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While NATO members agree Kyiv cannot join during the war, they have disagreed over how quickly it could happen afterwards and under what conditions. Negotiations have also focused on what conditions Ukraine would have to meet to join NATO and how its progress should be tracked, diplomats say. "I am absolutely certain that we will have unity and a strong message on Ukraine," Stoltenberg told reporters. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year prompted Nordic neighbours Finland and Sweden to abandon decades of military non-alignment and apply to join NATO. Sweden, backed by Stoltenberg and many NATO members, said it had kept all its undertakings to Turkey on the issue.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, General Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Maria Zakharova, Tayyip Erdogan, Ulf Kristersson, Erdogan, Kristersson, Ronald Popeski, Lidia Kelly, Stephen Coates Organizations: NATO, Diplomats, Alliance, Twitter, Russian Foreign, Nordic, Kurdistan Workers Party, EU, European Union, Thomson Locations: VILNIUS, Vilnius, Sweden, Lithuanian, Ukraine, Moscow, Eastern Europe, Russia, United States, Germany, NATO, Finland, Turkey, Ankara, Swedish

☆ Russia's war in Ukraine: Live updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Christian Edwards | Ed Upright | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

A view shows Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol after the Nova Kakhovka dam breach in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, on June 16, 2023. Zakharova responded by calling Ukraine “a terrorist regime.”“Now they have embarked on a plan for ‘their own salvation’ - systematic damage to the Zaporizhzhia NPP. The NATO summit should have focused on this very subject. After all, the vast majority of the Alliance members will find themselves in the direct hit zone,” she said. However, Zakharova’s claim that the “majority” of NATO members will find themselves in the hit zone is false.

Persons: Alina Smutko, Maria Zakharova, Zakharova, Hanna Maliar, Ukraine “, Volodymyr Zelensky, ”, Vladimir Putin, ” William Alberque, Zakhorova, Read Organizations: Reuters Russia's Foreign, NATO, Zaporizhzhia NPP, Alliance, Ukrainian, Technology, International Institute for Strategy Studies, CNN Locations: Kakhovka, Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, Russian

☆ Russia calls on NATO to discuss Ukraine nuclear plant at summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 9 (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday that the leaders of the U.S.-led transatlantic NATO defence alliance should discuss Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant at their summit this week. Accusing Ukraine of "systematic infliction of damage" to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Zakharova said that "the NATO summit's key attention should be devoted to it." "After all, the vast majority of the alliance members will be in the direct impact zone" (if something were to happen at the plant), Zakharova said on the Telegram messaging app. Vilnius is some 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from the nuclear plant, Europe's largest. Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of planning to attack the plant, which is located on Russian-held territory in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, near the front line of Russia's conflict with Ukraine.

Persons: Maria Zakharova, Zakharova, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Lidia Kelly, Kim Coghill Organizations: Foreign, NATO, Ukraine, International Atomic Energy Agency, Thomson Locations: U.S, Vilnius, Ukraine, Russia, Russian, Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia, Melbourne

☆ Ukraine vows it won't use cluster bombs in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov attends a session of the Ukrainian parliament dedicated the Constitution Day, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 28, 2023. The U.S. announced on Friday it would supply Ukraine with widely banned cluster munitions for its counteroffensive against occupying Russian forces. Cluster munitions are prohibited by more than 100 countries. "We recognize that cluster munitions create a risk of civilian harm from unexploded ordnance," Sullivan told reporters. Russia, Ukraine, and the United States have not signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the production, stockpiling, use, and transfer of the weapons.

