6:15 p.m
Russia restricts exports, oil rises
This Thursday, oil prices began to rise again after Russia announced a limit on its exports of gasoline and diesel, reviving market fears about a supply deficit of both crude and products.
At around 5:40 p.m. (Swiss time), a barrel of North Sea Brent crude for November delivery rose 0.42% to $93.92. Its American counterpart, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery in the same month, the first day of use as a reference contract, rose 0.70% to $90.29.
3:01 p.m
Moscow is restricting gasoline and diesel exports to curb inflation
The Russian government on Thursday imposed export restrictions on gasoline and diesel amid rising prices at a time when inflation is rising again and increasingly eating into the incomes of Russians already hit by sanctions and the weakening ruble.
Gasoline prices in Russia hit a record high last week after the ruble fell, rising global oil prices and repair work at oil refineries limited supply. “The restrictions will help saturate the fuel market, which in turn will lead to lower prices for consumers,” the government announced.
2.30.
Zelensky in Washington, less warm reunion than in 2022
Aware of the risk of fatigue on the part of the great American ally, Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Washington on Thursday to try to persuade the United States to help him cross the “finish line” against Russia, if possible with powerful new weapons. “Olena (his wife) and I arrived in Washington,” the Ukrainian president wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter). “Air defense will be one of the main priorities in my meetings,” he added.
Olena @ZelenskaUA and I arrived in Washington, DC
Important meetings are coming up.
Last night Russia launched another mass missile attack on Ukraine. I thank all of our rescuers for their immediate response.
We must work together to completely rid Russia of its terrorists…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володиmir Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 21, 2023
The atmosphere has changed since his visit to the American capital on December 21, 2022. This trip, his first trip abroad since Russia’s invasion in February of the same year, had been prepared in the greatest secrecy. The images of the Ukrainian president in his khaki outfit under the colonnades of the White House, celebrated in Congress, are already history.
Since then, the sense of urgency has diminished and the Republican opposition has taken control of one of the chambers of Parliament. This time Volodymyr Zelensky will not be welcomed with great fanfare at the Capitol, the seat of Congress. However, he is expected to meet with leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties there. The most anticipated and difficult interview will be with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy.
2:19 p.m
Warsaw will honor the arms deliveries already agreed with Kiev
Poland, which announced it would stop arms supplies to Ukraine, said on Thursday it would honor “previously agreed” deliveries and said it was “ready to discuss the grain embargo” with Kiev.
“Poland only carries out previously agreed deliveries of ammunition and weapons. “Including those arising from contracts signed with Ukraine,” government spokesman Piotr Müller told the PAP agency.
13:02
Ukraine claims to have attacked a Russian military air base in Crimea, but Moscow denies this
The Ukrainian army said on Thursday it had attacked a Russian military airfield near the town of Saky on the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow. “The Ukrainian Defense Forces carried out a combined attack against an occupier military airfield near the town of Saky,” the army communications center said on Telegram.
Crimean authorities appointed by Moscow admitted the attack had taken place but claimed it was foiled. “Our air defense destroyed everything,” Oleg Krioutchko, adviser to the leader installed by Russia on the peninsula, assured on Telegram.
12:33
Bratislava and Kiev announced a new mechanism to replace the grain embargo
Slovakia and Ukraine have agreed on a license-based mechanism that will replace the Slovak grain embargo in the future, the spokesman for the Slovak agriculture minister told AFP on Thursday.
“Until this system comes onto the market and its full functionality is tested, the import ban for four products from Ukraine (…) will remain valid until the end of 2023,” said Andrej Wallner.
12:06
Grain dispute: negotiations between Kiev and Warsaw “in the coming days”
The Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture announced that negotiations with Warsaw are planned to resolve the dispute over Ukrainian grain exports to Poland. “The following negotiations will take place in the coming days to discuss the issues prepared by the two parties,” the ministry said in a statement following a telephone conversation between Minister Mykola Solskii and his Polish counterpart Robert Telus. “Both parties reaffirmed the close and constructive relations” between Kyiv and Warsaw, he added.
12:01
Charles III assures the “unwavering determination” of London and Paris to support Ukraine
King Charles III assured the determination of the United Kingdom and France to see Ukraine “triumph” in Paris on Thursday. “Together we are unshakable in our determination that Ukraine will prevail and that our cherished freedoms will prevail,” he said in French in a speech to the French Senate. He also condemned Ukraine’s “unjustified aggression by Russia against our continent.”
11:56
Poland only guarantees arms deliveries “in advance agreed” with Kiev
“Poland only carries out previously agreed deliveries of ammunition and weapons. “Including those arising from contracts with Ukraine,” government spokesman Piotr Müller told the PAP agency on Thursday. This announcement comes the day after Warsaw’s statements about the suspension of these deliveries, in the midst of the grain conflict between the two countries.
