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Peace will be on Moscow’s terms, says former president
A senior Russian security official said that peace in Ukraine when it came would be on Moscow’s terms as Russian forces struck targets across the country with missiles even as their ground offensive stuttered.
More than two weeks have passed since Russia’s last major territorial gain – capturing the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk – and Ukraine’s general army staff said on Tuesday that Moscow’s forces were busy shoring up their positions in recently seized territory and mounting limited but unsuccessful ground assaults, albeit in numerous different locations.
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president who is now deputy head of its security council, struck a defiant tone though, signalling that Moscow was ready to do whatever it took in order to prevail, Reuters reported.
“Russia will achieve all its goals. There will be peace – on our terms,” Medvedev said.
Key events:
Here’s an update, of sorts, from Russia’s president Vladimir Putin on his talks today with the presidents of Iran and Turkey.
The three-way summit in Tehran, ostensibly to discuss the conflict in Syria but overshadowed by Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine, was “truly useful and rather substantial”, Putin said, according to Reuters.
Putin said he had agreed a joint declaration with presidents Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey and Ebrahim Raisi of Iran pledging to strengthen cooperation in the interests of the “normalisation” of the situation in Syria.
He also said he and Erdoğan discussed the export of Ukrainian and Russian grain as well as food security, but provided no further details.
Earlier in the day, Putin praised the Turkish leader for mediating talks on the export of grain from Ukraine, saying there had been some progress.
Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine has hampered shipments from one of the world’s biggest exporters of wheat and other grain, sparking fears of global food shortages.
US preparing new weapons package for Ukraine
The United States will announce a new weapons package for Ukraine in the coming days, a government official has said. It is expected to include mobile rocket launchers knows as Himars, and various artillery munitions, Reuters reports.
The news came during an afternoon briefing at the White House, at which Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby also revealed the US assessment that Russia is laying the groundwork for the annexation of Ukrainian territory, and installing illegitimate proxy officials in areas under its control.
Kirby, unveiling what he said was US intelligence, said Russia was seeking to establish the rouble as the default currency and force residents to apply for citizenship.
He also weighed in on Russian president Vladimir Putin’s trip to Iran, saying his talks with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday, the Kremlin leader’s first trip outside the former Soviet Union since Moscow’s 24 February invasion of Ukraine, showed how isolated he had become.
The US said last week it had information that Iran was preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred drones, including some that are weapons capable, but Kirby said on Tuesday that there was no indication the transfer had taken place.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been talking with Italy’s prime minister, Ukraine’s president tweeting that his Tuesday afternoon conversation with Mario Draghi included a discussion on his country’s application to join the European Union.
Had a phone conversation with 🇮🇹 Prime Minister #MarioDraghi. Thanked for comprehensive support and solidarity of the Italian people. Also noted the Prime Minister’s significant personal contribution to granting Ukraine the status of a candidate country for #EU membership.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 19, 2022
Zelenskiy has also been chatting with Alassane Ouattara, president of Ivory Coast, during a busy afternoon on the telephone.
He says it was the first time leaders of the two nations had spoken directly, saying the aim was to “open a new page in relations with the African continent”.
Held the 1st talks in the history of bilateral relations with 🇨🇮 President @AOuattara_PRCI. Discussed support for 🇺🇦 within the UN. Told about countering Russia’s artificial creation of the global food crisis. 🇺🇦 aims to open a new page in relations with the African continent!
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 19, 2022
Ukraine does not want the war to last into winter, president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff said Tuesday, because it would give Russian forces time to dig in and make any Ukrainian counter-offensive more difficult.
Andry Yermak was talking to Ukrainian magazine NV, Reuters reported, and expressed hopes that weapons from the US, UK and other western allies will allow Ukrainian troops to achieve “victory” before then.
In the interview, Yermak said:
It is very important for us not to enter the winter. After winter, when the Russians will have more time to dig in, it will certainly be more difficult.
The governor of a southern Ukraine region under constant Russian rocket fire on Tuesday offered a $100 (£83) reward for anyone who can identify people collaborating with Russia.
Vitaliy Kim, the governor of the Mykolaiv region, is offering the compensation in exchange for information about “those who reveal to the occupiers the places of deployment of Ukrainian troops” or help them establish the coordinates of potential targets, AFP reports.
Kim also indicated that he planned to “close” the city of Mykolaiv for a few days in order to neutralise “traitors and Russian collaborators”.
“We are considering curfew measures. We have a large database. We will close the city for a few days,” he said.
Earlier today we reported that the European Union was set to add Russia’s biggest bank Sberbank and the head of giant zinc and copper firm UMMC to its list of individuals and companies sanctioned for supporting Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Now we’re learning, courtesy of AFP, that the EU is at the same time considering unblocking assets at Russian banks linked to trade in food and fertiliser.
The news agency reports the exception would be intended to boost food trade, and quotes one unnamed diplomat as saying the move was “completely understandable”.
Member countries “want to make it abundantly clear that there is nothing in the sanctions that is slowing the transport of grain out of Russia or Ukraine,” the diplomat said.
The EU proposal is part of the bloc’s latest sanction update being negotiated by member states and will require unanimous approval.
It comes as Brussels battles Moscow’s allegations that western sanctions, and not its invasion of Ukraine, are causing a global food crisis.
