Turkey will host the Russia-Ukraine Grain talks, which will also be attended by a UN delegation.
Washington:
Russian and Ukrainian officials were said to talk in Istanbul on Wednesday about stalled grain supplies that have pushed up global food prices, while Kiev said it had destroyed a Russian arms depot as the war rages on.
Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat and other grains, but shipments have been blocked by both Russian warships and mines Kiev laid across the Black Sea.
Turkey, which has spearheaded efforts to resume essential grain trade, will host the talks, which will also be attended by a UN delegation.
On the ground, Kiev said it had launched artillery that destroyed a Russian weapons depot and also conducted a “special operation” to free military prisoners in the Moscow-controlled Kherson region.
Ukrainian military officials said Tuesday’s attacks destroyed artillery, armored vehicles “and an ammunition warehouse” in the Russian-occupied city of Nova Kakhovka.
“The occupiers have already felt very well what modern artillery is and they will not have a safe back anywhere on our land,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address.
Russian-backed authorities accused Ukraine of damaging civilian infrastructure and killing at least seven people.
“Warehouses were affected, as well as shops, a pharmacy, gas stations and even a church,” Vladimir Leontiev, the head of the Moscow-backed city administration, said on social media.
Ukraine’s military intelligence also said its forces had released five detainees in the “special operation” in Kherson, including a soldier and a former police officer, without specifying when.
– American long-range artillery –
The Ukrainian army has been waging a counter-offensive for several weeks to retake Kherson, which had been taken by Russian forces at the start of the invasion of Ukraine, which began in February.
The deputy head of pro-Russian authorities in Kherson, Ekaterina Gubareva, said Ukraine used long-range precision artillery systems supplied by the United States in the attacks in Nova Kakhovka.
Military analysts attribute new systems from the West – including HIMARS from the United States – with attacks deeper into Russia-controlled territory.
EU member states, which have provided military aid to Ukraine, approved a billion euros ($1 billion) in financial aid for Kiev on Tuesday, billing it as the first tranche of a promised €9 billion rescue package agreed in May.
The United States separately announced $1.7 billion for Ukraine to help finance the recovery.
“This aid will help Ukraine’s democratic government provide essential services to the people of Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said of the funds included in a $7.5 billion aid package launched by President Joe Biden in May. signed.
Moscow continued its offensive in Ukraine, with officials in the southern city of Mykolaiv saying Russian forces bombed two medical facilities and homes, injuring 12 people.
Five people were injured in Russian shelling on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said after seven people were killed in that region the day before.
– Export of essential grains –
But the heaviest fighting in recent weeks has centered on the Donbas, where Moscow’s forces have made slow progress against fierce opposition since it failed to take Kiev in nearly five months of fighting.
In Bakhmut, one of the few remaining towns under Ukrainian control in Donbas, AFP journalists heard nearby artillery fire.
“The front is getting closer,” said municipal official Dmytro Podkuyidko, who estimates that more than a third of the city’s 73,000 residents have fled.
“If it gets worse, I will eventually leave too,” Podkuyidko said.
Turkey, meanwhile, announced Wednesday talks between Moscow and Kiev to try to break the deadlock over allowing Ukrainian grain to leave its southern ports.
“Unblocking Ukrainian ports is one of the most important components of global food security,” Ukrainian presidential aide Andryi Yermak said on Telegram.
Turkish officials say there are 20 merchant ships waiting in the Black Sea to be quickly loaded with Ukrainian grain.
A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that Moscow entered the meeting with a list of tough demands, including searches of ships.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres downplayed expectations during the talks, saying: “We are indeed working hard, but there is still a way to go.”
After Russian leader Vladimir Putin passed a decree on Monday expediting Russian passports for all Ukrainians, the breakaway Ukrainian People’s Republic of Donetsk unveiled its “embassy” in central Moscow on Tuesday.
Top Russian officials were not present at the ceremony, which took place under heavy police presence.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
