Ukraine and Russia are scheduled to meet this Wednesday in Turkey with UN diplomats to try to break the blockade of grain exports through the Black Seawhich has caused prices to skyrocket and creates a risk of famine in many countries.
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In the field of military operations, the Ukrainian army claimed to have bombed enemy forces in the southern Kherson region, occupied by Russian troops, who launched missiles on Mykolaiv, further west, on Tuesday.
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“Military delegates from the Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries, as well as a United Nations delegation, will talk tomorrow (Wednesday) in Istanbul
on the safe shipment to the international market of grains waiting in Ukrainian ports,” Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Tuesday.
Russia confirmed the meeting and stressed that it wanted to maintain “the possibility of controlling and registering cargo ships to prevent arms smuggling.”
For its part, Ukraine said it was “in favor of resolving the issue of the liberation of Ukrainian cereals under the auspices of the UN.”
“We have seen for weeks that Russia is demanding condition after condition for this meeting, so I remain cautious,” French foreign minister Catherine Colonna said on Tuesday.
Always on the diplomatic front, the Kremlin announced on Tuesday a bilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country serves as mediator between kyiv and Moscow, to be held on the sidelines of a tripartite summit with Iran on Syria on July 19 in Tehran.
Meanwhile, Washington accused Iran of sending “hundreds of drones” to Russia.
In turn, Brazil said it wants to acquire “everything it can” of Russian diesel, despite the sanctions against Moscow, according to its Foreign Minister, Carlos Alberto Franco França.
Help for Ukraine
In this context, the United States announced on Tuesday that it will allocate 1,700 million
of additional dollars in aid for Ukraine.
This brought total US aid to Ukraine since the start of the war to $4 billion.
In Brussels, the finance ministers of the countries of the European Union (EU) approved 1,000 million euros (1,004 million dollars) for Ukraine, bringing its contribution to kyiv to 2,200 million euros from February 24, when
Russia invaded Ukraine.
EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders noted that some 13.8 billion euros in assets of Russian oligarchs and entities have been frozen in Europe as part of sanctions against Moscow.
Fighting in Kherson region
On the southern front, Ukraine said it hit Russian forces in Nova Kakhovka between Monday and Tuesday, killing 52 soldiers and destroying an ammunition depot.
Videos on social networks showed a column of smoke several meters high.
The occupation authorities installed by Moscow denounced it as an “act
of terrorism”.
In the southern part of Ukraine, the Russians continued to fire “massive” missiles on Mykolaiv on Tuesday morning, hitting two medical centers and homes, according to local mayor Oleksandre Senkevytch.
He also cited Tuesday the “complete destruction” of a school where 12 people were injured.
“Russian terror has long since crossed the line beyond which it has become clear to many in the civilized world that punishing Russia, a terrorist state, for everything it has done in Ukraine, is a global security issue.” Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky commented.
“You Can’t Run From War”
In eastern Ukraine, kyiv awaits a new Russian offensive in the eastern Donetsk region, which is part of Donbas, partially under the control of pro-Russian separatists since 2014.
The other part of Donbas is Luhansk, which Russian forces claim to be fully under their control.
The Russian bombardments on Sunday in a residential building in Chasiv Iar, in the same mining area, left at least 45 dead according to the latest balance of Ukrainian security.
In Bakhmut, another town in Donetsk, artillery fire was heard Tuesday in the almost deserted center of the city.
“You can’t run away from war and you never know where you’re going to be,” summed up Liubov Mojaieva, a 60-year-old agronomist.
In Kharkov, northeast, five people were injured in a new bombardment, local authorities said.
Meanwhile, in Moscow, the embassy of the breakaway province of Donetsk was inaugurated on Tuesday in the absence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who had nevertheless announced his presence.
The process for exporting Ukrainian grain can take
a month, according to Russian media
The process to resume the export of Ukrainian grain blocked by the war through the Black Sea may last a month if Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN reach an agreement on Wednesday in Istanbul, a source told the official RIA Nóvosti agency. participate in the negotiations.
“There is an understanding that this process will not be quick, but there is a general desire that it not take more than a month,” the source told the Russian agency.
In case of a consensus, Turkey and the UN would supervise the implementation of the agreed mechanismhe added.
“The main thing now is to reach consensus and form an operational control center in Istanbul,” the source told RIA Novosti.
The meeting on the unlocking of Ukrainian grain in Istanbul is scheduled to start at 11:00 GMT.
The Russian delegation has already arrived in the Turkish city to participate in the meeting of military representatives from Moscow, kyiv and Ankara, as well as UN observers.
According to the Russian agency, there are “high expectations” from the parties that a consensus will be reached at the meeting.
Also the Turkish Minister of Defense, Hulusi Akar, hopes to reach an agreement this Wednesday.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from AFP and Efe
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