Security that cannot be ensured by Security Council
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the Russian military must be brought to justice immediately for war crimes, accusing the Kremlin’s troops of the worst atrocities since World War II.
Zelensky urged the Council to “act immediately” on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of his country, calling for Russia to be expelled from the Security Council.
“Where is the security that the Security Council needs to guarantee? It is not there, though there is a Security Council” he said, adding: "It is obvious that the key institution of the world designed to combat aggression and ensure peace cannot work effectively”.
The Ukrainian leader asked for a meeting of the UN Security Council in Kyiv to conceive and reform the security system of the world.
Armament for Ukraine from Czech Republic, Germany, NATO
The Czech Republic has sent T-72 tanks and BVP-1 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine. The information was confirmed by the head of the Czech lower house’s European Affairs Committee Ondrej Benesik.
NATO allies will discuss the delivery of more weapons to Ukraine when foreign ministers meet on Wednesday and Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.
Germany has approved the supply of arms and military goods to Ukraine in the amount of more than €186 million euros, as the German Ministry of Economy announced.
NATO anticipates resumption of Russia’s attacks on Donbas
Russia is likely to launch a new offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region in the next few weeks, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday, adding that allies had time to help prepare the Ukrainian military.
“We now see a significant movement of (Russian) troops away from Kyiv to regroup, re-arm and re-supply and shift their focus to the east,” Stoltenberg told a news conference. “In the coming weeks, we expect a further Russian push in eastern and southern Ukraine to try to take the entire Donbas and to create a land bridge to occupied Crimea.”
Americans know what makes people equal
President Joe Biden approved a $100 million transfer of Javelin anti-armor missiles to Ukraine on Tuesday, according to an administration official.
The transfer brings the total of U.S. military assistance for Ukraine to $2.4 billion since Biden took office last January.
The White House announced late Tuesday that Biden approved the assistance, which is funded as part of a broader $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine approved by Congress last month after Russia's invasion.
Fifth package of sanctions against Russia
The EU Commission proposed the fifth package of sanctions on Russia amid the Ukraine crisis. The Commission’s President Ursuala von der Leyen said the package has six pillars, including an import ban on coal from Russia worth €4 billion ($4.3 billion) per year which will cut another important revenue source for the country, said von der Leyen. The Commission will also impose a full transaction ban on four key Russian banks and a ban on Russian vessels and Russian-operated vessels from accessing EU ports.
Ursuala von der Leyen and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell are expected to visit Kyiv this week.
City in ruins
Oleksiy Kuleba, head of Kyiv’s Regional State Administration, said a town northwest of Kyiv is “almost completely destroyed”. “There’s no water and electricity there ...There is no Borodyanka. It is almost completely destroyed. The city center is just awful. Borodyanka is under the influence of Russian troops; they control this settlement,” Kuleba said.
Russian diplomacy on its knees
Romania has finally joined the ranks of other EU and NATO members that expelled Russian diplomats following the invasion of Ukraine by dismissing 10 Russian diplomats from its territory.
The Romanian authorities have declared 10 people working at the Russian embassy in Bucharest personae non grata, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
The ministry said their actions violated the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, diplomatic lingo for involvement in espionage activities.
The Foreign Ministry of Slovenia said the Russian Embassy, currently the largest in Slovenia, is allowed to have just eight staff, the same as Slovenia’s Embassy in Moscow, instead of the current 41.
Turkey ready to lend a hand
Volodymyr Zelenski in an interview Turkey was already ready today to remove the wounded and dead in the city of Mariupol, but from the port in Berdyansk.
“Turkey is ready for today to take out on ships the wounded and killed, they will be transported from Berdyansk. It is impossible to approach Mariupol, we will not give this opportunity. That is, it is necessary for all this to reach Berdyansk. We have the infrastructure ready to evacuate the wounded and the dead. We are waiting for Putin's approval," Zelensky said. He added that the result should be in the next few days. However, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin makes the final decision.
There are now 130,000 civilians in inhumane conditions in Mariupol, which is blockaded by Russian occupiers.
