Tag: Russia

  • Ukraine gives conditions during peace talks with Russia

    Ukraine gives conditions during peace talks with Russia

    The Ukrainian delegation is seeking a ceasefire and a troop withdrawal during the peace talks with Russia.

    Ukrainian Presidential Advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak disclosed this on Monday.

    He said Ukraine would be ready to talk about any neighbourly relations and political settlements with Russia only after the implementation of the country’s positions, NAN reports.

    In a terse statement, Podolyak reiterated the need for peace and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

    “Our positions remain unchanged: peace, immediate ceasefire, withdrawal of all Russian troops,” Podolyak said.

    The fourth round of negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian delegations was scheduled for Monday via video link.

    In-person talks held previously in Belarus and working group discussions taking place in recent days, so far no breakthrough.

    Both Kiev and Moscow have expressed cautious optimism in the past day about the course of peace talks, even as Russia’s assault on Ukraine intensifies.

    “If we compare the two delegations’ positions at the talks at the very beginning and today, we will see considerable progress,” Leonid Slutsky, a Russian lawmaker specialising in foreign policy said.

  • Nigeria Govt. Evacuates 123 More Citizens Who Fled Ukraine After Russia Invasion

    Nigeria Govt. Evacuates 123 More Citizens Who Fled Ukraine After Russia Invasion

    One hundred and twenty-three (123) more Nigerians who fled Ukraine amid the invasion by Russia have been brought back home.

    They returned to Nigeria aboard an Air Peace plane with registration number 9HSLF which arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja at about 1:20am on Friday.

    Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and that of other relevant government agencies were already on the ground to receive the returnees.

    Also at the airport to receive them were officials of the Nigeria Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM); the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), and the Federal Ministry of Health, among others.

    While the evacuees comprise 122 adults and one infant, a further breakdown of the returnees shows that 75 of them are males and the remaining 48 others are females.

    The latest batch of stranded Nigerians was evacuated from Warsaw, the capital city of Poland where they had fled to days after Russia invaded Ukraine

    Following their arrival, the evacuees were subjected to the usual procedures such as documentation and test for COVID-19.

    Thereafter, they were given the sum of $100 each to cover their transportation fare from the airport to their destinations in various parts of the country.

    Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russian soldiers, there have been concerns by authorities in Nigeria and other countries over the safety of their citizens caught in the war.

    No fewer than 5,000 Nigerians, the majority of whom are students, are estimated to be living in Ukraine before the invasion.

    In a bid to ensure the return of Nigerians stranded in Ukraine, the Federal Government activated an evacuation exercise following the approval of $8.5 million by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The first batch of returnees arrived on Friday last week and so far, about 1,200 Nigerians have been evacuated from Romania, Poland, and Hungary where many of them had been taking refuge.

  • We Will Fight To The End, Says Ukraine President Zelensky

    We Will Fight To The End, Says Ukraine President Zelensky

    Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, invoking the wartime defiance of British prime minister Winston Churchill, vowed Tuesday to “fight to the end” in a historic virtual speech to UK lawmakers.

    “We will not give up and we will not lose,” he said, giving a day-by-day account of Russia’s invasion that dwelt on the costs in lives of civilians including Ukrainian children.

    “We will fight to the end, at sea, in the air. We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost.

    “We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets,” he told the packed chamber, which greeted him with a standing ovation at the start and rose again at the end.

    The speech was a conscious echo of Churchill’s landmark address to the House of Commons in June 1940, after British forces were forced to retreat from France in the face of a Nazi German onslaught.

    “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,” Churchill said after the retreat at Dunkirk.

    Zelensky, wearing a military-green T-shirt and sitting next to Ukraine’s blue-and-yellow flag, also invoked William Shakespeare as he delivered the chamber’s first-ever virtual speech by a foreign leader.

    “The question for us now is, to be or not to be,” he said in his 10-minute speech, which followed similar addresses to members of the US Congress and the European Parliament.

    “Now I can give you a definitive answer: it is yes, to be.”

    Zelensky, while thanking Western countries for their retaliation against Russia, also noted that NATO had failed to accede to his demands to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

    Appealing directly to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he said: “But please increase the pressure of sanctions against this country. And please recognise this country as a terrorist state.

    “And please make sure that our skies are safe.

    “Please make sure that you do what needs to be done and what is stipulated by the greatness of your country.”

    ‘Moved our hearts’
    In response, Johnson said “never before in all our centuries of parliamentary democracy has the House listened to such an address”.

    “He has moved the hearts of everybody in this House,” he said, vowing that the West would press on with arms supplies to Ukraine and further sanctions, after the US and UK announced a ban on Russian oil.

    But in common with other Western leaders, Johnson has warned that NATO enforcement of a no-fly zone would risk all-out war with nuclear-armed Russia.