Persons: Oleksii Reznikov, Reznikov, Maria Zakharova, Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden's, Sullivan, Margarita Robles, Rishi Sunak, Olena Harmash, Vladimir Soldatkin, Ros Russell, Mark Potter Organizations: Ukraine's Defence, Presidential Press Service, REUTERS, The U.S, Twitter, Foreign, Cluster Munitions, Spanish, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, REUTERS KYIV, Russia, The, Russian, Moscow, U.S, Washington, United States, Spain, Madrid, Britain

☆ Russia: US access to detained reporter Gershkovich on reciprocal basis
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

July 6 (Reuters) - Russia will allow the U.S. ambassador to Moscow to visit detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich "on a reciprocal basis", Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. Ambassador Lynne Tracy was able to visit Gershkovich this week for only the second time since he was detained in March on espionage charges, which he, his employer and Washington all deny. Russian embassy staff were given access on the same day to Vladimir Dunaev, a Russian national in pre-trial detention in Ohio on cybercrime charges. The Kremlin said this week there were "certain contacts" with the United States over Gershkovich's case but "they must be carried out and continued in complete silence". Reporting by ReutersOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Evan Gershkovich, Maria Zakharova, Lynne Tracy, Vladimir Dunaev Organizations: Wall Street, Foreign, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russia, U.S, Moscow, Washington, Russian, Ohio, United States

☆ Moscow attacked by drones, Russia says, forcing authorities to temporarily close international airport
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An apparent drone attack on Moscow led to flights being delayed at one of the city's international airports. The defense ministry said all the drones were disabled, and no injuries were reported. But in May, after a previous drone attack on Moscow, one expert told Insider it looked to be a case of the Ukrainian government giving Russia "a taste of its own medicine." Ukraine has acknowledged carrying out drone strikes against military targets in its own internationally recognized territory. Earlier this year, a Ukrainian military intelligence official said one of his government's drone strikes had targeted a Russia oil facility in occupied Crimea.

Persons: —, Sergei Sobyanin, Maria Zakharova, Russia's, Volodymyr Zelenskyy Organizations: Service, Moscow, Vnukovo Airport, TASS, Kyiv Locations: Moscow, Ukraine, Kubinka, Russia, Ukrainian, Crimea

Four Ukrainian drones were shot down by Moscow air defences while a fifth was jammed and crashed into the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region, the Russian defence ministry said. Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine. High-profile drone attacks deep inside Russia, the world's largest country, have increased over recent months with attacks on the Kremlin in May and on Russian oil infrastructure last month. After May's drone attack on the capital, President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was trying to scare and provoke Russia, adding that the capital's air defences would be strengthened. "At this moment, the attacks have been repelled by air defence forces," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his Telegram messaging channel.

Persons: Maria Zakharova, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Sobyanin, Lidia Kelly, Guy Faulconbridge, Robert Birsel Organizations: Kyiv, United Arab, UN Security, Kremlin, Thomson Locations: Moscow Russia, Kyiv MOSCOW, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Odintsovo, Kaluga, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kubinka, United States, Britain, France, Kyiv, Melbourne

☆ Russia rejects bank compromise as Black Sea grain expiry looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

With 13 days remaining until expiry of the deal that has allowed Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports despite Russia's invasion, Moscow said there had been no progress on any of its key demands, including the banking issue. She also rejected a U.N. attempt to create an alternative payment channel between Rosselkhozbank and U.S. bank JP Morgan (JPM.N). Russia says the severing of the bank's access to SWIFT is one of the obstacles facing its own exports of food and fertiliser, and that it cannot keep renewing the Black Sea deal unless those issues are addressed. The United Nations says the deal has so far allowed the export of more than 32 million metric tons of food from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports to 45 countries on three continents. Its foreign ministry said the Black Sea initiative had delivered Ukrainian grain to "well-fed" countries but failed to help those that needed it most in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Persons: Maria Zakharova, JP Morgan, SWIFT, Zakharova, Felix Light, Mark Trevelyan, David Goodman Organizations: Financial Times, European Union, Foreign Ministry, SWIFT, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Rosselkhozbank, Africa, Asia, Latin America, Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia

☆ Poland arrests Russian ice-hockey player on spying charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, June 30 (Reuters) - Poland has detained a Russian professional ice-hockey player on spying charges, prosecutors said on Friday, describing him as the 14th person that had been arrested from one espionage network. The player for a first division Polish team was taken into custody in the southern Polish region of Silesia, prosecutors said in a statement. "Russian spies are falling in one by one!" Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had demanded an explanation from Poland over its arrest of Russian citizens, state news agency RIA reported. In April it said it was introducing a temporary 200 metre exclusion zone around its Swinoujscie Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal, citing concerns about Russian espionage.

