Belarus’ Lukashenko says there may be ‘nuclear weapons for everybody’
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that if some other country wanted to hitch a Russia-Belarus union there could possibly be “nuclear weapons for everybody”.
Russia moved ahead last week with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, in the Kremlin’s first deployment of such warheads outside Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, spurring concerns in the West.
In an interview on Russia’s state television late on Sunday, Lukashenko, President Vladimir Putin’s staunchest ally amongst Russia’s neighbors, said that it have to be “strategically understood” that Minsk and Moscow have a singular likelihood to unite.
He added that it was his own view – not the view of Russia.
Russia and Belarus are formally a part of a Union State, a borderless union and alliance between the two former Soviet republics.
— Reuters
Denmark plans $2.6 billion more for Ukraine, Zelensky praises ‘major contribution’
Denmark plans to extend its spending on military aid to Ukraine by 17.9 billion crowns ($2.59 billion) over this 12 months and next, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Monday, winning thanks for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Denmark, with a population of lower than 6 million, in March established a $1 billion fund for military, civilian and business aid to Ukraine in 2023.
Frederiksen, seen as a possible contender to turn out to be latest NATO chief, on Monday told Danish public radio the government planned so as to add one other 7.5 billion crowns to the fund this 12 months, and 10.4 billion next 12 months.
— Reuters
Ukraine aide proposes post-war demilitarised zone in Russia
A Ukrainian presidential aide said on Monday a demilitarised zone of 100-120 km (62-75 miles) needs to be established inside Russia along the border with Ukraine as a part of a post-war settlement. The zone could be essential to guard Ukrainian regions from shelling, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
“The important thing theme of the post-war settlement needs to be the establishment of safeguards to avoid the reoccurrence of aggression in the future,” he wrote. Podolyak said the demilitarised zone could initially have a world presence to manage it.
“Probably, at the initial stage with a compulsory international control contingent,” he wrote.
— Reuters
Sunday night saw May’s highest volume of individuals staying overnight in Kyiv’s metro amid Russian bombardment
Civilians take shelter inside a metro station during an air raid alert in the center of Kyiv on Dec. 13, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Dimitar Dilkoff | Afp | Getty Images
The Kyiv metro on Sunday night hosted the month’s highest volume of individuals overnight, as Russia launched a very heavy bombardment of drone and missile attacks, Kyiv officials said.
“During the daytime shelling of the capital, greater than 41,000 people were in the underground” and overnight “greater than 9,000 residents took refuge in subway stations, including 1,120 children,” Kyiv’s city administration wrote on its official Telegram account.
“That is the largest number of people that stayed at the stations at night during the current month,” it said.
The post added as a reminder that “during an alarm, you possibly can get chairs and drinking water at the stations. Keep in mind that the stations are quite chilly, so take warm clothes with you.”
The Russian attacks have continued into the day Monday.
— Natasha Turak
Ukrainian official suggests demilitarized zone into Russian territory as requirement for peace settlement
Adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidency Mykhailo Podolyak suggested that as a requirement for any peace agreement with Russia, a demilitarized zone extending 100 to 120 kilometers (62 to 74 miles) into Russian territory from Ukraine’s borders needs to be established. This may be in addition to the complete restoration of Ukraine’s sovereign borders, he said.
“The important thing topic of the post-war settlement needs to be the establishment of safeguards to stop a reoccurrence of aggression in the future,” Podolyak tweeted. “To make sure real security for residents of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions and protect them from shelling, it’s going to be essential to introduce a demilitarization zone of 100-120 km on the territory of Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, and Rostov republics. Probably with a compulsory international control contingent at the first stage.”
— Natasha Turak
Olena Zelenska posts video of Ukrainian children running for shelter
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska posted a video of schoolchildren running for shelter in Kyiv on Monday morning as explosions sound in the capital city.
