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☆ Serious threat remains at Ukraine nuclear plant, Zelenskiy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Rescuers and police officers attend an anti-radiation drill in case of an emergency situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine June 29, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File PhotoKYIV, July 1 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned on Saturday that a "serious threat" remained at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and said Russia was "technically ready" to provoke a localized explosion at the facility. Zelenskiy called for greater international attention to the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's largest civil nuclear facility, and urged sanctions on Russia's state nuclear company Rosatom. Energoatom, Ukraine's nuclear power authority, said on Friday it had conducted two days of exercises simulating the effects of an attack on the Zaporizhzhia plant. Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, suffered the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986, when clouds of radioactive material spread across much of Europe after an explosion and fire at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.

Persons: Stringer, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Pedro Sanchez, Russia's Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, U.N, Vassily Nebenzia, Sanchez, Olena Harmash, Tom Balmforth, David Holmes, Ron Popeski, David Gregorio Our Organizations: REUTERS, Spanish, Thomson Locations: Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Russian, Russia, Rivne, Belarus, Spain, Enerhodar, Soviet Union, Europe

☆ Mali asks United Nations to withdraw peacekeeping force
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, June 16 (Reuters) - Mali's interim military authorities on Friday asked for a United Nations peacekeeping force to leave "without delay", citing a "crisis of confidence" between Malian authorities and the decade-long U.N. mission known as MINUSMA. MINUSMA was deployed by the U.N. Security Council in 2013 to support foreign and local efforts to restore stability. "This situation is begetting mistrust among the Malian population and also causing a crisis of confidence between Malian authorities and MINUSMA," he said. Security Council members must adopt a resolution to extend MINUSMA's mandate by June 30. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recommended this month that the Security Council extend MINUSMA's mandate for a year, maintaining the current authorized strength of some 15,000 troops and police.

Persons: MINUSMA, Abdoulaye Diop, Wagner, Russia's U.N, Vassily Nebenzia, Nebenzia, Nicolas de Riviere, de Riviere, U.N, Antonio Guterres, Michelle Nichols, Bate Felix, Alessandra Prenticel, Frank Jack Daniel, Grant McCool Organizations: YORK, United Nations, West, . Security, Foreign, Security, UN, Thomson Locations: France, MINUSMA, Russia, China, United States, Britain, Mali, al Qaeda, State, Sahel, El

☆ At UN, Ukraine, Russia blame each other for burst dam, US 'not certain'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

UNITED NATIONS, June 6 (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it was "not certain" who was to blame for a burst dam in Ukraine, but it would not make sense for Ukraine to have done this to its own people and territory, as Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other for the disaster. The 15-member U.N. Security Council met on Tuesday at the request of both Russia and Ukraine after a torrent of water burst through a massive dam on the Dnipro River that separates the opposing forces in southern Ukraine. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said earlier on Tuesday that the world body did not have any independent information on how the dam burst, but described it as "another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine." Many Security Council members also asserted during Tuesday's meeting that the crisis would not have occurred if Russia had not invaded neighboring Ukraine in February last year. U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council that "the sheer magnitude of the catastrophe will only become fully realized in the coming days."

Persons: U.N, Robert Wood, Wood, Antonio Guterres, Russia's U.N, Vassily Nebenzia, Nebenzia, Ukraine's U.N, Sergiy Kyslytsya, Kyslytsya, Martin Griffiths, Michelle Nichols, Ismail Shakil, Jamie Freed Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, United, Security, U.S, United Nations, Security Council, Thomson Locations: United States, Ukraine, Kyiv, Moscow, Russia, Dnipro, United, Russian

☆ Russia's War in Ukraine: Live Updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Anushka Patil | Nataliia Novosolova | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Tuesday. Frontline fighting has repeatedly damaged the facility, disrupted its power supply and contributed to a staffing crisis that is “not sustainable,” Mr. Grossi said on Tuesday. Even as Russia and Ukraine accused each other of causing damage and outages, Mr. Grossi largely avoided placing blame on either country while he sought to negotiate an agreement. Speaking after Mr. Grossi’s briefing, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., denounced Russia’s actions as a “clear escalation” of Moscow’s efforts to “undermine Ukrainian sovereignty and authority” over the plant. “And this undermines our ability to have confidence in the level of nuclear safety at the plant,” she said.

