This happened last nightUS President Joe Biden said last night that temporary grain silos are being built along the border with Ukraine, including in Poland. The silos are needed to export more grain and tackle a growing global food crisis.
“I’m working closely with our European partners to get 20 million tons of grain on the market in Ukraine to lower food prices,” Biden said. Since the Russian invasion and blockade of Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, waterborne grain shipments have virtually come to a standstill, with more than 20 million tons trapped in silos. Ukraine is trying to export the grain via road trucks and via smaller ports in Romania and Bulgaria, but is running into capacity problems. The Ministry of Agriculture also indicates that it does not have enough silos for the storage of a new crop.
The war is pushing up prices for grains, cooking oil, fuel and fertilizer. Russia and Ukraine account for almost a third of the world’s wheat stocks. Ukraine is also a major exporter of maize and sunflower oil, Russia is a major exporter of fertilizers.
Biden said Washington is developing a plan with European allies to transport grain by rail. However, the track gauges in Ukraine are different from elsewhere in Europe, so the grain has to be transferred to different types of trains at the border. “So we’re going to build silos, temporary silos, on the borders of Ukraine, also in Poland.”
naval mines
Ukraine calls Biden’s plan “just one of the potentially useful steps to ensure food security.” “But we also need a green corridor for our ports,” Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky’s chief of staff said in an online post. Ukraine has always said that transport across the Black Sea is the best way to get grain exports going again.
However, the US and its allies are ruling out that route for now, Biden said. “The (grain) cannot get out through the Black Sea, because it is blown out of the water.” With that, the president referred to the many naval mines that Russia and Ukraine have laid since the start of the war. As a result, some 84 foreign ships are stuck in Ukrainian ports, often with grain on board. Ukraine does not intend to remove the mines for fear that the Russians will then launch an attack on Odessa via water.
Lack of military equipment
Croissants with rockets in the morning, sirens at night as lullabies, cities with a thousand-year history disappear
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar said on TV that Ukraine has so far received from abroad only 10 percent of the military equipment it needs to defend itself successfully. The Russians have much more men and weaponry at their disposal. According to her, Ukrainian artillery fires 5000 to 6000 shells every day, Russia about ten times as much.
“No matter how much Ukraine tries and how professional our army is, this war cannot be won without the help of partners,” Maljar said. She called on countries favoring Ukraine to set a clear timetable for the aid to be delivered.
Sirens as a lullaby
Presidential adviser Michailo Podoljak urged speed on Twitter. Croissants with rockets in the morning, sirens at night as lullabies, cities with a thousand-year history are disappearing. That will be the reality if the pace of arms deliveries continues.” Earlier this week, Podoljak showed via Twitter what is on the military wish list: including hundreds of new tanks, howitzers, drones and missile systems.
President Zelensky said in his daily video message last night that his troops in the east of the country (Donbas) “are suffering painful losses.” This is happening in the city of Shevyerodonetsk as well as in the Kharkov region. Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine is desperate for modern missile defenses. He added that there is no justification for Western partners to delay the delivery of those weapons.
Zelensky’s words do not fall on deaf ears. The NATO countries will supply Ukraine with more heavy weapons, Prime Minister Mark Rutte, his Danish colleague Mette Frederiksen and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg declared last night in The Hague. The number of heavy weapons heading towards Kiev will be increased, Stoltenberg said. No further concrete commitments were made. Dozens of countries are meeting in Brussels today to discuss military aid to Ukraine.
The meeting at the Catshuis was in preparation for the NATO summit in Madrid later this month. The seven government leaders present promised to strengthen NATO. According to Stoltenberg, the alliance must have more troops and equipment ready for combat, especially on the eastern flank.
The leaders also expressed their strong support for the accession of Sweden and Finland. Turkey still opposes the membership of both Nordic countries. According to Stoltenberg, the concerns of the government in Ankara should be taken seriously. He made it clear that the concerns of the Turks will continue to be looked at after the summit in Madrid.
Liquefied gas from Israel and Egypt
To reduce dependence on Russian energy, the European Union wants to work more closely with Israel. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Jerusalem that they wanted to expand cooperation on gas.
The European Commission today wants to sign a joint letter of intent for an energy agreement with Israel and Egypt on the supply of liquefied gas to Europe. From Israel, gas deliveries are planned via a pipeline to Egypt. There, the conversion to liquefied gas is planned, which in turn can be transported to the EU Member States.
British journalists blacklisted
Russia has 29 prominent British reporters and editors from, among others, the BBC, The Financial Times and The Guardian blacklisted. They are no longer welcome in Russia, as are twenty top figures from the defense circles, including the chief of the Royal Air Force (RAF).
“The British journalists on the list are involved in deliberately spreading false and one-sided information about Russia and the events in Ukraine and the Donbas,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Most foreign journalists have left Russia after authorities in Moscow imposed prison terms of up to 15 years for spreading alleged fake news about the Russian military.
The UK has been one of the most outspoken and active mainstays of the Kiev government since the Russian military invaded Ukraine on February 24. For example, for Prime Minister Boris Johnson and many parliamentarians, Moscow has already introduced an entry ban. Added to this are people whom Russia believes are involved in making decisions about arms supplies to Ukraine.
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