“Kyiv. The morning after a sleepless night under fire. Anxiety again … Children screaming running for canopy to the sounds of explosions is our reality,” she wrote on Twitter together with the video clip. “Nevertheless it doesn’t need to be that way – anywhere, ever. Fear can’t be turned off – but we don’t freeze, but act. Ukraine continues to fight.”
After a series of overnight bombardments, Russia ramped up its attacks on Kyiv with an unusual daytime barrage of missiles and drones.
— Natasha Turak
Swedish and Turkish foreign ministers will meet ‘soon’ for talks on NATO bid: Swedish FM
The foreign ministers of Sweden and Turkey will meet “soon” to debate the former’s accession bid for NATO, despite the undeniable fact that Turkey’s top diplomat is not going to be attending a NATO ministers’ meeting in Oslo on Tuesday, the Swedish foreign ministry said.
“We’ve been informed that Turkey’s foreign minister is just not coming, so there won’t be any meeting there,” a representative for Swedish foreign minister Tobias Billstrom said, in line with Reuters. He added that the meeting would still happen “soon.”
“I stay up for having the ability to shift into the next gear and speed things up now we all know what the result’s,” Billstrom added, referencing the results of the Turkish presidential election Sunday that saw incumbent leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan secure victory and a fresh five-year term in office after 20 years in power.
Sweden and Finland each formally applied to hitch NATO in May of 2022, abandoning a historic policy of non-alignment in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Turkey as a NATO member blocked each bids, eventually greenlighting Finland’s accession in March 2023. But Erdogan has remained against Sweden’s membership over what he says is the country’s support of Kurdish groups that Ankara considers to be terrorists.
— Natasha Turak
Grain deal will not be operational if it is not fulfilled, Russian foreign minister says
The Black Sea grain deal will not be operational if its current state of implementation continues, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The Black Sea grain deal will not be operational if its current state of implementation continues, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday, in line with a Google translation of comments carried by Russian state news agency Tass.
Reuters reported that Lavrov added that lower than 3% of the grain exported under the agreement had reached the world’s poorest countries.
The U.N.-brokered agreement was arrange to permit Kyiv’s grains to be shipped through Black Sea ports, staving off the risk to global food security that was worsened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It was prolonged for 60 days on May 17.
Moscow has repeatedly complained that restrictions imposed on Russia prevent it from fulfilling its agricultural and fertilizer exports.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Air attacks resume in Kyiv, Ukrainian and British officials say
Air attacks have resumed in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, Ukrainian and British officials said, after an intense Russian air offensive overnight.
“It’s all kicked off again. Mid morning crashes and explosions outside. Air defence being tested again by cowardly Russians. Back in shelter,” British ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons said on Twitter.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko individually reported explosions in the city center Monday morning, in a Google translated Telegram post.
Ukrainian authorities said greater than 40 air missiles and drones were shot down in Kyiv overnight, in what was at the time the fifteenth Russian attack against the Ukrainian capital this month.
CNBC couldn’t independently confirm developments on the ground.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Russia hits military goal at Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi
Russian troops have struck a military goal at the western Ukrainian city of Khmelnytskyi, local government said on Telegram, in line with a Google translation.
Authorities are currently working to contain fires in the wake of the overnight attack. Five aircraft were disabled as the results of the hostilities.
The damage to Khmelnytskyi comes after Russia carried out intense overnight air drone and missile hostilities against the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Russia places U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham on wanted list
The Russian interior ministry has placed U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham on a wanted list, Russian state-run news agency Tass reported.
The designation follows Moscow’s criticism of Graham’s comments in an edited video released by the Ukrainian presidency’s office of the senator’s meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday.
In the short and edited video clip, the U.S. senator appeared say “the Russians are dying,” followed by “the best money we have ever spent.” The footage prompted heavy Russian criticism.
In line with Reuters, the release of Graham’s complete remarks by the Ukrainian president’s office showed there was no link between the senator’s two statements.
Russia previously added several U.S. offices to its stop lists, which prevent them from entering the country, but has fallen in need of in search of their detainment.
