What has happened in the last few hours?
Pressure is mounting on Russia to extend the deal to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. Erdogan reiterates that Putin has spoken out in favor of extending the deal, which expires on Monday, while the United Nations and Kiev are silent. The Kremlin has stated that it has not yet decided on the matter.
South Africa asks Russia not to send Putin to BRICS summit. South Africa’s Deputy Prime Minister Paul Mashatile says they are trying to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin not to attend the BRICS summit that the African country will host next August. The Deputy Prime Minister has asked the Kremlin to send his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in his place. The problem is that Putin has an international arrest warrant for war crimes in Ukraine and South Africa would be forced to arrest him because it is a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the body that issued the warrant. The Kremlin refused.
Kyiv’s counteroffensive “isn’t going that fast,” Ukraine admits. Kiev’s counter-offensive against resistance from Russian forces is “not progressing as quickly” as expected, the head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, admitted on Friday.
Wagner mercenaries train soldiers in Belarus. Mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group are training Belarusian soldiers in Belarus, the Belarusian Defense Ministry announced on Friday. The training takes place near the town of Osipovichi, about 90 km south of the capital Minsk. “The (Wagner) fighters acted as instructors in various military disciplines,” the ministry reported.
Moscow is considering legalizing private military companies like the Wagner Group. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the government is studying the possibility of legalizing private military companies, including the Wagner Group, whose existence is still illegal under Russian law, despite its involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.