Page 121 - Latest Updates on Ukraine peace talks

Chicago wheat falls after Russian attack on Ukraine port renews worries

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell 15 cents at $6.37-1/4 a bushel by 10:15 a.m. (1615 GMT), its lowest since July 13 after earlier rising nearly 5%

Few options left for Ukraine farmers looking to export grain after attacks

The summer winds carried the smell of burned grain across the southern Ukrainian steppe and away from the shards of three Russian cruise missiles that struck the unassuming metal hangars. The agricultural company Ivushka applied for accreditation to export grain this year, but the strike in mid-July destroyed a large portion of the stock, days after Russia abandoned the grain deal that would have allowed the shipments across the Black Sea without fear of attack. Men shirtless and barefoot, with blackened soles from ash, swept unburnt grain into piles and awaited the loader, whose driver deftly steered around twisted metal shrapnel, bits of missile and craters despite his shattered windshield. They hoped to beat the next rain to rescue what was left of the crop. According to the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office, Russia struck the facility July 21 with three Kalibr- and Onyx-class cruise missiles. We don't have a clue why they did it, explained Olha Romanova, the head of Ivushka. .

Overnight drone attack on Moscow injures 1, prompts airport closure

Russian authorities say three Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow in the early hours on Sunday, injuring one person and prompting a temporary closure of one of four airports around the Russian capital. The Russian Defense Ministry referred to the incident as an attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime" and said three drones targeted the city. One was shot down in the surrounding Moscow region by air defense systems and two others were jammed. Those two crashed into the Moscow City business district in the capital. Photos from the site of the crash showed the facade of a skyscraper damaged on one floor. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the attack insignificantly damaged the outsides of two buildings in the Moscow City district. A security guard was injured, Russia's state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials. No flights went into or out of the Vnukovo airport on the southern outskirts of the city for about an hour, according to Tass, and the air space over Moscow

G7 nations' position on war in Ukraine will remain same, says Japan

Japan on Friday said the position of the G7 nations on the war in Ukraine will remain same and it is up to the Indian presidency of the G20 to build consensus on the text to refer to the crisis in the leaders' declaration to be adopted at the upcoming summit of the grouping. India, the current president of the G20, is facing the uphill task of building consensus on the issue in view of sharp differences between the West and Russia-China. Yukiko Okano, the deputy press secretary in Japan's foreign ministry, told reporters in Delhi that the Ukraine crisis figured in the talks between Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on Thursday evening. Okano, who is accompanying Hayashi in his two-day visit to India, said at a media briefing that the G7's position on Ukraine will not change. "I think our position will remain the same as G7 countries, whichever forum we would voice out our concerns and our objection relating to Ukraine," she said. "

Biden thanks far-right Italian Premier Meloni for her support of Ukraine

President Joe Biden on Thursday thanked far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni for Italy's steady backing of Ukraine, offering a warm welcome to the White House to a leader that his administration saw with some trepidation when she rose to power last year as the head of Italy's first far-right-led government since the end of World War II. Biden administration concerns about her ideology have been eased by her support for Ukraine and her seeming openness to pull back from Italy's participation in China's infrastructure-building Belt and Road Initiative. Her visit came as Italy prepares to take up the presidency next year of the Group of Seven industrialized nations. Italy and the United States are also standing strong with Ukraine, and I compliment you on your very strong support in defending against Russian atrocities, and that's what they are," Biden told Meloni at the start of their Oval Office meeting. And I thank the Italian people. I want to thank them for supporting you and supportin

Kyiv said to have launched major push against Russian forces in southeast

Kyiv has launched a major push to dislodge Russian forces from southeastern Ukraine as part of its weeks-long counteroffensive, committing thousands of troops to the battle in the country's southeast, according to Western and Ukrainian officials and analysts. The surge in troops and firepower has been centreed on the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, a Western official said late Wednesday. The official was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. Fighting has intensified in recent weeks at multiple points along the 1,500-kilometre (930-mile) front line as Ukraine deploys Western-supplied advanced weapons and Western-trained troops against the deeply entrenched Russian forces who invaded 17 months ago. Ukrainian officials have been mostly silent about battlefield developments since they began early counteroffensive operations, though Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said troops are advancing toward the city of Melitopol in Zaporizhizh

Obscure traders ship half of Russia's oil to India, China after sanctions

The new owner of the 100,000 tonnes of Urals crude carried on the Leopard I was a similarly low-profile outfit, Guron Trading, also based in Hong Kong, according two trading sources

Russia refuses to speak at UN on attacks on Ukraine's port city of Odesa

In an escalation of Russia's anger at Ukraine and its Western backers, Russia refused to speak at a U.N. Security Council meeting called to disuss Moscow's recent devastating attacks on the key port of Odesa immediately following its refusal to extend the Black Sea grain deal. The confrontation began at the start of a council session called by Russia on the divided Orthodox Church in Ukraine. Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky ,protested that Britain, which holds the council presidency, was allowing only two briefers and Moscow wanted a third Archbishop Gideon of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Ukrainian government has cracked down on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church over its historic ties to the Russian Orthodox Church, whose leader, Patriarch Kirill, supported Russian President Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine. Polyansky accused the UK of bias, censorship and obstruction for limiting the number of briefers. Deputy British ambassador James Kariuki respon