    Speeches by foreign heads of state are a rare occurrence in the “mother of all parliaments”, and standing ovations are rarer still.

    The last such speech was in October 2018, when Dutch King Willem-Alexander addressed a joint sitting of the Commons and House of Lords, in person.

    Zelensky’s address came after Ukraine’s ambassador in London, Vadym Prystaiko, received a minute-long standing ovation from MPs when he attended the lower chamber on March 2.

    Zelensky has been in daily contact with Western leaders since Russia launched its shock invasion on February 24, eliciting public sympathy if not all he wants in terms of practical support.

    On March 5, Zelensky addressed nearly 300 members of the US Congress by Zoom to plead for financial aid and the delivery of Soviet-era planes from NATO members in eastern Europe.

    He addressed the European Parliament on March 1 and gave an emotional plea for Ukraine to be given “immediate” EU membership.

    Then, the English translator choked up as Zelensky described how civilians had been killed in Russia’s bombardment of his cities.

    AFP

  • Sanctions Imposed on Russia Akin to Declaration Of War – Putin

    Sanctions Imposed on Russia Akin to Declaration Of War – Putin

    Vladimir Putin says the sanctions imposed on Russia by western countries over the invasion of Ukraine are like a declaration of war.

    Speaking to flight attendants on Saturday at an Aeroflot training centre near Moscow, Putin insisted he only wanted to “demilitarise” and “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

    “These sanctions are methods of fighting against Russia,” he said.

    “These sanctions that you can see are equivalent to declaring a war – but thankfully it has not come to an actual war but we understand what these threats are about.”

    Putin also warned that any attempt to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine would be seen as “participation in the armed conflict”.

    President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had asked the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) for a no-flight-zone over Ukraine in order to protect the country from Russian missiles but the appeal was rejected.

    NATO had said taking such an action could result in a “full-fledged war in Europe involving many more countries”.

    Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, a series of sanctions have been imposed on Russia by the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and the European Union.

    Some of the sanctions include blocking certain Russian banks’ access to the SWIFT payment system and freezing the foreign assets of the country’s central bank.

    Three of the country’s wealthy individuals were sanctioned by the UK while the Council of Europe also suspended Russia from the continent’s human rights organisation.

    In addition, FIFA and UEFA also suspended Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions.

    Samsung, Paypal, Zara, Apple, and Mercedes-Benz have all announced the suspension of their operations in the country.

  • Russia Declares Partial Ceasefire to Allow Civilians Leave Two Ukrainian Cities

    Russia Declares Partial Ceasefire to Allow Civilians Leave Two Ukrainian Cities

    Russia has declared a partial ceasefire to allow civilians leave the cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha in Ukraine.

    According to the Russian defence ministry, the ceasefire on Saturday will give room for humanitarian corridors out of the strategic port of Mariupol in the southeast and the eastern town of Volnovakha.

    The truce, which will see the safe evacuation of thousands of civilians from the war, is expected to last until 4pm local time.

    “From 1000 am Moscow time, the Russian side declares a ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave Mariupol and Volnovakha,” the defence ministry stated.

    Pavlo Kirilenko, governor of the Donetsk Oblast region where the two cities are sited, confirmed the ceasefire on Facebook.

    “We are negotiating with the Russian side to confirm the ceasefire along the entire route of evacuation for civilians from Mariupol,” the governor said.

    Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian president, said the temporary ceasefire will allow women and children to leave the area.

    “We managed to get an agreement to provide assistance to those cities in Ukraine that are in the dire and worst situation, Mariupol and Volnovakha, to save children and women and older people. To provide medication and food to those who stay there in those places,” the president said.

    “Those people willing to leave these places should be able to do so now using the humanitarian corridor, but those who can should continue fighting.

    “We do everything we can on our side to make sure this agreement works, regarding the humanitarian corridors and we will see if we can move even further about our negotiations with Russia.”

    The United Nations said about 1.3 million civilians have fled Ukraine since Russian declared war on the country.

    On Friday, hundreds of Nigerians evacuated from Ukraine arrived at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

  • Ukraine-Russia: Third Batch Of Nigerian Evacuees Arrive From Hungary

    Ukraine-Russia: Third Batch Of Nigerian Evacuees Arrive From Hungary

    The third batch of Nigerian evacuees following the Ukraine-Russia war arrived in Abuja late last night.

    They were evacuated from Hungary and landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at 11:25 pm on Friday.

    According to the official figure from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the number of evacuees from Hungary was 174 in number and they were brought aboard Air Peace.

    These evacuations follow the attack by Russia on Ukraine which has left scores of people killed and many displaced.

    Over 5,000 Nigerians, the majority of whom are students studying in Ukraine have been caught up in the conflict.