Persons: Rafael Mariano Grossi, Mr, Grossi, Grossi’s, Linda Thomas, Greenfield, ”, Sergiy Kyslytsya, Vassily Nebenzia, Julian Barnes Organizations: International Atomic Energy Agency, . Security Locations: New York, Russia, Ukraine, Kyiv, gunpoint, United States, U.S, Ukrainian, Russian

WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - Neither Russia nor Ukraine committed to respect five principles laid out by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi on Tuesday to try to safeguard Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Grossi, who spoke at the U.N. Security Council, has tried for months to craft an agreement to reduce the risk of a catastrophic nuclear accident from military activity like shelling at Europe's biggest nuclear power plant. "Mr. Grossi's proposals to ensure the security of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are in line with the measures that we've already been implementing for a long time," Russia's U.N. Western powers accused Russia, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, of putting Zaporizhzhia at risk, with the United States demanding that Russia remove its weapons and civil and military personnel from the plant. Russia denies that it has military personnel at the power plant and it describes the war, which has killed thousands and reduced cities to rubble, as a "special military operation" to "denazify" Ukraine and protect Russian speakers.

Persons: Rafael Grossi, Grossi, Vassily Nebenzia, Sergiy Kyslytsya, Linda Thomas, Greenfield, Daphne Psaledakis, Arshad Mohammed, Grant McCool Organizations: International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Ukraine's, . Security, U.S, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia, United States, Moscow

☆ Factbox: What are the deals on Ukraine, Russia grain exports?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

UKRAINE BLACK SEA GRAIN EXPORT DEALBrokered by the United Nations and Turkey, the deal has so far allowed Ukraine to safely export more than 30 million tonnes of grain from several of its Black Sea ports. Under the deal:- Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations set up a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul, staffed by officials from each party. - Ukraine can safely export grain and related foodstuffs and fertilizers, including ammonia, from the ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. Under the memorandum of understanding:- Russia agreed to continue commercial supplies of food and fertilizers and inform the U.N. of any impediments to such exports, including fertilizer raw materials like ammonia. Russia agreed to facilitate the unimpeded export of food, sunflower oil and fertilizers from Ukrainian-controlled Black Sea ports.

☆ UN efforts to save Black Sea grain deal to continue in coming days
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The final two ships are due to leave Ukrainian ports on Tuesday under the Black Sea deal, said a U.N. spokesperson. "The (Black Sea) Initiative refers to the export of ammonia, but this has not yet been realized," Griffiths said. "While Russia keeps Ukrainian grain supplies from feeding the hungry, Russia is successfully exporting its own bumper crop of grain," Deputy U.S. 'CRUCIAL'Nebenzia again complained that not enough poor countries were benefiting from the Black Sea grain deal. Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to deliver Russian grain and fertilizers free of charge to African countries.

☆ What are the deals on Ukraine, Russia grain exports?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

UKRAINE BLACK SEA GRAIN EXPORT DEALBrokered by the United Nations and Turkey, the deal has so far allowed Ukraine to safely export more than 27 million tonnes of grain from several of its Black Sea ports. Under the deal:- Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations set up a Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, staffed by officials from each party. - Ukraine can safely export grain and related foodstuffs and fertilizers, including ammonia, from the ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. DEAL TO PROMOTE RUSSIAN FOOD AND FERTILIZER EXPORTSTo help persuade Russia to allow Ukraine to resume its Black Sea grain exports last year, a separate three-year agreement was also struck in July last year in which the United Nations agreed to help Russia with its food and fertilizer exports. The United States has pushed back on Moscow's demands, saying "the only prohibitions on food and fertilizer exports from Russia are those imposed by the government" of Russia.

☆ US, Britain walk out at UN on Russian wanted for war crimes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Britain and the United States blocked the informal meeting on Ukraine, convened by Russia to focus on "evacuating children from conflict zones," from being webcast by the United Nations. The diplomats left the U.N. conference room where the discussion was being held as Russian Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova spoke. Moscow has not concealed a program under which it has brought thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia but presents it as a humanitarian campaign to protect orphans and children abandoned in the war zone. During her statement Lvova-Belova showed video of Ukrainian children in Russia, then said: "I want to stress that unlike the Ukrainian side, we don't use children for propaganda." However, last month China blocked the U.N. webcast of a U.S.-convened informal Security Council meeting on human rights abuses in North Korea.

☆ Britain blocks UN webcast of Russian meeting on Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

UNITED NATIONS, April 4 (Reuters) - Britain has blocked the U.N. webcast of an informal Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Wednesday at which Russia's commissioner for children's rights - whom the International Criminal Court wants to arrest on war crimes charges - is due to speak. The meeting will focus on "evacuating children from conflict zone" and Russia said on Tuesday that commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova would feature virtually. Such meetings are not held in the Security Council chamber and all 15 council members have to agree to allow it to be webcast by the United Nations. Diplomats have said it is rare for a U.N. webcast to be blocked. However, last month China blocked the U.N. webcast of a U.S.-convened informal Security Council meeting on human rights abuses in North Korea.

