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Moscow will shut down the Black Sea Grain deal that allows Ukraine to feed much of the developing world if the Group of Seven nations decides to ban all exports to Russia, a top Russian official said Sunday.
The G-7 countries – the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, and Japan – are considering a near-total ban on exports to Russia, media outlets in multiple countries reported last week. Russia has for months threatened to halt the grain deal now set to expire next month.
“This idea from the idiots at the G7 about a total ban of exports to our country by default is beautiful in that it implies a reciprocal ban on imports from our country,” former Russian president and current deputy of its security council Dmitry Medvedev said in a post on his Telegram channel, adding “In such a case, the grain deal – and many other things that they need – will end for them.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the G-7 nations’ sanctions have focused more on halting the import of Russian goods and less on exporting goods to Russia. The import sanctions have forced Russia to sell oil, natural gas, and other goods at a discount to India, China, and other nations willing to ignore the sanctions. The new plan would add to the list of goods that would no longer be sold to Russia.
Shelling near power plan:Shelling reported near nuclear power plant in Ukraine; more trouble for Russian city accidentally bombed by Russia: Updates
Other developments:
►The first American-made Patriot air defense system has been put on combat duty in Ukraine, the Ukraine Air Force said Sunday. Ukraine Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said the system will make it possible to shoot down Russia’s Iskander-M ballistic missiles and repel Russian aircraft from Ukrainian borders.
►Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles confirmed that six German-made Leopard 2 tanks shipped from Spain are due to arrive in Ukraine this week. And Ukrainian tank crews have completed training on Challenger 2 tanks in the U.K., the British Defense Ministry said Sunday.
Wagner leader says troops won’t take POWs: ‘Kill everyone on the battlefield’
Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said Sunday he is instructing his mercenaries not to capture prisoners of the war, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing a translation from video Prigohzin posted on social media.
Prigozhin made the comment in response to what Russian officials have described as an “intercepted conversation” posted to an unofficial Wagner-affiliated social media account. The post claims the conversation was between two Ukrainian soldiers deciding to shoot a prisoner of war.
“We will kill everyone on the battlefield,” Prigozhin said Sunday in the audio recording. “Take no more prisoners of the war!”
By denying visas, US has ‘chickened out and done something stupid,’ Russia says
Russian officials reacted angrily and with threats Sunday to what they said was a U.S. denial of visas to journalists who wanted to cover Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s appearance at the United Nations.
“A country that calls itself the strongest, smartest, free and fair country has chickened out and done something stupid by showing what its sworn assurances about protecting freedom of speech and access to information are really worth,” Lavrov said in Moscow. “Be sure that we will not forget and will not forgive.”
Lavrov is traveling to New York to mark Russia’s chairmanship of the Security Council.
“I emphasize that we will find ways to respond to this, so that the Americans will remember for a long time not to do this,” deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
The U.S. State Department did not comment on the claim of refused visas.
Wagner and Russian forces in deadly shootout, Ukraine military says
The longstanding friction between Wagner fighters and regular Russian forces came to a head in a deadly shootout in the eastern Luhansk province, Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces said in a Facebook post Sunday.
A fight escalated into a shootout recently in the settlement of Stanytsia Luhanska and resulted in soldiers on both sides being killed, the posting said.
“With no significant achievements on the battlefield … (the sides) are increasingly attempting to find someone to blame for the defeats,” the General Staff said. “They shift the responsibility for their own tactical miscalculations and losses suffered onto each other.”
Russians trying to convince ‘real men’ to join war effort
The Russian Ministry of Defense is trying to replenish soldier ranks depleted by the war without creating the kind of unrest caused by last fall’s partial mobilization, which prompted legions of young men to leave the country.
The tool of choice? Advertising.
The ministry has launched a large recruiting campaign on Russian social media, billboards, and television seeking volunteers, the British Defense Ministry said. The messages try to appeal to the masculine pride of “real men’’ while also pointing out the financial advantages of signing up, said the British ministry, which cast doubt on the campaign’s chances of meeting the reported goal of 400,000 volunteers.
“The authorities are almost certainly seeking to delay any new, overt mandatory mobilization for as long as possible to minimize domestic dissent,’’ the British ministry said.
Russia may ease offensive, consolidate gains
Prigohzin said Western tanks, air defense systems and training up to 100,000 Ukraine troops meant Ukraine could pose “serious opposition” to Russian forces. Prigozhin, whose mercenaries have led the brutal, drawn-out assault on the eastern Ukraine city of Bakhmut, is urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to focus on holding the current frontlines rather than seeking more gains. Prigohzin has repeatedly blamed insufficient ammunition supplies for slowing Russia’s offensive in the industrial Donbas region.
The Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said in its latest assessment that top Russian military leaders in Moscow also may be pushing for a consolidation of existing gains in Ukraine as Moscow struggles with a shortage of materiel and manpower.
Ukraine offensive could begin soon
Ukraine is poised to begin a counteroffensive to liberate more territories Russia has occupied in the months since the invasion began, Ukraine’s president and NATO’s secretary general say. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he is “confident” Kyiv is ready to take back some of its land.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his military is preparing new brigades and that issues such as training and integration into the general defense plan are being worked out with Commander-in-Chief Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny. Ukrainian military forces have successfully established supply lines and positions on the eastern side of the Dnieper River, the latest sign of Kyiv’s long-awaited spring counteroffensive, the Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said in its latest assessment.
“Everyone in Ukraine must understand that the main task of the state is the de-occupation of our territories, the return of our lands and our people from Russian captivity,” Zelenskyy said.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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