UKRAINE WRAP | Russia's Lavrov calls decision to block plane 'unprecedented'

June 06 2022 - 21:00

No change in US Embassy posture in Kyiv following recent bombings -State Dept

There has been no change in U.S. Embassy posture in Kyiv, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters, after Russian missiles on Sunday hit Kyiv for the first time in more than a month.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv resumed operations last month, nearly three months after removing its diplomats and suspending work there over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

-Reuters

June 06 2022 - 17:27

Russia puts investigative journalist on wanted list

 Investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov, known for his coverage of Russian security agencies, said on Monday that Russian authorities had placed him on a wanted list and frozen his bank accounts.

Soldatov, who co-founded the Agentura.ru website, wrote on Twitter: "My Monday: my accounts in Russian banks are under arrest, plus I'm placed on Russia's wanted list."

The Interior Ministry's website listed Soldatov, who could not be reached by phone, as wanted under an unspecified article of the criminal code.

In a separate post in the Telegram messaging platform, Soldatov wrote that the case against him had been filed in a manner similar to that of two journalists accused of spreading "fake information" about Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine.

"We are clarifying the details," Soldatov wrote.

Days after sending its troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russia passed a law providing for jail terms of up to 15 years for those convicted of intentionally spreading "fake" news about Russia's military.

Moscow says its "special military operation" is designed to defuse a security threat from Ukraine and protect its Russian-speakers from persecution.

Ukraine and Western countries have dismissed these claims as baseless pretexts for a land grab that has killed thousands, flattened cities and displaced 14 million people. 

-Reuters

June 06 2022 - 15:00

Ukraine has 'every chance' to fight back in Sievierodonetsk, Zelenskiy says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that Russian forces had the numerical advantage in the battle for the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, but that Ukraine's forces had "every chance" of fighting back.

Zelenskiy told reporters at a briefing in Kyiv that the situation would become very difficult for Ukraine if Russia breaks through in the eastern region of Donbas.

Reuters

June 06 2022 - 13:59

Russia says it will push Ukrainian forces back to defend against longer-range weapons

 Moscow said on Monday that Western deliveries of longer-range arms to Kyiv would make Russia push Ukrainian forces further back from its borders, essentially increasing the potential territorial losses for Ukraine in the invasion.

The United States has ruled out sending its own or NATO forces to Ukraine but Washington and Britain have agreed to supply precision missile systems which have significantly longer ranges than previous weapons they delivered.

Washington is supplying Ukraine with M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and Britain will supply M270 multiple-launch systems.

"The longer the range of the systems that will be delivered, the further we will move back the Nazis from that line from which threats to Russian-speakers and the Russian Federation may come," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference.

Since the start of its invasion, which it calls a "special military operation", Russia has repeatedly said it aims to clear Ukraine of "Nazis". Kyiv and its Western backers say such claims are fiction and that Ukraine is fighting for its survival against an imperial-style land grab.

President Vladimir Putin warned the United States in an interview broadcast on Sunday that Russia would strike new targets if the West supplied longer-range missiles to Ukraine for use in high-precision mobile rocket systems.

The range of the missile systems depends on the munitions used in them. HIMARS systems have a maximum range of 300 km (185 miles) or more but the missiles supplied by the United States have a range of just over 40 miles (64 km) - double the range of the howitzers it supplied.

Reuters 

June 06 2022 - 13:06

Russia's Lavrov calls decision to block plane 'unprecedented'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday described as "unprecedented" a move by three eastern European countries to block his plane from travelling to Serbia, adding that he had yet to receive an explanation for their decision.

He said that he would instead invite his Serbian counterpart to visit him in Moscow, adding: "The main thing is no one will be able to destroy our relations with Serbia".

Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro - closed their airspace to an official plane that would have carried Moscow's top diplomat to Belgrade on Monday.

The Kremlin described that as a hostile action.

Lavrov told reporters: "If a visit by the Russian foreign minister to Serbia is seen in the West as something approaching a threat on a universal scale, then things in the West are clearly pretty bad."

Serbia's Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin said he deeply regretted "the obstruction" of the visit of Lavrov, whom he described as "a great and proven friend of Serbia."

"A world in which diplomats cannot seek peace is a world in which there is no peace. Those who prevented the arrival of Sergei Lavrov do not want peace, they dream of defeating Russia," Vulin said in a statement."

Serbia is proud that it is not part of the anti-Russian hysteria, and the countries that are, will have time to be ashamed."

Reuters 

June 06 2022 - 12:42

Ukraine's Zelenskiy says UK's Johnson confirmed new defence aid package in phone call

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed a new package of UK military aid to Ukraine in a call between the two leaders.

Zelesnkiy added that he and Johnson were "looking for ways to avoid the food crisis & unblock (Ukraine's) ports," referring to Russia's naval blockade of Ukraine which has left the latter unable to export much of its agricultural produce. 

Reuters 

June 06 2022 - 12:35

Russia says nuclear arms talks with U.S are necessary but "unlikely" at present time

The Kremlin said on Monday that it is interested in talks with the United States over nuclear arms but said that negotiations were unlikely to take place at this time.

