UKRAINE WRAP | Ukraine defies Russia's Sievierodonetsk ultimatum

June 15 2022 — 20:28

Canada to send C$9 mln of replacement barrels for howitzer guns to Ukraine

Canada will provide 10 replacement barrels for M777 howitzer artillery guns to Ukraine in new military aid valued at C$9 million ($6.9 million), the Canadian defense minister said on Wednesday.

"We will continue to work around the clock to provide Ukraine with the comprehensive military aid that it needs to defend its sovereignty and security," Defense Minister Anita Anand said in a statement.

Canada donated the M777 howitzers to Ukraine earlier and the replacement barrels are needed to maintain their distance range and accuracy. 

-Reuters

June 15 2022 — 18:12

Ukraine could produce less gas in 2022 due to war - energy minister

Ukraine's gas production could drop to 16-17 billion cubic metres (BCM) in 2022 because of the Russian invasion from about 20 bcm in 2021, energy minister Herman Halushchenko said on Wednesday.

"The fall is due to military actions. We are not operating some fields because of the war," Halushchenko told Ukraine national television. 

-Reuters

June 15 2022 — 16:21

White House expected to announce around $1 bln of of weapons for Ukraine - sources

The White House is expected as soon as Wednesday to announce around $1 billion dollars worth of new weapons aid for Ukraine, including anti-ship rocket systems, artillery rockets, and rounds for howitzers, people familiar with the packages said.

-Reuters

June 15 2022 — 15:26

Kremlin says Putin, Xi agreed to boost ties in energy, finance

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in a phone call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to expand cooperation in energy, finance and industry as Moscow faces unprecedented Western sanctions over Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

"It was agreed to expand cooperation in energy, finance, industry, transport and other spheres, taking into account the global economic situation that has become more complicated due to the West's illegitimate sanctions policy," the Kremlin said in a readout of the leaders' call.

-Reuters

June 15 2022 — 14:40

Ukraine defies Russia's Sievierodonetsk ultimatum

Ukraine ignored a Russian ultimatum to surrender the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk on Wednesday as NATO defence ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss sending more heavy weapons to replenish Kyiv's dwindling stocks.

Russia had told Ukrainian forces holed up in a chemical plant in the shattered city to stop "senseless resistance and lay down arms" from Wednesday morning, pressing its advantage in the battle for control of eastern Ukraine.

Plans announced by Moscow to open a humanitarian corridor for civilians stuck in the plant were disrupted by Ukrainian shelling, Russian-backed separatists were quoted by RIA news agency as saying. 

June 15 2022 — 14:20

Russian oil and fuel revenue up even as exports fall - IEA

Higher crude oil and fuel prices allowed Russian revenues to climb in May despite its export volumes slipping due to sanctions, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.

The findings underscore the difficulty of punishing Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine by banning Russian imports, moves which have exacerbated a supply crunch and driven up prices.

Crude exports held steady on the month at 5.4 million barrels per day (bpd) but refined product shipments slipped 155,000 bpd compared to April to 2.4 million bpd.

"With higher crude oil and product prices globally, Russian oil export revenues are estimated to have increased by $1.7 billion in May to about $20 billion," the Paris-based agency said in its monthly oil report.

The United States and the European Union agreed to ban imports of Russian oil and imposed escalating sanctions in response to the February 24 invasion.

Despite the bans, the EU remained the main destination for Russian exports last month, making up 43% of Russian flows followed by just over a quarter to China.

China's imports of Russian oil and fuel rose by nearly a quarter of a million bpd in May, topping 2 million bpd for the first time, with India taking Germany's place as the number two destination for Russian shipments in recent months.

Oil prices held above $120 a barrel on Wednesday on persistent concerns about tight supply worldwide.

"Russian crude oil exports remain at elevated levels as domestic refining activity is constrained by lower product shipments," said the IEA, a grouping of 31 mostly industrialized countries but not Russia.

"China and India, which have both sharply increased crude oil purchases from Russia, are net product exporters and have no need to lift Russian products."

Reuters 

June 15 2022 — 13:00

Ukraine says Russia eyes a 'vast area from Warsaw to Sofia'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the European Union on Wednesday to let his country start on the road to membership of the bloc, warning that Russia's territorial ambitions stretched from Warsaw to Sofia.

In a speech to both chambers of the Czech parliament via a video link, Zelenskiy also called for more EU sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine on February. 24.