Ukraine's security service claims responsibility for Crimea bridge blast

Ukraine's security service claimed responsibility for the first time on Wednesday for an explosion that badly damaged the Kerch Bridge linking the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula with Russia last October. The explosion, which Russian authorities said was caused by a truck bomb, left three people dead. Speaking on Ukrainian national television on Wednesday, Ukrainian Security Service head Vasyl Malyuk said his agency was behind the attack. There were many different operations, special operations. We'll be able to speak about some of them publicly and out loud after the victory, we will not talk at all about others, Malyuk said. It is one of our actions, namely the destruction of the Crimean bridge on October 8 last year. A further attack on the bridge last week, killing a couple and seriously wounding their daughter, left a span of the roadway hanging perilously. The damage initially appeared to be less severe than what was caused by the assault in October, but it highlighted th

BRICS' NBD not considering new projects in Russia, says bank head

The New Development Bank (NDB), the multilateral bank set up by the BRICS states, is not considering new projects in Russia

Istanbul to Goa: G20 nations avoid uniform approach in energy transition

Countries rarely agree on global policy, causing differences that have lingered on

Anger grows in Odesa after Russian bombardment hits beloved historic sites

Tetiana Khlapova's hand trembled as she recorded the wreckage of Odesa's devastated Transfiguration Cathedral on her cellphone and cursed Russia, her native land. Khlapova was raised in Ukraine and had always dreamed of living in the seaside city. But not as the war refugee that she has become. In only a week, Russia has fired dozens of missiles and drones at the Odesa region. None struck quite as deeply as the one that destroyed the cathedral, which stands at the heart of the city's romantic, notorious past and its deep roots in both Ukrainian and Russian culture. I am a refugee from Kharkiv. I endured that hell and came to sunny Odesa, the pearl, the heart of our Ukraine, said Khlapova, who has lived in the country for 40 of her 50 years. Her neck still has a shrapnel scar from the third day of the war, when her apartment was hit. On Day 4, she fled to Odesa. Now, she's making a quick trip back to her place in Kharkiv to grab winter clothes so she can wait out the war in Ireland

US to send up to $400 million in military aid to Ukraine, say officials

The Biden administration is sending up to USD 400 million in additional military aid to Ukraine, including a variety of munitions for advanced air defence systems and a number of small, surveillance Hornet drones, US officials said Monday, as attacks in the war escalated to include strikes in Moscow and Crimea. The package includes an array of ammunition ranging from missiles for the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) to Stingers and Javelins. The weapons are being provided through presidential drawdown authority, which allows the Pentagon to quickly take items from its own stocks and deliver them to Ukraine, often within days. Officials said the US is also sending howitzer artillery rounds and 32 Stryker armoured vehicles, along with demolition equipment, mortars, Hydra-70 rockets and 28 million rounds of small arms ammunition. The Hornets are tiny nano-drones that are used largely for intelligence ...

'Terrorism', says Russia as Ukraine drones hit 2 buildings near Army HQ

"I was asleep and was woken up by a blast, everything started shaking," Polina, a young woman who lives near the high-rise building told Reuters.

Historic Ukraine cathedral hit as Russian forces strike Odesa again

Putin hosts Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, says Kyiv's counteroffensive has failed

Most members of G20 Energy meeting condemned war in Ukraine: Chair

Most members at the G20 Energy Transitions Ministerial meeting, which was held in Goa on Saturday, strongly condemned the Ukraine war and stressed it is causing immense human suffering, the chair of the meeting said. In an outcome document released after the meeting, the chair said most members expressed that the war was exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy, constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity, and elevating financial stability risks. Union minister of power and new and renewable energy R K Singh was the chair of the meeting. India holds the G20 presidency this year. The war in Ukraine has adversely impacted the global economy, said the document. We reiterated our national positions as expressed in other fora, including the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, it said. The outcome document referred to Resolution No. ES-11/1 dated 2 March 2022, as adopted by majority vote that ...

Bulgaria agrees to send heavy military equipment to Ukraine amid war

Bulgaria has agreed to provide the Ukrainian army with some 100 armoured personnel carriers, marking a turnaround in its policy on sending military equipment to the country to aid Kyiv's battle against the Russian invasion. The parliament in Sofia late Friday approved by 148 votes to 52 the government's proposal to make the first shipment of heavy military equipment to Ukraine since the beginning of the war. This equipment is no longer necessary for the needs of Bulgaria, and it can be of serious support to Ukraine in its battle to preserve the country's independence and territorial integrity after the unjustified and unprovoked Russian aggression, the Parliament's decision said. The Soviet-made armoured vehicles were delivered in the 1980s to Bulgaria then an ally of the Soviet Union in the Warsaw Pact. Bulgaria, which joined NATO in 2004, still maintains stocks of Soviet-designed weapons and has numerous factories making ammunition for them. Although Parliament approved in the

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Russia raises interest rates to 8.5% signalling high borrowing costs

The central bank on Friday lifted its benchmark to 8.5 per cent from 7.5 per cent, more than any forecast in a Bloomberg survey

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