Ukraine-Russia updates: Guterres welcomes grain deal extension
UN chief Antonio Guterres says the extension of the deal for another 60 days is positive, though key outstanding issues remain.
This blog is now closed, thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Wednesday, May 17.
This blog is now closed, thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Wednesday, May 17.
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the extension of the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal for two more months, which came a day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports.
- Ukraine denies Russia’s claim that a United States-made Patriot defence system was destroyed, while US officials told Reuters the unit was likely damaged but not knocked out.
- Any decision to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will fall on the White House, United Kingdom and German defence ministers said, despite a jet “coalition” announced by the UK and the Netherlands this week.
Biden heads to G7, says there’s ‘work to do’ on global stage
US President Joe Biden has said there is “work to do” on the global stage as he headed to Japan to consult with allies on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s assertiveness in the Pacific.
Support for Ukraine’s expected counteroffensive against Russia is set to take centre stage at the meeting in Hiroshima, alongside economic, climate and global development issues.
Biden and allies have armed Kyiv with ever-more-advanced weaponry and maintained deep sanctions on Russia’s economy, though maintaining resolve has grown more challenging in Washington and other global capitals.
Belarus partially restores controls on border with Russia
Belarus, one of Russia’s closest allies, has partially restored controls on its border with its neighbour, Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik has said.
This is the first time in 28 years that there have been checks at the 1,239km (770-mile) border.
“It’s not really control, it’s more like monitoring the situation on the border,” Aleinik told reporters in Moscow.
According to Aleinik, the introduction of border controls aimed to avoid the entry of third-country nationals into Belarus, in advance of the implementation of an intergovernmental agreement on the mutual recognition of visas.
However, human rights activists think the border checks will target Russian men trying to avoid mobilisation into the Russian army.
US says certainty needed on Black Sea grain deal
The White House has hailed the two-month extension of the pact allowing Ukraine grain exports, but said the world needs more certainty from Russia about the crucial food supply chain.
“It’s a good thing that it has been extended,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.
“Unfortunately, Russia continues even in a moment of extension to rhetorically hold it hostage in various ways, to suggest its days are numbered,” Sullivan said of the agreement.
Finland, Denmark say embassy bank accounts in Russia frozen
Finland and Denmark’s bank accounts in Russia have been frozen, prompting their embassies to make payments in cash, officials from both countries have said.
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told reporters the bank accounts had stopped working on April 27.
“The accounts of Finnish embassies have been frozen in Russia and at the moment they cannot be used,” Haavisto said, adding Finland’s embassy and consulate in Russia had been using cash reserves to pay bills.
The Danish foreign ministry said restrictions imposed by Russian authorities meant its embassy’s bank cards were blocked.
“Increased documentation requirements prior to all payments mean concretely that the embassy has been paying salaries to employees and paying bills in cash for a long time,” the ministry said.
Czechs scrap Communist-era deals to make Russia pay for land
The Czech government has scrapped communist-era deals that allowed Russia to use land and property in Prague and elsewhere for free as the Ukraine war raged on.
“The free use by Russia should be replaced with use based on lease contracts to prevent unjustified enrichment,” Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said in a tweet.
Former Czechoslovakia handed the former Soviet Union land and property to use for diplomatic purposes for free in the 1970s and 1980s when Prague was governed by Moscow-steered communists.
Russia inherited the free use when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, but Prague has since insisted Russia has been using the land and property for other than diplomatic purposes, including commercial use.
Kuleba ‘grateful’ to France for Holodomor recognition as ‘genocide’
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has thanked the French Senate for its endorsement of a resolution calling the Great Famine of 1932-1933, or Holodomor, a “genocide”.
“I am grateful to French senators for this historic vote which restores justice and honours the memory of millions of victims,” Kuleba said.
French @Senat has just recognized the 1932-1933 Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people. I am grateful to French senators for this historic vote which restores justice and honours the memory of millions of victims. Such crimes should never repeat and never be forgotten.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) May 17, 2023
French Senate recognises Holodomor as ‘genocide’
A resolution recognising as “genocide” the starvation of millions of Ukrainians between 1932 and 1933 a result Soviet policies has been approved by the French Senate.
The proposal, discussed in the presence of Ukrainian ambassador Vadym Omelchenko, received 327 favourable votes and only 16 against, according to local media reports.
