Black Sea grain deal extended; China notifies Beijing foreign missions not to display ‘politicised propaganda’
The Black Sea grain deal has been extended for two more months, in what the UN secretary general, António Guterres, hailed as “good news for the world”. It comes a day before Russia might have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, told a top Chinese envoy at talks in Kyiv on Wednesday that Ukraine would not accept any proposals to end the war that involved losing territory or freezing the conflict, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said. Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, visited Ukraine on 16-17 May.
China has notified several foreign missions in Beijing not to display “politicised propaganda” on their buildings, diplomats have told Reuters, adding the request appeared aimed at Ukrainian flags flown since Russia’s invasion.
The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has asked EU governments to add €3.5bn (US$3.85bn) to the European Peace Facility (EPF), a fund used to finance military aid for Ukraine, EU sources have said. The EPF has already allocated €4.6bn in military aid for Ukraine.
Hungary, though, said it would block the next tranche of EU military support and any new sanctions against Russia unless Ukraine removes Hungarian bank OTP from its list of war sponsors.
Britain can support Ukraine’s military by enabling other countries that wish to supply fighter jets and other military equipment to do so, the British defence minister has said. “What we can obviously contribute is training and support, again, within limits, because we don’t have F16 pilots,” Ben Wallace said at a press conference in Berlin with his German counterpart when asked about international plans to send jets to Ukraine.
The Dutch foreign minister said there was no progress to report in international talks on the possible delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. “We haven’t reached a solution yet,” Wopke Hoekstra said on Wednesday in response to questions about earlier announced talks of the Dutch with the UK, Denmark, Belgium and other partners.
The German government is looking into mechanisms to secure war damages for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including the possibility of using Russian assets, a government spokesperson said. The chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was among European leaders who agreed to set up a register of damages during a meeting in Reykjavik, Reuters reported.
Belarus, one of Russia’s closest allies, has partially restored controls on their border, Belarusian foreign minister Sergei Aleinik said on Wednesday. This is the first time in 28 years there have been checks at the 770-mile border, AP reported. According to Aleinik, it is to avoid the entry of third-country nationals into Belarus, ahead of the implementation of an intergovernmental agreement on the mutual recognition of visas.
The number of Kazakhs who believe neighbouring Russia may invade the former Soviet republic has doubled over the past six months, an opinion poll by Kazakh researchers showed on Wednesday. The central Asian country of 20 million has close ties with Moscow but has maintained neutrality in the Ukrainian conflict, refusing to recognise Russia’s annexations.
Ukraine denied on Wednesday that a Russian hypersonic missile had destroyed a US-made Patriot missile defence system during an airstrike on Kyiv. Two US officials said a Patriot system had probably been damaged but did not appear to have been destroyed.
The Ukrainian military spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi has claimed Ukrainians have made new advances in Bakhmut. Reuters quotes Cherevatyi saying: “We are successfully conducting a defensive operation, counterattacking and during this day our units have penetrated up to 500 metres in some parts of the Bakhmut front.”