☆ Russian charged with war crimes may brief U.N. Security Council
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Representatives observe a minute of silence during a meeting at the United Nations Security Council, to mark one year since Russia invaded Ukraine, at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., February 24, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File PhotoUNITED NATIONS, April 3 (Reuters) - Russia's commissioner for children's rights, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges, is likely to brief an informal meeting of the U.N. Security Council this week, according to a note seen by Reuters on Monday. "Russian leaders have been charged by the ICC with unlawfully deporting children from Ukraine to Russia. Such meetings are held at U.N. headquarters, but not in the Security Council chamber, and briefings can be done virtually. Given Russia's Security Council presidency started on April 1, U.S.

☆ Russia fails at UN to get Nord Stream blast inquiry
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

UNITED NATIONS, March 27 (Reuters) - Russia failed on Monday to get the U.N. Security Council to ask for an independent inquiry into explosions in September on the Nord Stream gas pipelines connecting Russia and Germany that spewed gas into the Baltic Sea. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, France, the United States or Britain to pass. They said in a joint letter to the Security Council that the damage was caused by "powerful explosions due to sabotage." The United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have also called the incident "an act of sabotage." Russia has complained that it has not been kept informed about the ongoing national investigations.

The aim was to combat a global food crisis that was fueled in part by Russia's Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine and Black Sea blockade. The United Nations and Turkey said on Saturday that the deal had been extended, but did not specify for how long. [1/2] Commercial vessels including vessels which are part of Black Sea grain deal wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey, October 31, 2022. Dujarric said on Saturday that the United Nations was strongly committed to implementing both the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal and the pact with Moscow and urged "all sides to redouble their efforts to implement them fully." Ukraine has so far exported nearly 25 million tonnes of mainly corn and wheat under the deal, according to the United Nations.

☆ UN says it is doing everything possible to continue Ukraine grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

UNITED NATIONS, March 17 (Reuters) - The United Nations is "doing everything possible" to make sure a deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports continues, U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on Friday, a day before the pact is due to expire. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said that Moscow had notified Turkey and Ukraine on Monday that it would extend the Black Sea export deal for 60 days, until May 18. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the Security Council. Ukraine has so far exported nearly 25 million tonnes of mainly corn and wheat under the deal, according to the United Nations. Russia and Ukraine are leading suppliers of food commodities and Russia is also a top exporter of fertilizer.

☆ Russia rails at UN move on Ukraine, China readies 'position paper'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The draft text would again see the General Assembly demand Moscow withdraw its troops and call for a halt to hostilities. General Assembly resolutions are non-binding, but carry political weight. The United States has accused Iran and North Korea of supplying Russia with weapons and on Saturday said it was concerned China was considering providing "lethal assistance" to Russia. China said on Monday that the United States was in no position to make demands of Beijing. China and Russia announced a "no limits" partnership shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine.

☆ Russia asks Pink Floyd's Roger Waters to speak on Ukraine arms at UN
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Russia has asked Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters to speak to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday at a meeting that Moscow requested to discuss the delivery of weapons to Ukraine. said a U.N. Security Council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. Waters was criticized by supporters of Ukraine when he published an open letter on his website in September to Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska. The 15-member Security Council has met dozens of times since Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine last Feb. 24. But it is unable to take any action because Russia is a veto power, along with the United States, China, Britain and France.

☆ U.N. extends aid to Syria from Turkey, avoids Russia fight
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Despite Western animosity toward Russia over its invasion of Ukraine nearly 11 months ago, the council avoided a usual fight over approval of aid deliveries into Syria from Turkey. The current approval of the U.N. aid operation was due to expire on Tuesday. Russia, which has backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a civil war that began in 2011, argues that the aid operation violates Syria's sovereignty. The Security Council initially authorized aid deliveries in 2014 into opposition-held areas of Syria from Iraq, Jordan and two points in Turkey. Russia says more aid should be delivered from inside Syria, but opponents of Assad fear that food and other aid would fall under government control.

☆ Deputy U.N. chief urges countries to send armed force to Haiti
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Now is certainly not the time for the world to turn away from Haiti," she told the U.N. Security Council. Ambassador Robert Wood told the Security Council that Washington continues "to advocate for international security support, including a non-U.N. multinational force, as requested by the Haitian government." "The United States has provided more than $90 million in security support to Haiti in the past 18 months and will continue to provide critical support bilaterally," Wood said. Russia requested the Security Council meeting on Haiti on Wednesday. A council resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Britain, France, China or Russia.

