Ukraine causes “domino effect”?
The head of the World Bank has warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could cause a global recession as the price of food, energy and fertilizer jump. David Malpass on Wednesday said that it is difficult to "see how we avoid a recession". He noted that moves by Russia to cut gas supplies could cause a "substantial slowdown" in the region.
Higher energy prices were already weighing on Germany, which is the biggest economy in Europe and the fourth largest in the world. Developing countries are also being affected by shortages of fertilizer, food, and energy, the World Bank head added.
Malpass also raised concerns about lockdowns in some of China’s major cities. including the financial, manufacturing and shipping hub of Shanghai, which he said are “still having ramifications or slowdown impacts on the world”.
Disinformation from the Kremlin, Charles Michel
“Stop your disinformation Kremlin,” said Charles Michel, EU Council President on Twitter. “Stop your disinformation Kremlin. Not sanctions but your war in Ukraine is preventing shipping and endangering food security. More than 20 million tonnes of grain blocked by your mines and your war. We need to stop the war and restore global food supply chains,” Charles Michel said.
Information artillery of Kyiv beats Moscow and New-York
A Ukrainian newspaper warned The New York Times not to “appease Putin” after an editorial suggested that Ukraine might have to make a “painful compromise” to end the war.
The Times, in an editorial published last Thursday, criticized the Biden administration for its “reluctance to put down clear goal posts” for the war. The editorial board wrote that despite Russia’s struggles to make any meaningful progress in the conflict, its military “remains too strong” for a decisive victory for Ukraine to be a “realistic goal”, encouraging the Biden administration to make clear the limits to how far the U.S. will go to help Ukraine.
“If the conflict does lead to real negotiations, it will be Ukrainian leaders who will have to make the painful territorial decisions that any compromise will demand," the board wrote.
Kissinger urged to remember Munich-1938
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday savaged suggestions that Kyiv give up territory and make concessions to end the war with Russia, saying the idea smacked of attempts to appease Nazi Germany in 1938.
The former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has been slammed for saying that a piece of Ukraine should be given to Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky has blasted Kissinger for his statements that the Ukraine needs to find a common language with Russia.
Berlin does not want Moscow to dictate peace to Kyiv
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for more countries to join international efforts to isolate Russia, saying President Vladimir Putin must not be allowed a victory in Ukraine that could embolden
“This is an attempt to bomb us back to a time when war was a common political tool, when our continent and the world lacked a stable order of peace,” he said Thursday in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“No one forgets them. Nothing is forgotten”
U.S. Department of State spokesman Ned Price called Russia’s suggestion to unblock Ukrainian ports in exchange for lifting sanctions “empty promises.” “The quickest solution to rising raw material prices and rising food prices around the world is to end the Russians’ brutal war,” Price said.
He also said that they have a view on some of the horrific tactics that the Russian Federation has employed in parts of Ukraine, eastern Ukraine, where its forces are present. “We have seen Russian forces forcibly remove individuals from occupied territory. We have seen Russia’s forces transport Ukrainians to the so-called filtration camps. We have seen Russia’s forces attempt through other ways to subjugate, otherwise subdue the Ukrainian people in these areas.”
Russians want to get to Bosporus and Dardanelles
The regrouping of Russian troops in the Kherson region and in the occupied areas of the Zaporozhye region, as well as the construction of an additional defense line, testify to Russia’s intention to gain a foothold in these territories, said the representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate Vadim Skibitsky.
“In the Kherson region, on the occupied territory of the Zaporozhye region, we see an increase that occurs as a result of the movement of troops from the territory of the Crimean peninsula. And this is in transit from the Russian Federation. And accordingly, we see how powerful Russia is now deploying a group of troops on occupied territories of southern Ukraine. We see that from the beginning of May the occupying troops began to strengthen the defense. Appropriate engineering structures are being prepared, not even one or two, but a third line of defense is being built. It is these military aspects, military indicators that indicate Russia’s intentions to seize and hold these territories,” he stated.
On May 26, during the sitting of Latvia’s parliament, the Saeima, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the chamber.
“If Russia goes to war against another country, God forbid, against Latvia, then all NATO members will have to decide whether to protect it. If Russia provokes a crisis on the border or inside a European country, all members of the European Union will have to decide whether or not to help. And what will they be able to decide if there is not respect for every nation? ” asked Zelensky.
Fighting with Russia has reached maximum intensity, the enemy is storming the positions of Ukrainian troops simultaneously in several directions, said Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar.
“The situation remains difficult and shows signs of further aggravation. The enemy has used all forces and means to capture our territory and the encirclement of our troops. The fighting has reached its maximum intensity so far. a long phase of the struggle, and we must understand that this is a war, and, unfortunately, losses on our part are inevitable,” she stated on Thursday.
