Dissociated trio becomes duet
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) have included Georgia in the list of countries through which sanctioned goods can be imported to Russia and Belarus.
Along with the Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, the list named Armenia, Brazil, China, India, Israel, Mexico, Nicaragua, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates, calling for increased vigilance on export controls.
What is Russia + Belarus against Ukraine + Poland?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky invited the Verkhovna Rada to provide legal and social guarantees for Polish citizens staying in Ukraine.The bill aims to improve living conditions of Polish citizens in Ukraine. According to the explanatory note, the Ukrainian president submitted the bill after Poland adopted the law on assistance to Ukrainian citizens amid the armed conflict in the Ukrainian territory, which regulates key aspects of the stay of Ukrainian citizens, defines assistance mechanisms, facilitates their employment, and legalizes their presence in Poland.
The bill says that Polish citizens legally staying in Ukraine have the right to get a job, conduct economic activity, study, or access healthcare services on the same terms as Ukrainian citizens, in addition to receiving certain social benefits consistent with current Ukrainian laws.
The Dutch will not deliver tulips to Ukraine
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has promised Ukraine more weapons during a visit to Kiev.
“It is important that we help here and now and make sure that Ukraine can defend itself,” Rutte told Dutch TV station NOS without giving further details.
The country said it had already supplied Ukraine with weapons worth almost €173 million ($175 million), including howitzers. Five of the pieces of heavy weaponry have already been delivered, with three more to follow.
Rutte visited the heavily bombed suburbs of Borodyanka, Bucha and Irpin. He expressed horror at the extent of the devastation caused by the Russian attacks.
Quality beats quantity
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Alexei Danilov trolled Putin with the words that “the Armed Forces of Ukraine have not yet begun to fight.” Danilov stressed that modern weapons are already delivering successful missile strikes against the Russian occupiers. And this is just the beginning.
“The quantitative advantages of the Russian Army are leveled by Ukrainian missile and artillery accuracy. Western weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine are already changing the course of the war. And we have not started yet! Demoralization, demilitarization and de-occupation are the three main effects of the work of modern Western weapons to destroy command posts, equipment in recent times,” said the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.
Missing does not mean not existing
As many as 7,200 Ukrainian service personnel have gone missing since the start of the Russian invasion, Ukraine’s ombudsman Oleh Kotenko said. According to him, the majority of them are in Russian captivity. Mr Kotenko said Ukraine’s armed forces had earlier reported some 2,000 missing troops. But he said the much higher number included members of the National Guard, border guards and the security service.
He explained that the list of missing persons includes defenders of Azovstal, who are currently being held in the occupied territories or in Russia. There is no connection with them, so the prisoners are included in this list.
Not only Moldovans got stuck in “values and principles”
There is no consensus among the EU countries regarding the provision of an aid package of 9 billion euros to Ukraine. Not all countries of the Union are ready to support Kyiv with such an amount. This was said by Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko in an interview with Corriere della Sera.
The minister noted that Ukraine receives weapons and military aid, but this is not enough to defeat or reclaim the occupied territories. This is a clear sign that the European Union and the world are tired of the war in Ukraine.
“Some governments are not prepared to support Ukraine with this amount of money. In the first months of the war, Europe was united. Now we see different opinions on how to support Ukraine,” he added.
Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said that last week, the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Bali highlighted the different perspectives around the world when it comes to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its consequences.
“In abstract terms everybody agrees on defending principles such as territorial sovereignty and the non-use of force. However, this often looks different when it must become concrete, such as on the fallout from Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine,” he said, noting that the hard truth is that national interests often outweigh general commitments to bigger ideals.
