Biden condemned by human rights groups for approving cluster munitions to Ukraine; Zelenskiy secures Turkey’s backing for Nato membership
US president Joe Biden has been condemned by human rights groups after agreeing to send widely banned cluster munitions to Ukraine, with one fellow Democrat labelling the decision “unnecessary and a terrible mistake”. Washington said it has received assurances from Kyiv that it would minimise risk to civilians, including by not using the munitions in populated areas. Biden said the decision was “very difficult”, but that Ukrainian forces were “running out of ammunition”.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has secured Turkey’s crucial backing for Ukraine’s pledge to join Nato during his meeting with president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul. “There is no doubt that Ukraine deserves membership of Nato,” Erdogan said. Turkey’s support could threaten its ties with Russia after the Kremlin warned it was watching Zelenskiy’s visit “very closely”. Erdogan said he will personally brief Putin on the negotiations when the Russian president visits next month.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog chief said it was “making progress” on inspecting several areas of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, after Ukraine claimed that “external objects similar to explosive devices” had been placed on rooftops at the site. UN officials said they had “not seen any indications of explosives or mines” while touring the cooling ponds and other areas, but have yet to visit the facility’s rooftops.
Nato leaders will publicly recommit to Ukraine becoming a member of the military alliance when they meet in Vilnius on Tuesday, according to the organisation’s secretary general. US president Joe Biden said he does not think there is “unanimity in Nato” to bring Ukraine into the military alliance. Zelenskiy has also criticised Nato over a lack of “unity” which he says explains the failure to provide a guarantee for Ukraine’s membership.
If Russia does not agree to extend a deal allowing the safe export of grain and fertiliser from Ukrainian ports, it is unlikely western states will continue cooperating with UN officials helping Moscow with its exports, the UN aid chief said. Russia has threatened to quit the deal, which expires on 17 July, because several demands to dispatch its own grain and fertiliser have not been met. The last three ships traveling under the deal are loading cargoes at the Ukrainian port of Odesa and are likely to depart on Monday.
More than 9,000 Ukrainian civilians, including in excess of 500 children, are confirmed to have died since the beginning of Russia’s invasion, according to the latest United Nations data. However, the true figures are likely much higher.
A report by the Kyiv School of Economics and B4Ukraine, a coalition of NGOs which lobbies international businesses to leave Russia, said that 56% of foreign companies were still operating in the country last year despite the exodus of a significant minority. However, Russia’s earnings from oil and gas sales have fallen by half.