The “Great Famine”, known as Holodomor in Ukrainian, consisted in the starvation, deportation and “methodically organised extermination” of the Ukrainian people, the endorsed text said, adding that the event, therefore, amounted to “genocide”.
‘Even in the darkest hour, there is always a beacon of hope’: Guterres
UN chief Antonio Guterres says “even in the darkest hour, there is always a beacon of hope and an opportunity to find solutions that benefit everyone.”
In a tweet, he welcomed the extension of the Black Sea grain deal for an additional two months, a day before it was set to expire.
I welcome the confirmation by the Russian Federation to continue its participation in the Black Sea Initiative for another 60 days.
Even in the darkest hours, there is always a beacon of hope & an opportunity to find solutions that benefit everyone.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) May 17, 2023
Kyrgyz mercenary who fought with Russia in Ukraine jailed
A Kyrgyz court has handed a 10-year sentence to a man who fought for Russia in Ukraine, at a time when Moscow is trying to boost recruitment of people from ex-Soviet Central Asian countries.
A court in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, said it found a 32-year-old man guilty of mercenarism and sentenced him to 10 years in prison, in a decision announced late Tuesday.
The court established that the man, who denied taking part in hostilities, had been in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region between June and November last year, for which he was paid 180,000 rubles ($2,250) per month plus an assurance of a Russian passport.
Dozens of nationals of Central Asian countries have been killed in Ukraine in recent months, local media say, most of them after joining the ranks of the Russian army or Wagner, a private military group.
More than 30.2 million tonnes of grain transported through Black Sea grain corridor
More than 30.2 million tonnes of grain have so far been transported by 951 ships as part of the Black Sea grain deal, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency has reported, according to data collected by the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul.
The first ship loaded with grain departed from Ukraine’s port city of Odesa on August 1. The JCC was established in July to monitor the safe transfer of grain from Ukrainian ports via the Black Sea.
UN chief says issues remain after Black Sea grain deal renewed
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the extension of a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain for another 60 days, but noted that outstanding issues remained.
“The continuation is good news for the world,” Guterres told reporters. “Looking ahead, we hope that exports of food and fertilisers, including ammonia, from the Russian Federation and Ukraine will be able to reach global supply chains safely and predictably.”
He said that Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN would continue to engage in discussions on the topic.
Extension of the Black Sea grain deal ‘is fragile’: AJ correspondent
Reporting from Istanbul, Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu says that while the Black Sea Grain deal has been extended for two more months, the deal is still fragile.
“The latest extension for two months comes after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation. But early in the morning, Kremlin spokesperson Peskov said that until we hear a statement from the Kremlin, everything was on hold,” she said.
“But the duration of the extension which has now been announced for just two months and not three months, shows us that this deal is fragile until Russian demands are met,” she said.
The UN-brokered Black Sea Grain deal was due to expire on May 18 with Russia threatening not to extend it until its agricultural demands linked to the deal were met.
After the extension of the deal, Russia’s envoy to the UN said that the Kremlin agreed to an extension because they “had not lost hope” that Moscow’s demands linked to the deal will not be resolved.
Ukraine tells Chinese envoy it would not cede its territories to end the war with Russia
Ukraine’s foreign minister has told China’s top Chinese envoy Li Hui who was in Kyiv to talk about a political settlement to end the war, that Kyiv would not accept any proposals to end the war with Russia that involved it losing territories.
Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia visited Ukraine between May 16 and May 17 and met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine welcomes Black Sea Grain deal extension
Ukraine has welcomed the extension of the Black Sea grain deal but warned that Russia must not be allowed to sabotage the deal by using food “as a weapon and blackmail”.
“We welcome the continuation of the Initiative, but emphasise that it must work effectively,” Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov added on Facebook.
‘Our assessment regarding the Black Sea Grain deal has not changed’: Kremlin spokeswoman
Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says that Russia agreed to extend the Black Sea grain deal for two months to help countries in need.
But she highlighted that Moscow’s assessment of the deal has not changed.
Earlier, Russia had threatened not to extend the grain deal until its “systemic concerns” regarding its agricultural demands had been resolved.
Russia’s UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya also stressed that the deal was extended because Russia has “not lost hope” that its problems linked to the deal will not be sorted out.
