Kremlin says it will rejoin UN grain deal in humiliating U-turn
Here’s the full write-up by my colleagues Peter Beaumont and Andrew Roth on Russia saying it will resume its part in the deal to allow grain to be shipped from Ukraine through the Black Sea.
The Kremlin has said it will rejoin the UN-administered grain export corridor from Ukraine after pulling out over the weekend after a drone attack on Russian warships in the port of Sevastopol.
Moscow’s humiliating climbdown came two days after a large convoy of ships moved a record amount of grain in defiance of Russia’s warnings that it would be “unsafe” without its participation, and after high-level diplomatic contacts between Turkey – one of the guarantors of the scheme with the UN – and Russia.
Russia’s withdrawal had reignited fears over global hunger and food prices that had been alleviated by the inauguration of the scheme earlier this year which allowed cargo ships to move Ukrainian gain without fear of being targeted.
Confirming Turkish reports that Moscow would be lifting its suspension, the Russian defence ministry said it had received written guarantees from Kyiv not to use the Black Sea grain corridor for military operations against Russia.
“The Russian Federation considers that the guarantees received at the moment appear sufficient, and resumes the implementation of the agreement,” the ministry statement said.
Read more:
Key events
Putin: Russia reserves right to withdraw from grain deal again if Kyiv breaks guarantees
Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken about the resumption of his nation’s participation in the Black Sea grain deal, saying Russia reserved the right to withdraw again if guarantees they had received were not kept.
The Russian Interfax news agency quotes Putin saying:
We demanded assurances and guarantees from the Ukrainian side that nothing like [the Sevastopol attack] will happen in the future, that humanitarian corridors will not be used for military purposes.
Information has been received through the Ministry of Defence from the Turkish side that such assurances have been given by Ukraine that these humanitarian corridors will not be used for military purposes.
In this regard, I have given instructions to the Ministry of Defence to resume our full participation in this work.
At the same time, Russia reserves the right to withdraw from these agreements if these guarantees are violated by Ukraine.
Putin was speaking at a meeting with permanent members of the Russian security council.
The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has welcomed Russia’s resumption of participation in the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal, a UN spokesperson said, and is continuing to push for a renewal of the pact that could still expire on 19 November.
“The secretary-general continues his engagement with all actors towards the renewal and full implementation of the initiative, and he also remains committed to removing the remaining obstacles to the exports of Russian food and fertiliser,” Reuters reports the UN spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, as saying.
Here are some pictures that have been sent today over the newswires from Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. They show civilians who have been moved from Kherson region to the town of Dzhankoi in Crimea, in what Russian-installed authorities in occupied Ukraine have described as “evacuations”, which have been deemed forced deportations by Ukrainian authorities in Kyiv.
Finland’s president, Sauli Niinisto, said he was counting on Hungary to ratify the Nordic country’s Nato application after he had talked on the phone with the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán.
“Good that Finland can count on Hungary in our Nato ratification. I look forward to further strengthening our Finno-Ugric connection also as allies,” Niinisto said on Twitter, referring to the countries’ shared linguistic history.
The Hungarian government did not immediately reply to a request from Reuters for comment.
Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, has been in Kyiv today, where he met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba.
Albares said in a tweet upon his arrival: “Just arrived in Kyiv to convey Spain’s commitment and support to the people and government of Ukraine in defence of its sovereignty, peace and freedom; and support and thank the members of the embassy of Spain in Ukraine for their work.”
Acabo de llegar a Kyiv para trasladar el compromiso y apoyo de España al pueblo y al gobierno de Ucrania en la defensa de su soberanía, su paz y libertad; y respaldar y agradecer por su labor a los miembros de la Embajada de España en Ucrania @EmbEspKyiv. pic.twitter.com/0KT0ryAdKW
— José Manuel Albares (@jmalbares) November 2, 2022
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, commented on the visit, saying: “Our commitment to Ukraine is firm. Spain today sends new aid material to Kyiv. We will continue to support Ukrainian sovereignty in the face of Putin’s illegal aggression and to work for the reconstruction of the country.”
As part of its latest aid package, Spain is donating 30 ambulances to Ukraine.
Russia ‘reaffirms commitment’ to preventing nuclear war
Russia has said it is fully committed to preventing nuclear war, and that avoiding a clash among countries that have nuclear weapons is its highest priority.
In a statement, the country’s foreign ministry said: “In implementing its policy on nuclear deterrence Russia is strictly and consistently guided by the tenet that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. Russian doctrinal approaches in this sphere are defined with utmost accuracy, pursue solely defensive goals and do not admit of expansive interpretation.
“We fully reaffirm our commitment to the joint statement of the five nuclear-weapon states leaders on the prevention of nuclear war and the avoidance of an arms race from 3 January.
