The US Senate and the Italian Parliament on Wednesday approved the entry of Finland and Sweden into the 30-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Under NATO membership, which must be ratified by all 30 member states, an attack on one member is an attack on all. read more “This historic vote sends an important message about America’s continued, bipartisan commitment to NATO and to ensuring our Alliance is ready to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Russia, which invaded Ukraine on February 24, has repeatedly warned Finland and Sweden against joining NATO. The 30 NATO allies signed the accession protocol last month, allowing them to join the US-led nuclear-armed alliance once its members ratify the decision. read more Validation can take up to one year. Ukraine on Wednesday rejected suggestions by former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder that Russia wanted a “negotiated solution” to the five-month war and said any dialogue would depend on a Russian ceasefire and withdrawal of its troops. Tentative attempts at peace talks in March went nowhere. The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Thursday that Ukraine was seeking an opportunity to speak “directly” with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to help end the war. In an interview with SCMP, Zelenskiy urged China to use its political and economic influence in Russia to end the fighting. “It is a very powerful state. It is a powerful economy… So it (can) influence Russia politically and economically. And China is (also) a permanent member of the UN Security Council,” the report quoted Zelensky as saying.
NEW ATTACK OF THE SOUTH
On the battlefield, Russian forces engaged in significant military activity, firing from tanks, barrel artillery and rockets in several regions of Ukraine, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a briefing on Thursday. Earlier, Ukraine had warned that Moscow might be preparing new offensive operations in southern Ukraine. read more Dmytro Zhivitsky, governor of the Sumy region on the border with Russia, said three towns were shelled by Russian forces on Wednesday, with a total of 55 missiles fired. There were no injuries, but homes and commercial premises were damaged. He said eight artillery shells hit residential areas of the Krasnopilska community. Mayor Yevhen Yevtushenko of Nikopol, west of Zaporizhzhia in central Ukraine, said on his Telegram channel that his town had been shelled overnight. Advisor to the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Arestovych said in an interview that appeared on YouTube that the whole point of the Russian offensive in the east was to force Ukraine to divert troops from the area that is really dangerous – Zaporizhzhia. Russia in March was accused of firing dangerous missiles near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as its forces seized it in the first weeks of the invasion. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken accused Moscow of using Ukraine’s largest nuclear plant as a “nuclear shield” in attacks against Ukrainian forces. read more Reuters was unable to verify reports on the battlefield. Russia denies targeting civilians, but scores of towns and cities have been destroyed and thousands killed in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II. Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russian forces of war crimes.
FOOD CRISIS
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent troops into Ukraine in what he called a “special military operation” to rid the country of fascists. Ukraine and the West said Putin had launched an unprovoked “imperial” land grab. The war triggered a global energy and food crisis. Russia and Ukraine produce about a third of the world’s wheat, and Russia is Europe’s main energy supplier. An agreement between Moscow and Kiev, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, for the safe passage of grain ships from Ukraine was hailed as a rare diplomatic success in the war. The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain since the start of the war passed through the Bosphorus Strait on Wednesday. The ship, Razoni, left Odessa in the Black Sea early Monday carrying 26,527 tons of corn to the Lebanese port of Tripoli. read more Zelensky said Ukraine needed to export at least 10 million tons of grain to urgently help reduce its budget deficit, which had reached $5 billion a month. A senior Turkish official said three ships could leave Ukrainian ports a day after Razoni’s departure, while Ukraine’s infrastructure minister said 17 more ships were loaded with agricultural products and were waiting to depart. (This story corrects lead to remove apostrophe) Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report from Reuters offices. Written by Michael Perry and Himani Sarkar Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
