Finland’s International Minister Pekka Haavisto mentioned there was a danger that Russia’s Wagner group could benefit from the crisis in Sudan and the European Union ought to do extra to attempt to resolve it.
CHINA REASSERTS SOVEREIGNTY PRINCIPLE
* China respects the standing of former Soviet member states as sovereign nations, its overseas ministry mentioned on Monday, after feedback by its envoy to Paris triggered an uproar amongst European capitals.
DIPLOMACY
* Turkey’s defence minister mentioned he deliberate to satisfy his Syrian, Russian and Iranian counterparts in Moscow on Tuesday, state-owned Anadolu information company mentioned, amid efforts to rebuild Ankara-Damascus ties after years of animosity through the Syrian warfare.
* The European Union should speed up its joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine, Finland’s International Minister Pekka Haavisto mentioned.
* Russia mentioned on Saturday it was expelling greater than 20 German diplomats in a tit-for-tat transfer.
FIGHTING
* Russia’s Black Sea Fleet repelled a drone assault on the Crimean port of Sevastopol early on Monday, the Moscow-installed governor of town mentioned by way of social media.
* Russia mentioned on Sunday its forces had superior in Bakhmut whereas a high Ukrainian commander mentioned his troops had been holding the entrance line by way of town.
GRAIN DEAL
* The Group of Seven (G7) financial powers referred to as on Sunday for the “extension, full implementation and expansion” of the grain deal that allows important exports of meals from Ukraine.
* Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev mentioned on Sunday that if the G7 moved to ban exports to Russia, it might reply by terminating the grain deal, which it has already signalled it won’t enable to proceed past Might 18.
* A primary batch of Russian fertilizer that Latvia seized final yr is being shipped to Kenya by the U.N. World Meals Programme, Latvia’s overseas ministry mentioned on Saturday. Russia has cited the seizure as a key stumbling block to its continued participation within the grains deal.
ECONOMY
* International army spending rose to a file final yr as Russia’s warfare drove the most important annual improve in expenditure in Europe for the reason that finish of the Chilly Warfare three many years in the past, a outstanding battle and armaments assume tank mentioned on Monday.
* Russia’s richest folks have added $152 billion to their wealth over the previous yr, helped by excessive costs for pure sources – rebounding from the large losses they skilled after the beginning of the warfare in Ukraine, Forbes Russia mentioned.
RUSSIAN OFFICIAL’S SON
* The son of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson mentioned in an interview revealed on Saturday that he had served in Ukraine beneath an assumed identify as an artilleryman within the Wagner mercenary pressure, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported.
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