“We are strongly convinced that in the current complicated and turbulent situation, caused by irresponsible and impudent actions aimed at undermining our national security, the most immediate task is to avoid any military clash of nuclear powers.”
It follows the permanent members of the UN’s security council, who have nuclear arsenals, releasing a joint-pledge at the turn of the year which agreed “a nuclear war cannot be won”.
On Wednesday the New York Times reported that senior Russian military leaders had discussed when and how Moscow might use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine, according to multiple senior US officials.
They said that the Biden administration was alarmed, as the news “showed how frustrated Russian generals were about their failures on the ground, and suggests that Mr Putin’s veiled threats to use nuclear weapons might not just be words”.
A Ukrainian presidential adviser has said that Russia has resumed its part in the Black Sea grain deal because its “blackmail” plan had failed.
Mykhailo Podolyak said in a written statement to Reuters that Moscow’s decision showed that “escalation and threats” fail when they meet a resolute response.
“One way or another, Russia, embarrassed, returned to the ‘grain initiative’ because it suddenly turned out that the grain corridor would work even without the Kremlin’s participation,” Podolyak said.
“This says only one thing: Russia is always inferior to those who are stronger, those who know how to take a blow, those who argue their position strongly.”
He suggested that Russia had miscalculated when it said it would withdraw from the deal after a drone attack on Russian warships in Sevastopol.
When you want to play blackmail, it is important not to outplay yourself,” Podolyak said.
“Russia is used to constantly playing on escalation and threats. But if there is a firm position on the part of the other parties, the mediators, the guarantors, then it quickly becomes clear the threats are just formidable international PR.”
An interesting insight into the dynamics inside the Kremlin by CNN, which reports that a US official has compared the competing parties to the TV drama House of Cards.
The article says that according to US officials, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who heads the Wagner paramilitary group, has confronted Vladimir Putin about the war and how it is being “mismanaged by top generals”. He is thought to prefer a more aggressive approach. Another Kremlin official has raised similar concerns about the war to Putin.
“US intelligence officials believe it is further evidence that Prigozhin, who is not part of the Russian government, is trying to assert his influence at a time when the US is closely watching the power structures inside the Kremlin,” the article adds.
“It is Russia – there are never ending court plots,” said one US military official.
Kremlin says it will rejoin UN grain deal in humiliating U-turn
Here’s the full write-up by my colleagues Peter Beaumont and Andrew Roth on Russia saying it will resume its part in the deal to allow grain to be shipped from Ukraine through the Black Sea.
The Kremlin has said it will rejoin the UN-administered grain export corridor from Ukraine after pulling out over the weekend after a drone attack on Russian warships in the port of Sevastopol.
Moscow’s humiliating climbdown came two days after a large convoy of ships moved a record amount of grain in defiance of Russia’s warnings that it would be “unsafe” without its participation, and after high-level diplomatic contacts between Turkey – one of the guarantors of the scheme with the UN – and Russia.
Russia’s withdrawal had reignited fears over global hunger and food prices that had been alleviated by the inauguration of the scheme earlier this year which allowed cargo ships to move Ukrainian gain without fear of being targeted.
Confirming Turkish reports that Moscow would be lifting its suspension, the Russian defence ministry said it had received written guarantees from Kyiv not to use the Black Sea grain corridor for military operations against Russia.
“The Russian Federation considers that the guarantees received at the moment appear sufficient, and resumes the implementation of the agreement,” the ministry statement said.
Read more:
The Russian defence ministry has released a statement after the announcement that Russia would reengage with a deal to export grain from Ukraine through the Black Sea.
Russia’s participation in the deal was announced on Wednesday, days after it broke off involvement because of a drone attack on a Russian ship.
A statement on the ministry’s website said: “With the help of an international organisation and Turkey, the necessary written guarantees from Ukraine on the non-use of the humanitarian corridor and Ukrainian ports designated for the export of agricultural products for military operations against the Russian Federation were obtained and submitted to the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) on 1 November 2022.
“The Ukrainian side, in particular, officially assured that ‘the maritime humanitarian corridor will be used only in accordance with the provisions of the Black Sea Initiative and the related JCC regulation’.
“The Russian Federation believes that the guarantees received at this time are adequate and resumes implementation of the agreement – the initiative for the safe transportation of grain and food from Ukrainian ports (the Black Sea Initiative) – which had been halted following the terrorist attack in Sevastopol.”
The Russian president Vladimir Putin has been weakened by what the west believes was his mistaken decision to invade Ukraine, but there’s unlikely to be any change in power at the top in Russia anytime soon, a western official told Reuters on Wednesday.