Persons: Zbigniew Ziobro, Maria Zakharova, Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz, Felix Light, Peter Graff Organizations: WARSAW, Polish, Prosecutors, Twitter, Russian Foreign Ministry, Thomson Locations: Poland, Russian, Polish, Silesia, Ukraine, Moscow, Warsaw

In the video, a Central African Republic rebel fighter says "the French want to drive Wagner out of Africa". Russia and Wagner have a track record of media manipulation and disinformation, which Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has admitted to. The European Union sanctioned Wagner in February for alleged rights abuses and spreading disinformation, including in Africa. The foreign ministry unit doesn’t promote or generate fake news, the two diplomats said. However, the foreign ministry unit, and the broader strategy, will face an uphill battle to convince people in Africa that France has changed, seven analysts and diplomats said.

Persons: Ibrahim Traore, Vincent Bado, Wagner, Catherine Colonna, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Emmanuel Macron, Macron, Maria Zakharova, Meta, Anne, Sophie Ave, Lakhta, Prigozhin, Viginum, Faustin, Archange Touadera, “, Michael Shurkin, I'm, Jean Gaspard Ntoutoume Ayi, John Irish, Elizabeth Pineau, Bate Felix, Michel Rose, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: REUTERS, Russia, Central, Facebook, Kremlin, Reuters, Quai D'Orsay, Vigilance, Protection, European Union, West, Central African, Twitter, Democratic, Internet Research Agency, Meta, Global, National Union, Gabonese, Thomson Locations: Burkina, French, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Russia, PARIS, DAKAR, Central African Republic, France, Russian, Africa, Paris, France's, Ukraine, Moscow, Central, West Africa, Quai, Kinshasa, Mali, Sahel, Europe, Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, U.S, Togo, Libreville, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Dakar

☆ Russia and Ukraine say ammonia pipeline was damaged, in potential blow to grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

They have been provided with necessary medical assistance," the Russian ministry said in a statement. "At present ammonia residues are being blown out of the damaged sections of the pipeline from Ukrainian territory. REPAIRSResumption of supplies via the Tolyatti-Odesa pipeline, the world's longest ammonia pipeline, may be key to the renewal of the Black Sea grain export deal. Russia has repeatedly cast doubt on whether it will continue to renew the grain deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, which facilitates agricultural exports from Ukraine via the Black Sea. "The ammonia pipeline was one of the linchpins of the implementation of the agreements made in Istanbul on July 22, The (pipeline) was key to global food security," Zakharova said.

Persons: Stephane Dujarric, Dujarric, We're, Maria Zakharova, Zakharova, Felix Light, Andrew Osborn, Jon Boyle, Jason Neely, Gareth Jones, Alex Richardson, Diane Craft Organizations: Kyiv, Reuters, United, Togliatti, United Nations, Russian Foreign Ministry, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Ukrainian, Masyutivka, Kharkiv, Russian, Ukraine's Kharkiv, United Nations, Turkey, Odesa, Istanbul

☆ Zelenskiy likens Bakhmut's devastation to Hiroshima after World War Two
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 21 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy likened the ruins of Ukraine's eastern city of Bakhmut with the destruction of Hiroshima in World War Two, as he attended the Group of Seven summit in the Japanese city on Sunday. "I'll tell you openly: Photographs of ruined Hiroshima absolutely remind me of Bakhmut and other similar settlements. Zelenskiy told the press conference that Ukrainian forces were continuing to fighting inside the city of Bakhmut and were carrying out "important tasks". He added that he would like to see the same kind of successful reconstruction that Hiroshima experienced in places like Bakhmut once the war is over. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova mocked Zelenskiy's comparison, saying the United States bombed Hiroshima and provided military support for Ukraine.

