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The Ukraine war is fueling not only a global food crisis but an energy crisis, Agence France-Presse reported. Hit by punishing sanctions, Moscow has turned up the pressure on European economies by sharply reducing gas supplies, which in turn has sent energy prices soaring.
The Netherlands lifted restrictions preventing its coal-fired power stations from operating at full capacity to counter the fall in Russian gas supplies, a day after Germany and Austria took similar steps, AFP reported. But Berlin insisted it still aims to close its coal power plants by 2030.
In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the upcoming European Union decision on Ukraine’s candidacy.
“Step by step, we are going through a crucial week and we are doing everything every day so that no one has any doubts that Ukraine deserves the candidacy. We prove every day that we are already part of a united European, I would even say, value space,” he said.
Inflation and the effects of Russia's war in Ukraine were between U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, The Associated Press reported..
"We are talking about price caps or a price exception that would enhance and strengthen recent and proposed energy restrictions by Europe, the United States, the U.K. and others that would push down the price of Russian oil and depress Putin's revenues while allowing more oil supply to reach the global market," Yellen said in Toronto, AP reported.
According to a Reuters report, the Kremlin said Americans captured in Ukraine were "mercenaries" who had shot at Russian servicemen and were not covered by the Geneva convention, RIA reported, quoting Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying they should take responsibility for their "crimes."
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked his country's lawmakers for ratifying the Istanbul Convention, and thereby supporting Kyiv's bid for membership in the European Union, The Associated Press reported.
The Istanbul Convention is a Council of Europe measure to combat violence against women.
:Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk Monday urged residents to leave occupied Kherson Oblast ahead of counteroffensive, the Kyiv Independent reports.
Vereshchuk said that people can try to leave the region through occupied Crimea to Russia, as this is nearly the only way to escape. From there, she said, they can enter the EU or other countries, where they will be assisted by Ukrainian embassies. This will minimize the number of casualties during future hostilities.
The Kremlin said on Monday that Americans captured in Ukraine were "mercenaries" engaged in illegal activities and should take responsibility for their "crimes," RIA news agency reported.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was also quoted as saying that the detained men were not covered by the Geneva Convention as they were not regular troops; they had shot at at Russian servicemen and put their lives in danger.
Ukraine is engaged in “complex” negotiations to free its ports from a Russian naval blockade, President Volodymyr Zelenskyysaid Monday, after the EU's top diplomat accused Russia of committing a "real war crime" by blocking grain exports from the ports, .
There has been no progress yet on “complex multilevel negotiations to unblock our Ukrainian ports,” Zelenskyy said, warning that the current global grain crisis would last as long as Russia's "colonial war."
Zelenskyy made the comments in a video address to the African Union. Earlier in the day, Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, commented on the grain export situation at the start of a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
"One cannot imagine that millions of tons of wheat remain blocked in Ukraine while in the rest of the world people are suffering hunger. This is a real war crime," Borrell said at the start of a meeting. The ministers are scheduled to discuss ways to free millions of tons of grain stuck in Ukraine due to a blockade of its Black Sea ports by Russian forces.
Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai said today that Ukrainian troops now control only the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk and that fierce fighting is now concentrated in the industrial area of Sievierodonetsk, Kiev Independent reports. He added there is an “extremely difficult” situation along the entire front line in Luhansk Oblast. According to Haidai, Russia has started a “large-scale offensive in the region.”