— Ruxandra Iordache
One other ‘difficult night’ in Kyiv as Russia resumes air attacks on the capital
A constructing in Kyiv that was damaged by the Iranian Shahed drones utilized by the Russian army.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Kyiv suffered its fifteenth air attack since the start of this month, with greater than 40 missiles and Iranian-made Shahed drones shot down over the Ukrainian capital early Monday, in line with the Google translated comments of Serhii Popko, the head of the Kyiv’s city military administration.
Russian forces are “trying with all their might to destroy key targets for themselves and at the same time exhaust the resources of our air defense,” Popko said.
Ukrainian mayor Vitali Klitschko described that as “one other difficult night for the capital,” saying no casualties or infrastructural damage were sustained, in Google translated comments on Telegram.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Putin congratulates ‘dear friend’ Erdogan on reelection
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the electoral victory of his “dear friend” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who secured reelection in a runoff vote against Kemal Kilicdaroglu on Sunday.
“We highly value your personal contribution to the development of friendly Russian-Turkish relations, mutually useful cooperation in various spheres. I would love to reiterate our readiness to proceed our constructive dialogue of the current issues on the bilateral, regional, and international agenda,” Putin said, in line with comments reported by Russian state news agency Tass.
“We attach great significance to the implementation of our joint projects, to begin with, for the construction of the Akkuyu NPP and the establishment of a gas hub in Turkey.”
Russia and Turkey have had a volatile relationship, previously locking horns in points of Middle Eastern and North African policy, comparable to in Syria and Libya. But Ankara has proven pivotal in negotiating the Black Sea corridor that facilitates the export of Ukrainian grain, while Turkey’s security concerns and Hungary’s objections are currently stalling Sweden’s accession to the NATO military alliance.
— Ruxandra Iordache
UN condemns attack on hospital in Dnipro
Medical employees get patients on a specially equipped train, run by Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in collaboration with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health and National Railways, to evacuate wounded people from war-affected areas of eastern Ukraine, amid Russia’s invasion of the country, in Dnipro, Ukraine May 10, 2022.
Gleb Garanich | Reuters
The United Nations condemned an early morning attack on a medical facility in Dnipro and said that its humanitarian partners were providing emergency assistance to survivors.
“We, together with our humanitarian partners, proceed to succeed in more individuals with assistance across the country,” United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said during a each day press briefing.
Dujarric told reporters that up to now the U.N. has reached greater than 5 million people in Ukraine with humanitarian aid.
In line with data collected by the World Health Organization, there have been greater than 870 attacks on healthcare facilities in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s war last February.
— Amanda Macias
Japan expands sanctions on Russia
Japan on Friday announced more sanctions on Russia, including the freezing of assets of 24 individuals and 78 organizations.
The curbs, approved by the government at a Cabinet meeting, goal Russian military personnel and pro-Russian individuals in eastern and southern Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release.
Tokyo may also ban exports to 80 Russian entities, comparable to military-related organizations, the ministry added.
The announcement comes after Group of Seven leaders pledged to keep up and strengthen sanctions against Russia at their summit in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima that ended Sunday.
— Karen Gilchrist
Negotiations ‘inconceivable’ while Zelenskyy in power, Russian official says
Russia’s Deputy Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev on Friday said that negotiations with Ukraine are “inconceivable” so long as the Kyiv administration of Volodomyr Zelenskyy stays in power, in comments reported by Russian state news agency Tass.
“Every part at all times ends with negotiations, and that is inevitable, but so long as these persons are in power, the situation for Russia is not going to change in terms of negotiations,” he said, in line with a Google translation.
Ukraine has, likewise, previously said negotiations were impossible so long as Vladimir Putin stays at the helm of Russian leadership. Zelenskyy nevertheless presented a 10-point peace plan proposal to G20 leaders on Nov. 15.
Global powers — including close Russia trade partner China — have vied for a likelihood to mediate in the conflict.