Ukraine war in the live ticker: +++ 04:16 UN: Will do everything possible to extend the grain agreement +++

Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 04:16 UN: Will do everything possible to extend the grain agreement +++

The head of the UN agency, Martin Griffiths, tells the UN Security Council that the United Nations will do everything it can to ensure that the grain deal concluded between Russia and Ukraine is extended. This is crucial for global food security. The agreement signed on July 22, 2022, which allows the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports, expires today, Saturday. The two warring parties had agreed in principle on Tuesday to extend the agreement. However, Russia spoke of 60 days, Ukraine of 120 days.

+++ 03:28 DOSB continues to exclude Russia and Belarus from the Olympic Games +++
The German Olympic Sports Confederation continues to speak out against a return of Russia and Belarus to the world stage of sport. This was announced by the presidium of the DOSB after a meeting in Hanover, at which there was also an exchange with the conference of state sports associations. “Russia and Belarus must not be given the opportunity to abuse the participation and successes of their athletes in international competitions for war propaganda purposes,” the association announced. In the past few weeks, the Presidium has dealt intensively with the possible re-admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes for international competitions. There was an exchange with member organizations, athletes’ representatives, business partners and experts from politics and science. A legal opinion would have strengthened the Presidium in its previous position, explained DOSB President Thomas Weikert: “We are still in favor of the exclusion Olympic Committee for its consultations.”

+++ 02:06 am IMF changes rules in favor of a loan program for Ukraine +++
The International Monetary Fund is changing its rules to allow the IMF to approve lending programs for countries facing “exceptionally high levels of uncertainty.” The changes to the IMF’s lending policy rules would apply to countries “exposed to exogenous shocks that are beyond the control of the country’s authorities and the reach of its economic policies,” the IMF said in a statement. The move paves the way for a new lending program for Ukraine. The country is seeking an IMF financing package worth around $15 billion. The rules of the International Monetary Fund, which are designed to deal with economic crises in individual countries, have so far not allowed such loans for countries that are exposed to massive uncertainties due to major wars or repeated natural disasters as a result of climate change.

+++ 01:34 Biden calls Putin arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court “justified” +++
US President Joe Biden says the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin as “justified”. The move sends “a very strong signal,” Biden told reporters in Washington. The ICC announced on Friday that it had issued an arrest warrant against Putin and his child rights commissioner Maria Alexeyevna Lvowa-Belowa for kidnapping Ukrainian children to Russia during the Ukraine war. However, neither the US nor Russia recognize the legitimacy of the ICC.

Here you can read more about it.

+++ 00:22 NATO Secretary General confident: Sweden will be admitted soon +++
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says he is confident Turkey and Hungary will agree to Sweden joining the alliance after giving the green light to Finland’s membership. “I am confident that Sweden will be included soon and I will work hard for that,” he tells Reuters.

+++ 23:31 USA resume drone flights over the Black Sea +++
The US has resumed surveillance flights with unmanned drones over the Black Sea. This is announced by two employees of the US government. An RQ-4 Global Hawk drone flew over the region on Friday. One of the staff said it was the first drone flight since Tuesday’s incident, when a Russian fighter jet grazed a US drone and crashed it.

+++ 22:19 Kremlin: All NATO fighter jets in Ukraine are destroyed +++
Russia has responded with threats to the decision by Poland and Slovakia to deliver MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. All fighter jets sent by NATO countries would be destroyed, says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “Of course, the delivery of this equipment cannot affect the outcome of the special military operation, but it can cause additional difficulties for Ukraine itself and the Ukrainian people,” he told Russian state television.

+++ 21:50 Slovak opposition protests against deliveries of fighter jets +++
The Slovakian government’s decision to hand over MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine has sparked outrage among the country’s opposition. Both the two social-democratic opposition parties and the right-wing populists are threatening legal action. The concern is that with the delivery of combat aircraft, Slovakia itself will be drawn into the war. Previous polls had already shown that a clear majority of the Slovakian population is against the delivery of combat aircraft.

+++ 21:18 EU countries want to buy grenades together +++
Several EU countries want to sign an agreement on the joint purchase of shells on Monday. That explains a high-ranking EU employee. It is expected that many of the 27 EU countries will support the so-called project agreement. The procurement of 155 mm artillery shells should also benefit Ukraine.

+++ 20:46 Selenskyj calls Putin’s arrest warrant “historic decision” +++
“This is a historic decision,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to him, far more than 16,000 children have been abducted. “It would have been impossible to carry out such a criminal operation without the consent of the man at the head of the terrorist state,” he says in his nightly video address.

+++ 20:18 NATO official: Russia loses up to 1500 soldiers every day +++
Russia is suffering massive losses in its current offensive in Ukraine. A NATO official assumes up to 1,500 casualties per day on the Russian side, reports the British “Guardian”. Accordingly, most of the casualties are in the heavily contested city of Bakhmut. Ukraine, on the other hand, suffered far fewer casualties. The official adds that it is unclear how long the battle over Bakhmut will continue.

+++ 19:45 UN: Putin after arrest warrant no persona non grata +++
The United Nations has avoided a direct response to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague against Russian President Vladimir Putin. The spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, simply says that Putin is not persona non grata for the UN chief because of the decision: “The Secretary-General will always speak to anyone who needs to be spoken to.” Dujarric also emphasizes that the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the United Nations are separate organizations.

You can read earlier developments in the Ukraine war here.

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