where Kyiv’s troops have recaptured swaths of territory in recent days.
“But the Russian defence ministry didn’t listen … and now Russia’s mission is firmly on the defence – for the moment they’re trying to avoid defeat rather than trying to pull off a victory.”
Moscow says other regions can ‘compensate’ for dwindling Russian gas sales to Europe
The Kremlin has played down the blow that dwindling gas sales to Europe have caused to Russia’s economy, saying there are plenty of other countries that want to buy its energy resources.
“Europe is not the only consumer of natural gas and not the only continent that needs natural gas,” Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, told reporters in a conference call.
“There are regions developing at a much faster pace … they can compensate for the [reduced] demand for [Russian] gas in Europe,” he said.
Russia said at the start of September that it would not reopen its main Nord Stream 1 pipeline to supply Europe – the latest in a string of supply cuts, which Moscow blames on Western sanctions.