09:34
After massive bombings, Ukraine fears winter
“Difficult months await us: Russia will continue to attack Ukrainian energy and vital facilities,” warned the deputy head of the presidential administration, Oleksiï Kouleba, in Telegram. The approaching autumn makes authorities fear that Moscow will relaunch a campaign of attacks like it did in the winter of 2022 to plunge civilians into darkness and cold.
07:07
Russian night strikes: Multiple casualties and injuries across Ukraine
Several Ukrainian cities were hit by Russian missiles on the night of Wednesday to Thursday. Two men were killed in Kherson (south) and seven people were injured in Kiev after falling debris, authorities said.
“The Russian army shelled residential areas of the city. At this point we are aware of two dead civilians,” Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on Telegram, adding that four people were taken to hospital, including one in serious condition, and a fifth were treated on site. He later clarified that the two victims were men aged 29 and 41 who lived in an apartment building.
Firefighters work in a residential area in Kiev that was hit by a Russian missile. — © VALENTYN OGIRENKO / Portal
The capital was also affected. “According to detailed information from doctors, seven people were injured in Darnitskyi district. Three of them are in hospital. Four were treated on site,” the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, wrote on Telegram, specifying that a nine-year-old girl was among those hospitalized.
Seven people were also injured in the city of Cherkassy, south of Kiev, after a hotel was hit by a rocket. The eastern city of Kharkiv, near the Russian border, was also bombed, said Mayor Igor Terekhov, who reported that two wounded people were hospitalized. The same observation also applies to Lviv, where no information about potential victims was yet circulating.
05:17
Beijing wants increased cooperation with Moscow
Wang Yi and Vladimir Putin this Wednesday in St. Petersburg. — © MIKHAIL METZEL / AFP
According to Chinese state media, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Russia that the two countries should work to strengthen cooperation amid a “complex international situation.” “The world is moving rapidly toward multipolarity,” Wang Yi noted during a meeting with Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, where the Russian leader accepted an invitation to visit China next month. “Economic globalization advances despite headwinds, unilateral measures are not sustainable and hegemonism is not popular,” the Chinese official added, quoted by the official Xinhua News Agency. “Both sides should strengthen multilateral strategic cooperation, protect their legitimate rights and interests, and make new efforts to promote the international order of fairness and justice,” he added. “Our positions coincide on the emergence of a multipolar world,” Vladimir Putin responded, according to a Kremlin press release.
02:47
A Zelensky-Lula meeting in New York
Volodymyr Zelensky continued his diplomatic offensive in New York and met with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The latter mentioned on his X account (formerly Twitter) “a good conversation about the means of building peace and always maintaining an open dialogue between our countries”. For his part, the Ukrainian president described the discussion as “honest and constructive” and stressed that Brazilian and Ukrainian diplomatic representatives will continue to work together to work towards a peace agreement.
The day before, Lula pointed out at the UN platform that “no solution will be lasting if it is not based on dialogue.” Brazil refused to supply weapons to Kiev or impose sanctions on Russia under Vladimir Putin.
I met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Nova York. We need to talk about the importance of roads, to build the road and keep the dialogue open between our countries.
📸 @ricardostuckert pic.twitter.com/GESsasLlVz
– Lula (@LulaOficial) September 20, 2023
02:23
Russia claims to have shot down around twenty Ukrainian drones
Russia shot down 19 Ukrainian aerial drones over the Black Sea and the annexed Crimean peninsula overnight, as well as three more in the Kursk, Belgorod and Orel regions, the Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
01:55
The next meeting on the reconstruction of Ukraine will take place in Berlin in June
Germany will organize the next international conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine on June 11, 2024 in Berlin, announced Chancellor Olaf Scholz. On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly he spoke to Volodymyr Zelensky in New York. The last conference of its kind in London in June brought together for two days heads of state and government and representatives of more than 60 countries, and especially financial institutions, to release funds for the country attacked by Russia. The first meeting took place in Lugano in 2022. The aim is to help Ukraine keep its economy running and, in the longer term, get its infrastructure and various areas of activity back on its feet. The private sector is also called upon to mobilize.
01:45
Poland no longer supplies weapons to Ukraine
“We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine because we are equipping ourselves with the most modern weapons,” said Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in an interview with private television Polsat News. This announcement came a few hours after Warsaw “urgently” summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to protest against President Volodymyr Zelensky’s comments at the United Nations about countries “feigning support for Ukraine.” Tensions between Warsaw and Kiev, caused by the conflict over Ukrainian grain, whose imports Poland has banned to protect the interests of its farmers, have increased in recent days.
The Polish Prime Minister did not specify when Poland, one of the largest arms suppliers to Ukraine, stopped deliveries to Ukraine and had no connection to this grain conflict. However, he clarified that the military center in the city of Rzeszow in the southeast of the country, through which Western equipment for Ukraine is transported, is functioning normally.