"We are interested and believe that continued negotiations and discussions on this topic, given the tectonic shifts that we are seeing... the whole world needs these kinds of talks", Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

The US ambassador to Moscow, John J. Sullivan, was quoted on Monday as saying that Russia should not close the US embassy despite the crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine because the world's two biggest nuclear powers must continue to talk. 

Reuters 

June 06 2022 - 12:33

Russia says nuclear arms talks with US are necessary but "unlikely" at present time

 The Kremlin said on Monday that it is interested in talks with the United States over nuclear arms but said that negotiations were unlikely to take place at this time."

We are interested and believe that continued negotiations and discussions on this topic, given the tectonic shifts that we are seeing... the whole world needs these kinds of talks", Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

The US ambassador to Moscow, John J. Sullivan, was quoted on Monday as saying that Russia should not close the US embassy despite the crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine because the world's two biggest nuclear powers must continue to talk. 

Reuters 

June 06 2022 - 12:23

Russia says ban on Lavrov's plane a 'hostile action'

 The Kremlin on Monday said airspace closures by three eastern European countries which prevented Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov from travelling to Serbia were a "hostile action.

"Countries surrounding Serbia - Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro - closed their airspace to an official plane that would have carried Moscow's top diplomat to Belgrade on Monday.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters such actions could cause problems with the timetabling of high-level diplomatic meetings. But they would not prevent Moscow from maintaining contacts with friendly countries, he said.

Reuters 

June 06 2022 - 12:03

IAEA chief working on mission to Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

The UN nuclear watchdog is "developing the modalities" for an international mission of experts it hopes to send to the Russian-held nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine, Europe's largest, its chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday.

"We are developing the modalities to dispatch such a mission; other considerations should not prevent this essential international mission from taking place," Grossi said in a statement to the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation Board of Governors, adding that Ukraine had requested it. 

Reuters 

June 06 2022 - 09:38

Russian rouble eases towards 62 vs dollar, stocks extend fall

The Russian rouble weakened towards 62 against the dollar on Monday, steered by internal market flows and capital controls, while stock indexes extended losses after the latest Western sanctions.

At 0731 GMT, the rouble was 0.9% weaker against the dollar at 61.46, stabilising in the relatively narrow range of 60.0-62.5 in the past few days after rapid swings in May.

Against the euro, the rouble shed 0.8% to 65.31 , heading away from a near seven-year high of 57.10 hit on May 25.

The rouble on the Moscow Exchange is driven by capital controls that Russia imposed to protect its financial system soon after sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.

The Russian currency remains much weaker at banks. VTB, Russia's second-largest lender, offered to sell cash dollars and euros for 84.00 and 89.00 rouble respectively.

Sanctions remain in focus. On Friday, EU countries agreed their sixth package of sanctions against Russia over what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine, including an import ban on all Russian seaborne crude oil and petroleum products in six to eight months.

Russia's National Settlement Depository (NSD), which Moscow had planned to use to service its Eurobonds, will suspend transactions in euros after the European Union added the entity to its extended sanctions list.

On the local debt market, yields on 10-year OFZ treasury bonds fell to 9.01%, as the market awaited the central bank rate decision due on Friday. Yields on 2-year OFZs were down at 9.15%, moving inversely with their prices.

Short-tenor OFZ bonds already price in a cut to the key rate to 10% from 11% this week, Promsvyazbank analysts said in a note.

Russian stock indexes were down.

The dollar-denominated RTS index fell 1.9% to 1,176.5 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.3% lower at 2,302.9 points.

Reuters 

June 06 2022 - 09:18

Putin critic Kallas needs new allies to stay in power in Estonia

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, known for her fierce criticism of Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine, is fighting to stay in power after she dismantled her ruling coalition, saying it lacked unity to face the dangers of Russia.

Kallas’s best chance lies with clinching a deal with the smallest opposition party in parliament — the conservative Pro Patria — which is expected to decide Monday whether to join her and the Social Democrats in a new ruling alliance. If she fails, she may be headed towards a no-confidence vote and possibly a snap election in a country shoring up the eastern fringe of the European Union and Nato.

With hours to go before the meeting, Pro Patria’s leadership remained undecided. If it doesn’t join Kallas, it may also choose to throw in with former Prime Minister Juri Ratas’s the Centre Party — the former coalition faction whose dispute with Kallas torpedoed their ruling pact — and a far right party in an alternative government. A third option is to remain in opposition.

June 06 2022 - 08:57

Ukraine says position has 'worsened a little' in Sievierodonetsk fighting

The position of Ukrainian forces fighting in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk has "worsened a little", the regional governor said on Monday.

"Our defenders managed to undertake a counter-attack for a certain time; they liberated almost half of the city. But now the situation has worsened a little for us again," Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai told national television. 

Reuters 

June 06 2022 - 06:15

Ukrainian YouTuber chronicles war instead of travels

To his millions of followers, Ukrainian YouTuber Anton Ptushkin may be best known for travel videos featuring mountain roads and seascapes. Now he uses his platform to tell people in the West about life in Ukraine during the Russian invasion.

June 06 2022 - 06:00

Putin threatens to hit 'new targets' if the West sends long-range weapons to Ukraine 

Putin has threatened to hit new targets even after Russia targeted Kyiv for the first time in weeks. Putin has warned against the West sending long-range weapons to Ukraine.