☆ Russia responds to CIA recruitment video for spies with a bizarre video of its own, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Russian video apparently seeking to recruit US spies is circulating on Telegram. The video was in response to the CIA's latest attempts to recruit Russian spies on Telegram. The Russian video seems to show members of the US military and contains a clip from "Jarhead," a 2005 film about a disillusioned US Marine. A still from a Russian propaganda video apparently aimed at recruiting spies show President Joe Biden in crosshairs. The US seems keen to recruit Russians opposed to the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine, which has stalled amid steep casualties for the Russian military.

☆ Russia confirms Black Sea grain deal renewed for two months
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 17 (Reuters) - Russia confirmed on Wednesday that a deal to allow Ukraine to export its grain safely across the Black Sea, despite Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, had been extended for two months. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the deal had been extended to help countries in need, but added that Russia's overall assessment of the situation regarding the deal had not changed. "The extension of the grain deal is for two months. Thus, there is a chance, not in words, but in deeds, to help ensure global food security. First of all, to help the most needy countries," Zakharova told reporters in a video briefing.

☆ Black Sea grain deal: A crucial pact aimed at averting a global food crisis has been extended
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —A crucial deal aimed at averting a global food crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been extended for two months. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday an agreement has been reached with Russia and Ukraine to extend the Black Sea grain deal. Murat Kula/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesWhat is the Black Sea grain deal and why is it important? The Black Sea grain deal was first reached in July 2022. The Black Sea grain deal was an agreement made between Russia and Ukraine – however, it was not a direct agreement.

☆ The CIA launched a Telegram channel to get Russians to spy for them, with one former spook saying now is 'probably the best period of recruiting Russians that we've had'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The CIA is attempting to recruit Russian spies with video posts on Telegram. As of Tuesday, the new CIA Telegram account had almost 5,000 followers. A screenshot from a CIA recruitment video aimed at Russians posted online on May 15, 2023. A screenshot from a CIA recruitment video aimed at Russians posted online on May 15, 2023. James Olson, a former counterintelligence chief, told CNN that this is "probably the best period of recruiting Russians that we've had."

☆ Russia to hold Victory Day parade amid tight security after drone attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Gareth Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Russian service members march in columns before a rehearsal for a military parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow, Russia May 7, 2023. Russia is also reeling from drone attacks, including one on the Kremlin on May 3 which it said was an attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin. Putin has repeatedly likened the Ukraine war - which he casts as a battle against "Nazi"-inspired nationalists - to the challenge the Soviet Union faced when Hitler invaded in 1941. Kyiv says this is absurd and accuses Russia of behaving like Nazi Germany by waging an unprovoked war of aggression and seizing Ukrainian territory. However, reflecting increased security concerns caused partly by the drone attacks, authorities have cancelled the traditional flyover.

☆ Russian nationalist writer wounded in car bombing, one dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 6 (Reuters) - A prominent Russian nationalist writer, Zakhar Prilepin, was wounded in a car bombing on Saturday that Russia immediately blamed on Ukraine and the West. It separately quoted a source in the emergency services as saying the writer was wounded but conscious after the explosion. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram: "The fact has come true: Washington and NATO fed another international terrorist cell - the Kyiv regime." Zakhar is OK."Two leading pro-war Russian propagandists have been killed in bombings since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. Darya Dugina, the daughter of a nationalist ideologue, died in a car bombing near Moscow in August, while military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in a bomb attack in a St Petersburg cafe last month.

The novelist is an outspoken champion of Russia's war in Ukraine and has boasted of taking part in military combat there. He was the third prominent pro-war figure to be targeted by a bomb since Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. [1/2] A view shows a destroyed vehicle, which transported Russian writer Zakhar Prilepin allegedly wounded in a car bombing in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia, May 6, 2023. On Wednesday, Russia accused Ukraine of trying to kill President Vladimir Putin with a night-time drone attack on the Kremlin. TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as declining to comment on Saturday's car bomb in the absence of information from investigators.

