The World Blog by humble servant.

Millions of Ukrainians rushed westward in late February after Russia launched an offensive against their country. Initially welcomed with open arms by European nations, they are now seeing the support dwindle – at least when it comes to the benefits offered by host countries. European nations are now deciding how much they want to spend on Ukrainian refugees, and some of the freebies offered in the first weeks are about to expire. No more free rides Starting next month, Germany’s Deutsche Bahn railway company will no longer give free tickets to anyone possessing a Ukrainian passport. In March, the rail monopoly offered free transit to Ukrainian passport holders traveling to the major German cities of Berlin, Dresden, Nuremberg and Munich. It also issued free “helpukraine tickets” to those asking for them. While new arrivals will still be provided with free rides, the free tickets will be abolished. The German government said needy Ukrainians will be receiving social benefits startin...

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger turned 99 on Friday and Ukrainian government-linked activists marked the occasion by adding his name to their Mirotvorets (‘Peacemaker’) website. Labeled “an accomplice in the crimes of the Russian authorities,” Kissinger was blacklisted after he called for a negotiated peace between Kiev and Moscow and a return to the pre-February status quo. Created in 2014, the Mirotvorets website – whose homepage features a grizzly mosaic of dead Russian soldiers – is a publicly searchable database of what it calls “pro-Russian terrorists, separatists, mercenaries, war criminals, and murderers.” These range from members of the Russian military to Western politicians like Hungary’s Viktor Orban, who has opposed sanctioning Russian oil and gas. It is commonly believed that Mirotvorets is controlled by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Kissinger is accused by Mirotvorets of “spreading narratives of Russian-fascist propaganda and blackmail… in exchan...

The EU is hoping for an increase in the volume of grain exports from Ukraine in June, European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean said earlier this week at a meeting with EU farming ministers in Brussels. “We hope that we will be able to reach 3-4 million [tons of grain exported] as early as next month, using all the means at our disposal. But we must not forget that Ukraine is transporting its agricultural products by land for the first time, and, unfortunately, the volumes that we can transport, are smaller and cannot compare with those that are moved by sea,” the official was cited as saying by the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero. Prior to the conflict, Ukraine’s exports to the EU amounted to some 5 million tons per month, Valean stated. The volumes were shipped through the Black Sea ports, but now, due to the conflict, these ports have been blocked, and deliveries “must be redirected to railways, roads and inland waterways, then to the ports of the EU for further exports to...

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call on Saturday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron. Blaming Ukraine for freezing peace talks, Putin assured the Europeans that Moscow remained ready to negotiate an end to the ongoing conflict, and condemned the West for flooding the neighboring country with weapons. According to a readout of the call published by the Kremlin, Putin outlined the latest developments in Russia’s military operation in Ukraine and described the return of normal life to Mariupol and other cities recently taken from Ukrainian forces. Putin confirmed that Russia was open to a negotiated peace deal and was ready to export fertilizer and other agricultural products, but that this would require the lifting of some Western-imposed sanctions. He also said that Russia would ensure that the export of grain could take place from Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea. Until recently, such exports had been impossible due to Ukraine’s mini...

Three suspected mercenaries from Britain and Morocco, who joined the Ukrainian military and were later captured by the forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), could be facing the death penalty there, the republic’s General Prosecutor’s Office said on Friday. Viktor Gavrilov, the judiciary spokesman, revealed that an investigation into the activities of “a group of foreign mercenaries” who allegedly “took part in the preparation and implementation of hostilities against the DPR,” had been completed and a criminal case had been “fully formed.” “The materials of the case have been transferred to one of the republic’s courts for consideration which could result, taking wartime into account, in the application of capital punishment – the death penalty – to the accused,” Gavrilov told journalists. British volunteer says he was ‘manipulated’ into joining the frontline in UkraineREAD MORE: British volunteer says he was ‘manipulated’ into joining the frontline in Ukraine The Prosecuto...

hipments of Russian oil to India exceeded 396,000 tons in March, according to the Ministry of Commerce. That is more than a 15% rise from the previous month and a 40% increase on an annual basis. Overall, India has imported 56.7 million tons of Russian oil since the start of this year, which is 12% more than a year earlier. According to Refinitiv Eikon data, shipments of Russia’s Urals crude to India have risen since the launch of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine. Western sanctions on Moscow have opened up the opportunity for Indian refiners to increase purchases of Russian oil at discounted prices, as some European customers have been shunning Russian crude. Previous media reports have indicated that the world’s third-biggest oil importer was seeking Russian crude at less than $70 a barrel to compensate for the additional hurdles due to sanctions. According to preliminary data from Refinitiv, India’s oil purchases from Russia are set to increase further to around 487,500 to...

