04/28/2022
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 01:19 Selenskyj warns: Russia uses trade as a weapon +++
After the Russian freeze on gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned foreign countries against becoming dependent on Russian imports. “This week the Russian leadership started a new series of energy blackmail against the Europeans,” Zelenskyy said in a video message. The delivery stop is “another argument that nobody in Europe can hope for normal economic cooperation with Russia”. “Russia considers not only gas, but also any other trade as a weapon.” For this, Moscow is just waiting for a favorable moment. “Either to politically blackmail the Europeans. Or to strengthen the Russian war machine, which sees a united Europe as the goal,” said Zelenskyj. The sooner Europe realizes that it cannot be dependent on Russia for trade, the sooner the stability of the European markets will be guaranteed.
+++ 00:33 helicopter for Ukraine: Russia accuses USA of breach of contract +++
Russia protests against US transfer of Russian-made helicopters to Ukraine. The 2011 contract stipulates that the helicopters are intended for Afghanistan and may only be transferred to other countries with Russian approval, according to the Russian authority responsible for military-technical cooperation, FSWTS. A delivery to the Ukraine is illegal and a gross breach of contract. Before the start of the Russian war of aggression at the end of February, the USA had already given Ukraine five of the Mi-17 helicopters originally intended for Afghanistan, which were no longer used there after the Taliban took power. In mid-April, Washington announced that it would send eleven more helicopters to Kyiv.
+++ 23:52 Transnistria denies reports about general mobilization +++
The president of the separatist republic of Transnistria in east Moldova, Vadim Krasnoselsky, has dismissed reports that he had announced general mobilization. Nor is it true that he banned men of military age from leaving the country. Russia, which supports the separatists in Transnistria, had threatened to intervene after reports of acts of sabotage in Transnistria.
+++ 23:14 Selenskyj thanks the EU for plans to suspend import duties +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomes plans by the EU to stop levying import duties on goods from Ukraine for the time being. This will allow the country to maintain its economic activity and production as much as possible despite the Russian war of aggression. He is grateful to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and “all our European friends” for this step, said Selenskyj. He again accuses Russia of wanting to create “chaos” on the world’s food markets and instigating a “global price crisis.” The European waiver of import duties is an important tool for stabilizing the European and world markets.
+++ 22:27 International Criminal Court receives no response from Russia +++
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court criticizes the communication with Russia about atrocities in Ukraine. “I have sent three communications to the Russian Federation. I have received no reply,” Karim Khan said at a UN Security Council meeting in New York. The meeting will look at how Russia can be held accountable for violating the laws of war. Khan stressed that the basic rights of civilians must be protected in the face of possible war crimes and that his office is acting neither on behalf of Ukraine nor Russia.
+++ 22:13 USA help countries when grain deliveries fail +++
The US wants to help poor countries affected by war-related grain shortages. The US Department of Agriculture and the US agency for foreign aid USAID want to raise a total of 700 million dollars (663 million euros), as both institutions announce. The money is intended for emergency measures in Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen. Russia and Ukraine together account for a quarter of global grain exports. Due to foreseeable crop failures, prices have risen significantly.
You can read about previous developments here.