☆ Car Bombing Injures Prominent Russian Nationalist, State Media Reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Cassandra Vinograd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A car bombing has wounded a prominent Russian nationalist writer and killed his driver, state media reported on Saturday. The state-run Tass news agency said that the writer, Zakhar Prilepin, was wounded but conscious. Preliminary information showed that an explosive device had been planted under Mr. Prilepin’s car in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, Tass reported, but did not say who was believed to be behind the attack. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, called it a “terrorist bombing,” saying in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that Mr. Prilepin’s driver had been killed. The governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, Gleb Nikitin, said that Mr. Prilepin suffered minor fractures.

The Ukrainian president cited prior examples of battlefield successes that were followed by Ukraine being granted new types of military aid. I would rather it was the other way round, as it would be easier for us, but it is like it is, and we are grateful for everything," the Ukrainian president said. "But we like your aircraft, just so you know Mr President," Zelenskiy quipped. "We need security guarantees today, while we are not in NATO," Zelenskiy said. A spokesperson for Zelenskiy in a statement said the Ukrainian government expected the summit to result in a joint statement.

☆ Russia demands full implementation of Black Sea grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, April 27 (Reuters) - Only its full implementation can save the Black Sea grain deal from collapse, Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday, reaffirming Moscow's dissatisfaction with an accord that aims to prevent a global food crisis. The deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, allows Ukrainian grain trapped by the conflict to be safely exported from the country's Black Sea ports. But Russia has repeatedly said it will not allow the deal to be extended beyond May 18 unless the West removes obstacles to Russian grain and fertiliser exports. Russia and Ukraine are major grain producers, but Moscow says parts of the deal that are meant to allow it to export its own agricultural goods via the Black Sea are not being honoured. One of Russia's main demands in negotiations is the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the SWIFT payments system.

Zelensky, who has long expressed interest in speaking with Xi, said he had “a long and meaningful phone call” with the Chinese leader. Wednesday’s phone call is the first time Xi has spoken to Zelensky since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. China’s positioning as a mediator was also viewed critically as Xi visited Moscow but had still yet to speak with Zelensky. “Xi Jinping doesn’t want to put political capital behind an effort that then blows up in his face. In this case, this could mean Putin indicated to Xi that he was willing to talk to Kyiv, Menon added.

April 19 (Reuters) - Russia on Wednesday accused Ukraine of sabotaging the Black Sea grain deal by demanding bribes from ship owners to register new vessels and carry out inspections under the cover of a deal the United Nations hopes could ease a global food crisis. There was no immediate comment on the allegation, levelled by Russia's Foreign Ministry, from Ukraine which has blamed Moscow for problems with the agreement. Russia and Ukraine both say the deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July, is in danger of collapsing just as Poland, Hungary and Slovakia have imposed import bans on Ukrainian grain. The problems were caused "solely as a result of the actions of Ukrainian representatives, as well as U.N. representatives, who, apparently, do not want or cannot resist them," she said. Russia and Ukraine are two of the world's key agricultural producers, and major players in the wheat, barley, maize, rapeseed, rapeseed oil, sunflower seed and sunflower oil markets.

☆ Finnish embassy in Moscow receives letter containing unknown powder
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 14 (Reuters) - Finland's embassy in Moscow has received a letter containing an unknown powder and has reported the matter to the Russian authorities, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday. Relations between Moscow and Helsinki have deteriorated sharply since Finland formally joined NATO on April 4, becoming the 31st member of the U.S.-led military alliance. The embassy informed Russia's foreign ministry that it had received three letters on Thursday, at least one of which contained a powder, Zakharova said. "The embassy of Finland will be informed of the results of the inquiry." Finland's decision to join NATO ended seven decades of strategic non-alignment which began after the country repelled an attempted Soviet invasion during World War Two.

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