    Many of them have reportedly fled to neighbouring countries to Ukraine including Hungary, Poland, and Romania.

    Also on Friday, the first batch of Nigerian evacuees, numbering 416 arrived in the country from Romania, aboard Max Air.

    Meanwhile, as the country ramps up efforts to evacuate citizens stranded after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to continue to defend the interest of Nigerians wherever they may be.

    “On our part as a Government, we shall continue to defend the interests of all Nigerians wherever they may be. We have demonstrated this over time, as we have had cause to evacuate our citizens in harm’s way abroad,” the President said.

    “We did it in Libya, South Africa and we have just commenced doing the same in Ukraine, where thousands of our citizens, especially students, are trapped by the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine,” the President was quoted to have said in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Femi Adesina.

  • Okonjo-Iweala: WTO Saddened By Suffering, Trade Implication Of Russia-Ukraine War

    Okonjo-Iweala: WTO Saddened By Suffering, Trade Implication Of Russia-Ukraine War

    The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Friday said the organisation was “deeply saddened by the continued suffering and loss of life” as a result of the war in Ukraine.

    She said this in a statement on Wednesday, as the war which has shocked the world and threatened global stability entered its seventh day.

    The WTO had hoped that war would be averted but that hope was dashed.

    With the battle raging on and talks between Ukraine and Russia yet to yield results, the WTO is concerned about the implications.

    “We are also concerned about the trade implications of the conflict, especially trade in agriculture and food products and the rise in energy prices and their effects on the impacted population,” Dr Okonjo-Iweala said.

    The WTO is praying for “a peaceful and quick resolution” to the crisis.

    On Friday, Dr Okonjo-Iweala warned about the “economic impacts” of the war in Ukraine, a major wheat exporter, saying it would hurt consumers around the world.

    “There’s going to be a big impact with respect to wheat prices and prices of bread for ordinary people as well,” she said at a virtual event with IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva.

    Dr Okonjo-Iweala noted that Ukraine “is one of the largest wheat exporters of the world.”

    Georgieva echoed her previous warnings about the “significant economic risk” of the conflict for the global recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, saying “the impact is going to go beyond Ukraine.”

    She highlighted the added pressure on inflation which is likely to accelerate amid rising prices for energy and wheat.

    Oil prices on Thursday briefly topped $100 for the first time since 2014.
    The United States and Europe slapped sanctions on Moscow, targeting the financial sector but largely sparing the oil and agriculture sectors for now in an effort to mitigate the impact on their own people.

    The sanctions “add to the economic impact of this crisis, and will transmit primarily through energy prices, as well as grain prices, adding to what has been a growing concern of inflation and how it can be countered,” the IMF chief said.

    The conflict adds to the “high uncertainty” about the global economy that also is reflected in financial markets, and undermines confidence in other emerging markets causing an exodus of capital at a time when those countries need more funding.

    “We see outflows from emerging markets when we need exactly the opposite,” she said.

    Georgieva, who is Bulgarian, said she had a personal connection to the crisis, as her brother is married to a Ukrainian and they are in a city near the border with Russia.

    “I know right now it’s so difficult to see a pathway to peace, but peace must be pursued and we must find a way to bring that peace that people are so desperate for.”

  • We’ve lost 498 troops in Ukraine – Russia

    We’ve lost 498 troops in Ukraine – Russia

    Russia said Wednesday that 498 Russian troops had been killed in Ukraine, its first announced death toll since President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of the country last week.

    “Four hundred and ninety-eight Russian servicemen have died in the line of duty,” defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement broadcast on state television, adding that “1,597 of our comrades have been wounded.”

    Meanwhile, before the announcement, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations accused Russia of seeking to commit genocide in his country, speaking at a rare General Assembly debate on Wednesday, more than a week after Moscow’s invasion.

    “They have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist,” Sergiy Kyslytsya told the Assembly ahead of a vote on a resolution demanding Russia withdraw its forces from the eastern European country.

    “It’s already clear that the goal of Russia is not an occupation only. It is genocide.”

    Russia’s envoy Vassily Nebenzia, speaking shortly after, accused Ukraine of “rampant neo-Nazism” and the West of using “open and cynical threats” to persuade other countries at the UN to vote in favor of the resolution.

    A vote by the 193 members of the UN on whether to deplore the invasion and demand Russia’s withdrawal will follow shortly. The resolution needs a two-thirds threshold of those voting to pass.

    The resolution, led by European countries with the support of Ukraine, is non-binding but would serve as a powerful rebuke of Moscow’s attack on Ukraine.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Moscow has pleaded “self-defense” under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

    But that has been roundly rejected by Western countries who accuse Moscow of violating Article 2 of the Charter, requiring UN members to refrain from the threat or use of force to resolve a crisis.