Hans-Georg Maassen, who from 2012-18 was president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s domestic security agency, has warned that the country is “sleepwalking” into a direct military confrontation with Russia by delivering weapons to Ukraine. Appearing on TV Berlin’s ‘Special’ program last Wednesday, Maassen said he opposes any delivery of German weapons to Ukraine, citing an earlier decision by the International Court of Justice which, according to the former official, ruled that the supply of weapons to one of the warring parties in a conflict makes the supplier a party to the conflict, too. “From my point of view, when we deliver weapons, not helmets, not bandages, it means that we are automatically running the risk of becoming a party to a war,” Maassen argued. We are now a warring party on Ukraine’s side. Let that sink in: We are a warring party. Against Russia. The former official also said he was terrified by the lack of public discussion ...

An embargo on Russian natural gas would seriously affect the German economy, as well as society, Labor Minister Hubertus Heil said in an interview with news outlet Funke, published on Saturday. “We should gradually become independent from gas imports, but the immediate imposition of an embargo would both complicate the situation with rising prices even more and lead to job losses. So we must avoid this,” he warned. Heil noted that the labor market in Germany, despite suffering from the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, is currently stable, but drastic measures such as cutting off Russian gas would change the situation for the worse. Germany, Italy agree to pay for Russian gas in rubles – mediaREAD MORE: Germany, Italy agree to pay for Russian gas in rubles – media “In the event of an immediate gas embargo, however, we would be in a completely different situation economically and socially,” he stated, adding that an embargo would be “poison for [German] society.” Along with ot...

The number of people in the world facing acute hunger is predicted to increase by 18 million due to the crisis in Ukraine, Maurizio Martina, the vice director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said in an interview with Corriere della Sera, published on Friday. According to the agency’s estimates, in 2021, famine affected 53 countries, leaving almost 200 million people around the globe suffering from hunger. “This war will further aggravate the scenario. Our first estimates point to an increase of another 18 million people, but it is clear that much will also depend on the development of the conflict,” Martina said. He noted that the situation with the global threat to grain supplies has become alarming for developing countries, since 36 of the countries with a food crisis previously bought more than 10% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine. World has only 10 weeks of wheat supply left, expert warnsREAD MORE: World has only 10 weeks of wheat supply left, expert wa...

Russia made coupon payments on two outstanding Eurobonds in foreign currency on Friday, Reuters reported, citing a representative from Russia’s National Settlement Depository (NSD). The coupons on Eurobonds maturing in 2026 and 2036 were due to be paid on May 27. The country forwarded the two payments to the depository last week in an effort to evade a technical default, which would ensue if the bond payments did not reach investors on time. The payment comes just days after the US decided not to extend a waiver that allows Russia to pay off its debt in foreign currency. The waiver was introduced earlier this spring, after the US and several other Western nations placed sanctions on the country in connection with the situation in Ukraine. The expiry of the waiver means creditors may be unable to receive payments even if Russia makes them, which would constitute a default. However, this kind of default would be unprecedented, analysts say, as Russia is being pushed into it by geopol...

China’s efforts to achieve food security represent a threat to the US, according to an American federal agency focused on trade with Beijing. Officials warn that Chinese firms could attempt to steal intellectual property, cut into Washington’s foodstuff exports profits, undermine supply chains, and even target America's genetically modified crops with biological warfare. A report issued this week by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission centers on “China’s interest in US agriculture” and states that Beijing is “augmenting food security through investment abroad” after facing “challenges” in recent years. “The Chinese government’s domestic efforts, however, are not enough to solve China’s problems,” the report concluded, adding that Beijing is now looking overseas “to address its needs through investments and acquisitions of farmland, animal husbandry, agricultural equipment, and intellectual property (IP), particularly of GM [genetically modified] seeds.” These e...

