On Wednesday July 13, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba ruled out the idea of ceding parts of Ukraine’s territory to Russia in the event of a peace agreement. Such negotiations seem, in any case, very far away, Russia continuing its offensive in the Donbass, with the city of Siversk as its target. In this context, some forty countries again called on Russia on Wednesday to «immediately stop its military operations in Ukraine».
Forty countries, including the United States, members of the European Union, the United Kingdom and Asian states called on Russia on Wednesday in a joint statement to «immediately stop its military operations in Ukraine «, and supported kyiv’s approach to the International Court of Justice.
In this declaration published in New York, these countries give their «support» to kyiv’s action «against Russia before the International Court of Justice, on the basis of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948 , for the purpose of establishing that Russia’s military intervention has no legal basis and is based on unsubstantiated allegations of genocide». The text recalls that the Court had already demanded that Moscow end the war on March 16.
Discussions between Russian and Ukrainian military experts on the issue of ending the blockade of grain exports in Ukrainian ports seem to be moving forward. «Really substantial progress» has been made, said, after the end of the talks between the two delegations meeting in Turkey, the Secretary General of the United Nations Organization, Antonio Guterres. He hopes that a «formal agreement» can be reached quickly.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that the two parties had agreed on «common controls» ensuring «the security of the transfer routes». Russia and Ukraine have scheduled another meeting in Turkey next week.
The pro-Russian official of the «Luhansk People’s Republic» announced on Wednesday that Russian forces had entered the town of Siversk, located in the Donetsk region. This information has not been confirmed by the Ukrainian authorities, who nevertheless attest that the city was the target of artillery fire.
Russia’s two priority targets are the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, but its army would consider focusing first «on several small towns, such as Siversk and Dolyna», said Britain’s defense minister . Further south, the town of Mykolaiv was the target Wednesday of 28 Russian rocket attacks, causing the death of at least five people.
North Korea has officially recognized the two pro-Russian separatist regions of eastern Ukraine as independent countries, North Korean state media reported on Thursday (July 14th). This recognition comes after the Pyongyang government sent letters on Wednesday to the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk and People’s Republic of Lugansk.
In these letters, the North Korean regime says it has «decided to recognize the independence» of these two regions and «expressed the desire to develop state relations with these countries in the idea of independence, peace and friendship». It is the third state to recognize the sovereignty of these two territories, after Russia and Syria.
Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Wednesday that it could not guarantee the proper functioning of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which supplies Europe with gas, saying it did not know when it could recover a German turbine currently being repaired in Canada.
The gas pipeline is currently shut down for maintenance reasons, but European countries fear that Moscow will take the opportunity not to restart its operation. Citing material problems, Russia has already reduced deliveries to its European customers in recent weeks.