    AFP

  • UN General Assembly Rebuke Russia’s Invasion on Ukraine, Demands Immediate Withdrawal

    UN General Assembly Rebuke Russia’s Invasion on Ukraine, Demands Immediate Withdrawal

    The UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution that “demands” Russia “immediately” withdraw from Ukraine, in a powerful rebuke of Moscow’s invasion by a vast majority of the world’s nations.

    After more than two days of extraordinary debate which saw the Ukrainian ambassador accuse Russia of genocide, 141 out of 193 member states voted for the non-binding resolution.

    China was among the 35 countries which abstained, while just five — Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Belarus and of course Russia — voted against it.

    The resolution “deplores” the invasion of Ukraine “in the strongest terms” and condemns President Vladimir Putin’s decision to put his nuclear forces on alert.

    The vote had been touted by diplomats as a bellwether of democracy in a world where autocracy is on the rise in countries from Myanmar to Venezuela, and came as Putin’s forces bear down on Kyiv while terrified Ukrainians flee.

    “They have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist,” Ukraine’s ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the Assembly ahead of the vote.

    “It’s already clear that the goal of Russia is not an occupation only. It is genocide.”

    Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Moscow has pleaded “self-defense” under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

    But that has been roundly rejected by Western countries who accuse Moscow of violating Article 2 of the Charter, requiring UN members to refrain from the threat or use of force to resolve a crisis.

    The text of the resolution — led by European countries in coordination with Ukraine — has undergone numerous changes in recent days.

    It no longer “condemns” the invasion as initially expected, but instead “deplores in the strongest terms the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine.”

    – ‘Who will be next?’ –
    It also makes clear the United Nations is “condemning” Putin’s decision to put his nuclear forces on alert, a move that ignited an immediate outcry from the West.

    Nearly every General Assembly speaker unreservedly condemned the war and the risks of military escalation.

    “If the United Nations has any purpose, it is to prevent war,” the US ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said during her speech on Wednesday.

    She accused Russia of “preparing to increase the brutality of its campaign.”

    “We’ve seen videos of Russian forces moving exceptionally lethal weaponry into Ukraine, which has no place on the battlefield that includes cluster munitions and vacuum bombs, which are banned under the Geneva Convention,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

    Russia’s ally Belarus offered a staunch defense of the invasion, however.

    Ambassador Valentin Rybakov blasted sanctions imposed by the West on Russia as “the worst example of economic and financial terrorism.”

    And he followed other Russian allies such as Syria in condemning the “double standards” of Western nations who have invaded countries including Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan in recent decades.

    Other speakers cited fears of a domino effect should Ukraine fall to Russia. Colombia railed against any return to “empire,” while Albania wondered: “Who will be next?”

    From the Arab world it was Kuwait, itself the victim of an invasion by Iraq in 1990, whose denunciation of Moscow was the most explicit, with the rest of the Middle East remaining in the background.

    – China, India abstain –
    Japan and New Zealand led condemnation from Asia, but the continent’s giants — China, India and Pakistan — all abstained. During the debate Beijing had stressed the world had “nothing to gain” from a new Cold War.

    On the meeting’s sidelines, Washington has taken aim at Russians working at the United Nations, leveling accusations of espionage and demanding expulsions.

    US President Joe Biden asserted Tuesday in his State of the Union address that Putin had underestimated the response to the invasion.

    “He rejected efforts at diplomacy… And, he thought he could divide us here at home,” Biden said.

    “Putin was wrong. We were ready.”

    AFP

  • FIFA, UEFA Suspends Russian Teams Over Ukraine Invasion

    FIFA, UEFA Suspends Russian Teams Over Ukraine Invasion

    FIFA and UEFA have suspended football teams from Russia indefinitely in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine that has left at least 240 civilian casualties.

    The decision was taken on Monday by the Bureau of FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA following the initial decisions adopted by the bodies.

    A statement to this effect obtained by Vanguard from FIFA’s website reads, “Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which decisions envisaged the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice.

    “These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, respectively the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters.

    “Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine. Both Presidents hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly so that football can again be a vector for unity and peace amongst people.”

    FIFA had earlier refused to suspend Russia, rather limiting it to just the ban of international matches from being played in the country and the use of flag or anthem of Russia. It also said Russia would have to compete in international football under the name “Football Union of Russia (RFU)”.

    With this development, teams competing in European competitions will automatically lose their places and the senior men’s national team of Russia will no longer be able to compete for a place at this year’s World Cup in Qatar.

    Football federations of Poland, Czech Republic and Sweden had written a joint statement to FIFA saying they will not honour fixtures against Russia in their Path B World Cup qualifying play-off games.