The costs of gasoline and diesel in the UK reached new highs on Friday, exceeding the previous records set earlier this week, data from the British Motorists Association RAC shows. The cost of a liter of unleaded gasoline jumped to £1.71 (about $2.16), up 31 pence, while the cost of diesel fuel rose to nearly £1.82 (about $2.30), up 29 pence – driving up the cost to fill up the tank of the average family car to £93.69 ($118.32). “Petrol reached another unfortunate landmark… While wholesale prices may have peaked for the time being last week, they are still worryingly high, which means there’s no respite from the record-high pump prices which are so relentlessly contributing to the cost-of-living crisis,” RAC fuel spokesperson Simon Williams said. In an attempt to curb the rising prices, Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak announced in March that the government will reduce the duty on fuel by 5 pence per liter until March 2023. It is reportedly the biggest cut in history, but motorists v...

The risk of escalating the conflict in Ukraine would be considerably heightened if the US provides Kiev with long-range multiple launch rocket systems, Russia’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, warned on Friday. Earlier, several US media outlets reported that the Biden administration had given the green light to the deliveries. When asked for comment on the claims, Antonov said the allegations have to be verified first, and that so far, no official announcement had been made by US officials. The ambassador expressed hope that “common sense will prevail, and Washington will not take such a provocative step,” adding that he and his colleagues from the Russian Foreign Ministry had repeatedly warned the US leadership that the “unprecedented pumping” of weapons into Ukraine “considerably increases risks of an escalation of the conflict.” Antonov said that if the media reports are true, and the Biden administration intends to send M270 MLRS and M142 HIMARS systems to Kiev, the Ukra...

The globe’s top reserve currencies, the US dollar and euro, have become “toxic” for Russia, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Friday. “The American and European currencies are toxic for us. What should we do with them?” he asked while speaking to students at a university in Moscow. “What do we need them for? That is, we are selling our own wealth – gas, while getting candy wrappers, toxic candy wrappers. Who needs them?” Siluanov continued. The comparison comes from a popular children’s game in the Soviet Union, in which kids would collect gum and candy wrappers. Different wrappers would have different values according to their rarity. For instance, an American gum wrapper would be more valuable because it wasn’t sold in the country. In reality, of course, they were worthless. Siluanov referred to Russia’s current inability to rely on either the euro or dollar, which, according to the Russian government, were both compromised after the US and EU placed sanctions on Russia, ef...

Russian forces together with those from the Donetsk People’s Republic have taken over the Ukrainian town of Liman, Russia’s Defense Ministry has claimed. On Thursday, Alexey Arestovich, a key adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, admitted during a livestream that Ukrainian forces had lost the town. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov announced on Saturday that Liman had been “fully liberated from Ukrainian nationalists.” Just before Ukraine admitted the fall of Liman, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba described the situation in Donbass as “extremely bad” for Ukrainian forces during his meeting with Western allies at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. Zelensky, meanwhile, hinted during a video call at the WEF that he could now be willing to sit down for negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. While describing the Russian head of state as delusional, Zelensky noted that he was still the only Russian official worth talking to. Acc...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree stating that certain foreign copyright holders may be paid in rubles, expanding on previous counter-measures against companies based in ‘unfriendly countries’ that are currently imposing sanctions on Moscow. Published on a government website on Friday, the executive order extends the existing special ruble-based payment mechanism to include the fulfillment of financial obligations to some intellectual property owners, including those that are “associated with unfriendly countries,” have “supported anti-Russian sanctions,” or ceased business activity in Russia under the pretext of penalties and pressure from their own governments. All royalties, fees, and other payments will be transferred to a special Type-O bank account, opened in a Russian bank for each affected IP owner, with or without their consent. Funds cannot be withdrawn from the account, but can only be directed to a limited range of purposes, such as paying taxes, with...