"Russia is not interested only in our (cities of) Mariupol, Sievierodonetsk, Kharkiv and Kyiv.

No, its ambitions are directed on a vast area from Warsaw to Sofia," he said, without citing evidence for his assertion.

"As in the past, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is the first step that the Russian leadership needs to open the way to other countries, to the conquest of other peoples."

The EU has adopted six rounds of sanctions against Russia, and Ukraine is seeking a seventh round to increase pressure on Russia to end the war.

The European Commission is expected to announce a decision on Ukraine's request for candidate status this week ahead of an EU summit next week. Having candidate status would be a preliminary step in a long process to accession."

To grant Ukraine candidate status now is to prove that European unification is real and that European values ​​really work and are not just indicated in certain documents," Zelenskiy said.

He said the Czech people - following Nazi German occupation during World War Two and decades of Soviet domination after the war - knew how compromise ends and what comes of concessions to tyranny.

"The person who wants to seize everything will never stop at taking only part of what they want," Zelenskiy said.

Russia did not immediately comment on his remarks. Moscow calls the war in Ukraine a special military operation against Ukraine's military and what it portrays as dangerous nationalists.

Reuters 

June 15 2022 — 11:26

Russia tells Ukraine to down weapons in Sievierodonetsk battle

Russia told Ukrainian forces holed up in a chemical plant in the embattled city of Sievierodonetsk to lay down their arms by early Wednesday, pressing its advantage in the battle for control of eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine is calling for an increase in Western heavy weapons after Russia committed the bulk of its firepower to the eastern Donbas region, a topic expected to feature prominently at a meeting of NATO defence ministers on Wednesday in Brussels.

Ukraine says more than 500 civilians are trapped alongside soldiers inside the Azot chemical factory where its forces have resisted weeks of Russian bombardment and assaults that have reduced much of Sievierodonetsk to ruins.

June 15 2022 — 11:10

Romanian president says EU should grant Ukraine EU candidate status

Granting Ukraine candidate status for the European Union is the correct call, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday, adding that a decision may come by the end of June.

“In my opinion, the candidate status must be granted as soon as possible, it is a correct solution from a moral, economic and security perspective,” he said after talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. 

Reuters 

June 15 2022 — 10:55

France's Macron: Ukraine President will have to negotiate with Russia at some point

 French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that Ukraine would have to hold talks with Russia at some point, to try to bring an end to the war between the two countries.

“The Ukrainian President and his officials will have to negotiate with Russia,” said Macron, while on a visit to Romania and Moldova.

Macron arrived in Romania on Tuesday for a three-day trip to Nato's southern flank including Moldova before possibly heading to Kyiv on Thursday on a visit with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, two diplomatic sources said.

Macron has been criticised by Ukraine and eastern European allies for what they perceived as his ambiguous backing for Ukraine in the war against Russia. 

Reuters 

June 15 2022 — 10:45

Ukraine says 2.4 million hectares of winter crops won't be harvested because of war

 Some 2.4 million hectares of winter crops with a total value of $1.435 billion will remain unharvested in Ukraine because of Russia's invasion, the Ukrainian agriculture ministry said on Wednesday.

It said the agriculture sector had so far suffered losses of $4.292 billion because of the invasion. It estimated that the number of animals killed in areas affected by fighting included 42,000 sheep and goats, 92,000 cows, 258,000 pigs and more than 5.7 million birds.

Reuters 

June 15 2022 — 10:18

Russia says it has destroyed warehouse for NATO weapons in Ukraine

Russia said on Wednesday its missiles destroyed an ammunition warehouse for weapons donated by NATO alliance countries in Ukraine's western Lviv region.

The defence ministry said some of the ammunition was to be used for US-produced M777 howitzers, a type of artillery weapon.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the report. 

Reuters 

June 15 2022 — 06:00

Pope slams Putin, praises Ukrainians, but says perhaps war was provoked

Pope Francis has taken a new series of swipes at Russia for its actions in Ukraine, saying its troops are brutal, cruel and ferocious, while praising “brave” Ukrainians for fighting for survival.

But in the text of a conversation he had last month with editors of Jesuit media and published on Tuesday, he also said the situation was not black and white and that the war was “perhaps in some way provoked”.

While condemning “the ferocity, the cruelty of Russian troops, we must not forget the real problems if we want them to be solved”, Francis said, including the armaments industry among the factors that provide incentives for war.