☆ U.S. accuses U.N. of yielding to Russian threats over Iran drone inquiry
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Iran has acknowledged it had supplied Moscow with drones, but said they were sent before Russia invaded its neighbor in February. Britain, France, Germany, the United States and Ukraine say the supply of Iranian-made drones to Russia violates a 2015 U.N. Security Council resolution enshrining the Iran nuclear deal. Ambassador Robert Wood told a Security Council meeting on Monday on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal resolution. "We are disappointed that the Secretariat, apparently yielding to Russian threats, has not carried out the investigatory mandate this council has given it," Wood said. Iran's U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, said Iran has not transferred to Russia any items prohibited by the Security Council.

☆ West criticizes Russia at U.N. for Ukraine war after missile crash in Poland
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Daphne Psaledakis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The United States and its allies on Wednesday criticized Russia in the United Nations Security Council over missile attacks on Ukraine in a meeting a day after a missile that NATO said was a stray fired by Ukraine's air defenses crashed inside Poland. Military alliance NATO and member Poland said the missile was probably a stray fired by Ukraine's air defenses and not a Russian strike, easing international fears that the war could widen. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy demurred, saying there was no doubt the missile was not Ukrainian. Two people were killed by the missile in a Polish village near the Ukraine-Poland border on Tuesday, the same day Russia fired scores of missiles at cities across Ukraine, targeting its energy grid and worsening power blackouts for millions. The British and Polish ambassadors to the U.N. echoed the statement that Russia's invasion was ultimately to blame for the explosion in Poland.

☆ U.N. General Assembly calls for Russia to make reparations in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Daphne Psaledakis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nov 14 (Reuters) - The United Nations General Assembly on Monday called for Russia to be held accountable for its conduct in Ukraine, voting to approve a resolution recognizing that Russia must be responsible for making reparations to the country. General Assembly resolutions are nonbinding, but they carry political weight. Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.N. Sergiy Kyslytsya told the General Assembly before the vote that Russia has targeted everything from factories to residential buildings and hospitals. Fourteen countries voted against the resolution on Monday, including Russia, China and Iran, while 73 abstained, including Brazil, India and South Africa. In March, 141 members of the General Assembly voted to denounce Russia's invasion, and 143 in October voted to condemn Moscow's attempted annexation of parts of Ukraine.

☆ Russia says it will suspend UN-brokered Ukraine export deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, Ukraine — The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that Moscow has moved to suspend its implementation of a U.N.-brokered grain export deal which has seen more than 9 million tons of grain exported from Ukraine and brought down global food prices. Ukraine has denied the attack. The Russian declaration came one day after U.N. chief Antonio Guterres urged Russia and Ukraine to renew the deal. Guterres also urged other countries, mainly in the West, to expedite the removal of obstacles blocking Russian grain and fertilizer exports. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said before Moscow discusses a renewal “Russia needs to see the export of its grain and fertilizers in the world market, which has never happened since the beginning of the deal.”This is a developing story.

☆ U.S., allies slam Russia for wasting U.N. Security Council time
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Eduardo MunozUNITED NATIONS, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The United States and allies slammed Russia on Thursday for wasting the time of the U.N. Security Council and spreading conspiracies by again raising its accusation that the United States has "military biological programs" in Ukraine. Russia has previously raised at least twice at the Security Council the issue of biological weapons programs in Ukraine. It has drafted a Security Council resolution to set up a commission, made up of all 15 council members, to investigate its claims. Such a move is possible - but has never been invoked - under the Biological Weapons Convention, which took effect in 1975. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield described Russia's accusations as "pure fabrications brought forth without a shred of evidence."

☆ U.N. lawyer pushes back on Russian row over Iran drone inquiry
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Russia has argued that there is no mandate for Guterres to send U.N. experts to Ukraine to inspect the downed drones. Tehran denies supplying the drones to Moscow and Russia has denied its forces used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine. Guterres reports twice a year to the council - traditionally in June and December - on the implementation of a 2015 council resolution that enshrines the Iran nuclear deal. "Absent further guidance by the Security Council, the Secretary-General will continue to prepare these reports in the manner that they have been prepared to date," U.N. legal affairs chief Miguel de Serpa Soares told the Security Council. "The Secretariat serves solely as a contact point," told the Security Council.

☆ Russia raises accusation at U.N. of Ukraine 'dirty bomb' plans
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday took its accusation that Ukraine was preparing to use a dirty bomb - an explosive device laced with radioactive material - to the United Nations Security Council, voicing its concerns during a closed-door meeting of the 15-member body. Russia has alleged that Kyiv has ordered two organizations to create a dirty bomb, without giving any evidence. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has responded by accusing Russia of planning such an attack itself to blame on Ukraine. 'WASTING OUR TIME'The Security Council discussion on Tuesday was the first of three likely meetings requested by Russia this week. The move comes after Ukraine and Western allies accused Russia of using Iranian-made drones in Ukraine in violation of the resolution and asked Guterres to investigate.

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