Russian shelling in Kherson region kills a child: Ukraine’s Yermak
Russian shelling has killed a child in the Kherson region according to the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak.
“This happened as a result of shelling in Zelenivka. Her father carried her to the hospital in his arms,” he said in a statement on Telegram.
Yermak added that more people were also injured.
Turkey’s Erdogan says Black Sea Grain deal extended for two more months
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the Black Sea grain deal between Ukraine and Russia has been extended for two more months.
Erdogan’s comments, made in a speech to officials of his governing AK Party, came after the last ship left a Ukrainian port under the deal. The agreement, which allows Ukrainian ships to export grain and fertilisers from their Black Sea ports, was due to expire on Thursday.
Russia’s foreign ministry says the Kremlin will comment on the extension of the deal later.
Russia and Belarus reaffirm commitment to nuclear non-proliferation treaty: TASS
Russia and Belarus have reaffirmed their commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) according to a report by Russian state news agency TASS.
The NPT aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and technology.
In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he intended to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, heightening fears in the West.
But Minsk said the Russian nuclear plans would not contravene international non-proliferation agreements as Belarus itself would not have control over the weapons.
‘Any decision to send F-16 jets to Ukraine will fall on the White House’: UK and Germany
UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace told reporters in Berlin that any decision to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine would come from Washington.
His comments came after a meeting with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, who shared a similar view.
Earlier, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte agreed to build an international coalition to provide Kyiv with F-16s fighter jets.
South Africa’s Ramaphosa wants to come to Ukraine on a ‘peace initiative’: Zelenskyy’s spokesperson
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa wants to come to Ukraine on a “peace initiative” according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s spokesperson Sergii Nykyforov.
In an interview with local newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, he confirmed that “during a telephone conversation on May 13, the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa informed Volodymyr Zelensky about the intention to come to Ukraine as part of a mission from several African countries.”
‘Important to signal Russia that we have no objection to supply Ukraine what it needs: UK’s Wallace
British Defence Minister Ben Wallace says that it is important to show Russia that countries in the West are ready to cater to Ukraine’s needs, as the war rages on.
He said that the United Kingdom can support Ukraine’s military by enabling other countries which wish to supply fighter jets and other military equipment to Ukraine to do so.
“What we can obviously contribute is training and support, again, within limits, because we don’t have F-16 pilots,” Wallace said at a news conference in Berlin with his German counterpart when asked about international plans to send jets to Ukraine.
Earlier, the UK and the Netherlands pledged to support Ukraine further by agreeing to build an “international coalition” to provide fighter jet support, but said there was no progress to report in international talks on the possible delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
Hungary will block further EU military support to Ukraine and new sanctions on Russia
Hungary’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, says that Budapest will block the next tranche of EU military support to Ukraine and any new sanctions package on Russia until Kyiv removes Hungarian bank OTP from its list of war sponsors.
On Tuesday, Hungary declined to approve the disbursement of the next tranche of military support for Ukraine provided under the EU’s European Peace Facility (EPF), saying that Budapest “does not agree with the fact that the EU, along with other existing tools, uses the European Peace Facility solely with regard to Ukraine as this does not allow sufficient funds to be channelled to promote the EU’s interests in other areas”.
The EU has provided a total of about 3.6 billion euros ($3.9bn) in military support for Ukraine so far under the EPF.
High probability of grain deal extension: Turkish source to Reuters
A senior Turkish source says that talks on Ukraine’s Black Sea grain deal are continuing and he saw a high probability of it being extended, according to a Reuters report.
The deal between Russia and Ukraine, brokered by the UN and Turkey last year, is set to expire on May 18.
Meanwhile, RIA Novosti also reported that online talks were on and a decision could be made on Wednesday.
Russia claims British-made L-119 howitzer destroyed in Ukraine: TASS
Russia’s defence ministry says a British-made L-119 howitzer used in Ukraine has been destroyed by Russian troops, according to a report by Russian state news agency TASS.
The UK is yet to verify claims on the destruction of the long-range missile.
The comments come after the UK pledged to send more long-range missiles to Ukraine earlier this week.
Russian forces continue to fight in western parts of Bakhmut: RIA
Russia’s defence ministry says its forces continue to capture towns in the western parts of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, according to a report by Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti.
The ministry said Russian forces hit a large ammunition depot in the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv overnight.