Bidens welcome Ukraine first lady Zelenska to White House
Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska is at the White House meeting her US counterpart Jill Biden, ahead of her appearance on Wednesday before members of Congress.
Joe Biden handed Zelenska a large bouquet of flowers, while the president’s wife greeted her with a hug.
A White House statement said the first ladies are discussing “the United States’ continued support for the government of Ukraine and its people as they defend their democracy and cope with the significant human impacts of Russia’s war, which will be felt for years to come” as well as ways of holding Russia accountable for war crimes.
After speaking with Mrs Biden, she will meet second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield and other US government officials.
On Monday, Zelenska met secretary of state Antony Blinken and USAid administrator Samantha Power, and on Wednesday will address members of the US House of Representatives and Senate at 11am local time.
It’s Richard Luscombe in the US picking up our Ukraine blog coverage. I’ll be guiding you through the next few hours, thanks for joining me.
The US-based cable network CNN has an exclusive interview with Ukraine’s former prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova, who adamantly denies any Russian collaborators worked with or for her.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, fired Venediktova and Ivan Bakanov, head of the domestic security agency SBU, at the weekend, citing collaboration with Russia by officials in their offices.
Talking to CNN’s Nic Robertson in Kyiv today, Venediktova said:
Here in my office we can’t have collaborators at all, because collaboration is it’s only people who worked in occupied territory. Here is not occupied territory.
She went on to say that a top priority of her office was working on the problems of state treason and collaborators, and her office had been very open about it.
She said she did not want to discuss the reason Zelenskiy fired her because she believed Russia would exploit it. Regarding Zelenskiy, she said:
President now, its chief of command. He understands his strategy and tactic. And he makes his decision with his views.
Summary
The time in Ukraine is just coming up to 9pm. Here is a round-up of all the day’s latest headlines:
- A senior Russian security official said that peace in Ukraine when it came would be on Moscow’s terms as Russian forces struck targets across the country with missiles even as their ground offensive stuttered. More than two weeks have passed since Russia’s last major territorial gain – capturing the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk – and Ukraine’s general army staff said that Moscow’s forces were busy shoring up their positions in recently seized territory.
- Russian president Vladimir Putin held talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran on Tuesday, the Kremlin leader’s first trip outside the former Soviet Union since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. During his visit to Tehran, Putin will also hold his first face-to-face meeting since the invasion with a Nato leader, Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan, to discuss a deal that would resume Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports as well as peace in Syria.
- The European Union is set to add Russia’s biggest bank Sberbank and the head of giant zinc and copper firm UMMC to its black list of individuals and companies accused of supporting Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. A new list of 48 officials and nine entities to be blacklisted, prepared by the EU foreign affairs service, also includes leaders of the Night Wolves motorcycle club, actors, politicians, the deputy head of a Russian security service, family members of sanctioned oligarchs and military people.
- Russian forces shelled a town in eastern Ukraine, killing six people, according to Ukrainian officials. “Early in the morning, the town of Toretsk was shelled. A two-storey building with people inside was destroyed,” Ukraine’s state emergency services said. “Rescuers found and recovered the bodies of five dead people in total. Three people were rescued from the rubble and one of them died in hospital.”
- Russia has struggled to sustain effective offensive combat power and the problem is likely becoming increasingly acute, according to British military intelligence. It says “As well as dealing with severe under-manning, Russian planners face a dilemma between deploying reserves to the Donbas or defending against Ukrainian counterattacks in the south-western Kherson sector.”
- At least one person was killed in a Russian missile strike on the centre of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Tuesday, the regional governor said. Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said the attack caused loud explosions and a fire in a residential building.
- A 16-year-old Ukrainian boy has described how he was held hostage by Russian soldiers for 90 days as he heard other prisoners being tortured in a nearby cell. His vivid account of his time in captivity is a depiction of violent interrogations involving brutal beatings, and confirms other reports of Russian and pro-Russian separatist forces mistreating detainees.
- A panel of retired military leaders from the United States, Canada and the Netherlands will advise a pro-Ukraine campaign on the procurement of protective gear for Ukrainian defence forces, a Canada-based non-profit group said. The panel of four includes former commander of US forces in Afghanistan David Petraeus, former Nato commander Wesley Clark as well as former Dutch defence chief Dick Lodewijk Berlijn, according to the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC).
- Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine, on Tuesday accepted a human rights award on behalf of the people of Ukraine in recognition of their fight against Russia’s invasion of their country. The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation recognised the Ukrainian people with its Dissident Human Rights Award. Zelenska, who is visiting Washington this week, accepted the award in person.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. My colleague Richard Luscombe will be along shortly to continue bringing you all the latest news from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told Russian president Vladimir Putin that Tehran and Moscow needed to stay vigilant against “western deception”, calling for long-term cooperation between Tehran and Moscow, state TV reported.
Referring to the Ukraine crisis, Khamenei said:
War is a harsh and difficult event, and Iran is not at all pleased that ordinary people suffer from it.
He added:
The US dollar should be gradually taken off global trade and this can be done gradually.
Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine, on Tuesday accepted a human rights award on behalf of the people of Ukraine in recognition of their fight against Russia’s invasion of their country.
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation recognised the Ukrainian people with its dissident human rights award. Zelenska, who is visiting Washington this week, accepted the award in person.
“It is an honour to be here and accept this award in the name of every Ukrainian man and woman fighting Russian aggression today,” she said, speaking through a translator.
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