Russia-Ukraine conflict: Zelenskiy vows to punish assault on civilians in Irpin; Russia bombards Mykolaiv – stay | World information

This, from Reuters:

Russian shelling is stopping the evacuation of civilians from Kyiv, Mariupol, Sumy, Kharkiv, Volnovakha and Mykolayiv, Ukraine’s overseas ministry has stated.

“This prevents the protected passage of humanitarian columns with Ukrainian and overseas residents, in addition to the supply of medicines and meals,” it stated in a press release.

The ministry known as on overseas leaders to pressure Russia to watch a ceasefire to stop what it stated could possibly be a humanitarian disaster.

As Simon Speakman Cordall and Lizzy Davies level out on this piece, the consequences of the conflict within the Ukraine are already being felt within the Center East and north Africa …

Issues are rising throughout the Center East and north Africa that the conflict in Ukraine will ship costs of staple meals hovering as wheat provides are hit, doubtlessly fuelling unrest. Russia and Ukraine provide 1 / 4 of the world’s wheat exports, whereas Egypt is the world’s greatest importer of wheat.

In Tunisia, like many individuals queueing for bread in Tunis’s sprawling medina, or previous city, Khmaes Ammani, a day labourer, stated the rising price of dwelling was leaving him squeezed. “There’s by no means any cash on the finish of the month,” he stated. “I even need to borrow some. Every thing is getting dearer.”

Almost half of Tunisia’s wheat imports come from Ukraine, and the Russian invasion has despatched costs to a 14-year excessive. Although the Tunisian state controls the value of bread, folks worry they are going to inevitably really feel the crunch.

“If the value of bread goes up, it’ll imply cutbacks elsewhere,” stated Ammani. “We’d like the bread.”

The Russian rouble has slumped to new document lows in opposition to the greenback and euro at this time, shedding over a 3rd of its worth to this point this 12 months. The rouble traded at 131.25 per greenback and 143.3 per euro on Monday morning.

The slide comes as extra worldwide companies say they’re pulling out of Russia over the nation’s invasion of Ukraine.

On Monday, Finnish meals group big Valio stated it was quitting the Russian market, whereas accounting companies PwC and KPMG additionally introduced over the weekend they have been halting their operations in Russia, amid an exodus of western corporations from the nation.

“We strongly condemn Russia’s invasion of unbiased Ukraine,” the Valio president and CEO, Annikka Hurme, stated.

Earlier, a string of worldwide companies together with Toyota, Honda, Nike, Apple, Exxon, Ford, Netflix and Ikea stated they have been stopping their work in Russia.

Analysts have provided a bleak forecast of the nation’s economic system within the face of unprecedented western sanctions.

The Institute for Worldwide Finance (IIF) final week predicted a 15% contraction in Russia’s GDP in 2022, double the decline the nation noticed from the worldwide monetary disaster.

“We see dangers as tilted to the draw back. Russia won’t ever be the identical once more,” wrote IIF’s chief economist, Robin Brooks.

The Ukrainian envoy to Israel has voiced frustration with its refusal to offer what his nation deems defensive assist in opposition to Russia, donning a helmet at a information convention and asking rhetorically how such tools could possibly be considered deadly.

However Yevgen Korniychuk additionally expressed gratitude for Israel’s efforts to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, saying this outweighed any potential army help from it.

Whereas condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Israel has restricted itself to humanitarian reduction and stored open channels to Moscow. The Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett, held shock talks with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, there on Saturday.

“Everybody should do all the things, all the things of their capability to cease this horrible human tragedy, which nobody thought we’d see in our lifetimes,” Bennett, who has disclosed few particulars concerning the three-hour Kremlin assembly, instructed a convention.

Koriychuk stated Bennett had pledged to attempt to dealer peace “even when there is only one per cent [chance] of success”.

“That is far more vital than, for instance, gross sales of weapons or munitions, et cetera, that we’re nonetheless combating (about) with the Israeli authorities,” the diplomat stated, including that Kyiv understood Bennett’s limitations on the help problem.

Nonetheless, Koriychuk famous that Ukraine additionally had an unmet request for Israeli protecting vests and helmets, one in all which he stood to put on his head as he spoke:

Please inform me, how one can kill with this factor? That is merely not potential. So I don’t know what these persons are afraid of. To supply private safety for Ukrainians … that’s the only factor they’ll do.

Russia has stated anybody offering deadly weaponry for Ukraine to make use of within the combating “will bear duty”. The Russian embassy in Israel declined touch upon the Putin-Bennett assembly.

(By way of Reuters)

European Union leaders will focus on Ukraine’s utility to affix the 27-nation bloc within the coming days, the chairman of EU summits, Charles Michel, stated in a tweet on Monday.

“The EU’s solidarity, friendship and unprecedented help for Ukraine are unwavering. We are going to focus on Ukraine’s membership utility in coming days,” he stated.

EU leaders are scheduled to debate the conflict in Ukraine and the nation’s bid to affix the EU at an off-the-cuff summit in Paris on Thursday.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has stated that the scenario in Ukraine is getting worse each day and that France will proceed to place strain on Russia by sanctions.

“The scenario is worsening every day. Folks die, fatigue settles in … we now have not managed to acquire a ceasefire,” Macron instructed LCI tv.

Russia introduced new “humanitarian corridors” on Monday to move Ukrainians trapped underneath its bombardment – to Russia itself and its ally Belarus, in a transfer which was instantly denounced by Kyiv as an immoral stunt.

Polish planes “won’t struggle over Ukraine” to help the embattled nation’s defence in opposition to Russia, Polish authorities officers stated on Monday.

Marcin Przydacz, a deputy overseas minister, stated in an interview on Radio Zet:

We won’t open our airports and Polish planes won’t struggle over Ukraine … Polish planes won’t struggle over Ukraine.

However, individually, the federal government’s spokesman Piotr Mueller indicated a last resolution had not been made, the Related Press reported. He stated that the choice on whether or not to ship fighter jets introduced dangers and was a “very delicate matter’.

The feedback come after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, requested the US to assist Kyiv get extra warplanes to struggle Russia’s invasion and retain management of its airspace.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, stated Washington was taking a look at a proposal underneath which Poland would provide Kyiv with Soviet-era fighters and in flip obtain American F-16s to make up for his or her loss.

Poland has been lower than enthusiastic concerning the concept, a minimum of publicly, largely as a result of Russia has warned that supporting Ukraine’s air pressure could be seen in Moscow as taking part within the conflict and will create a danger of retaliation.

Italy’s prime minister has known as for European Union nations to behave swiftly with sanctions in opposition to Russian people and corporations following Moscow’s assault on Ukraine.

“And now we now have to behave, all of us, with pace on this level,” Mario Draghi stated in Brussels briefly feedback to reporters forward of a gathering with European Fee president, Ursula von der Leyen.

On Saturday, the Italian authorities stated police seized villas and yachts value €143m (£118) from 5 high-profile Russians who have been positioned on sanctions lists.

In separate remarks after assembly Von der Leyen, Draghi stated Italy, France and Germany have been swiftly implementing sanctions in opposition to Russian oligarchs, whereas “others much less so”. He didn’t give additional particulars, Reuters reported.

“We don’t rule out extra sanctions, however we didn’t focus on this (with Von der Leyen),” Draghi stated.