“He has been weakened by this really catastrophic error,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“We are seeing the Russian military humbled on the battlefield by Ukraine.
“People can see that he has made a big error,” said the same official.
“That has to mean that people are talking more about succession, they are talking more about what comes next, they are imagining a life beyond. But what I am not doing is suggesting that that’s anytime soon.”
‘No signs Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons’ says US
A White House official has said that the US has seen no indication that Russia is getting ready to use nuclear weapons in its ongoing war in Ukraine.
John Kirby, a spokesperson, said he had no comment on a New York Times article [paywall] that said there had been discussions between Russian military leaders about using them.
He told journalists: “We’ve been clear from the outset that Russia’s comments about the potential use of nuclear weapons are deeply concerning, and we take them seriously.
“We continue to monitor this as best we can, and we see no indications that Russia is making preparations for such use.”
The US ambassador to the United Nations has said that Russia cannot stand in the way of global food production.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield told CNN: “They can’t stand in the way of feeding the entire world,” adding that she was “delighted” Russia had returned to the agreement allowing Ukrainian grain exports on Wednesday (see 10:35am).
This tweet from Emine Dzheppar, Ukraine’s first deputy minister of foreign affairs, appears to show damage to a hospital in Toretsk, in the Donetsk region, from shelling overnight.
The hospital’s maternity ward and surgery have been damaged by the artillery. She adds that homes, high-rise blocks and administrative buildings were targeted in the attack.
#російські терористи продовжують руйнувати мирні міста #України. Цієї ночі була обстріляна #Торецька лікарня #Донецької області. Постраждали хірургічний корпус і пологове відділення.
Крім того,??терористи обстріляли приватні будинки, багатоповерхівки & адміністративні будівлі. pic.twitter.com/0Xy2ycyjNs— Emine Dzheppar (@EmineDzheppar) November 2, 2022
UK sanctions four more Russian oligarchs
The UK government has put sanctions on two business associates of Roman Abramovich, linked to the Russian steel manufacturer Evraz, as part of restrictions on four Russian oligarchs.
Alexander Abramov and Alexander Frolov have had their UK assets frozen for their role in “sectors of major significance” to Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. Abramov is thought to have a global net worth of £4.1bn and Frolov £1.7bn.
A government statement said that combined, both have UK property investments worth £100m. They are both banned from entering or staying in the UK, have restrictions on planes or boats they own from landing in the UK, or docking at UK ports, and have had their assets frozen.
Abramov has already faced sanctions in Australia and is taking the country’s minister for foreign affairs to court over the order.
They are facing sanctions alongside Airat Shaimiev and Albert Shigabutdinov.
Shaimiev is the CEO of OAO Tatatodor, a state-owned transport and constructions company, which is involved in the building and maintenance of roads in Russia.
Meanwhile, Shigabutdinov is the general director and CEO of the AO Taif group of companies, which operate in energy, financial services and information communication sectors.
The UK’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, said: “Putin continues to rely on his cabal of selected elite to maintain control of his industrial complex and fuel his illegal invasion of Ukraine. Today we are sanctioning an additional four oligarchs who rely on Putin for their positions of authority and in turn fund his military machine.
“By targeting these individuals, we are ramping up the economic pressure on Putin and will continue to do so until Ukraine prevails.”
Summary of the day so far …
-
Russia’s ministry of defence confirmed on Wednesday it would rejoin the Black Sea grain deal just days after it cut its participation due to the Ukrainian attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet. In remarks reported by Russian state media, the Russian defence ministry said it had received written guarantees from Kyiv that Ukraine would not “use the grain corridor for combat actions against Russia”.
-
The decision is a dramatic about-face from the Kremlin in which Russia will return to the grain export deal with little to show in terms of concessions from Kyiv and the west. The move was announced first by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
-
The governor of the Kyiv region, Oleksiy Kuleba, told Ukraine’s Hromadske TV that Kyiv region is once again becoming an “outpost” in Russia’s strategy to target the capital. Earlier Kuleba gave an update on the energy situation in the region on the Telegram messaging service, saying 16,000 homes remain without electricity.
-
Kuleba also warned that the attacks could cut the heating supply as it too relies on electricity. He said there are 750 points in the Kyiv region to which residents can go to get warm, be fed and access water. He said they were also preparing 425 underground shelters in case of a nuclear attack and they would be ready by mid-November.
-
Oleh Synyehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region that borders Luhansk and Donetsk in Ukraine’s east, has posted a status update to Telegram saying five people were injured this morning in the city of Vovchansk after Russian shelling.
-
Denis Pushilin, the self-styled leader of the chiefly unrecognised Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), has been quoted by Russia’s RIA Novosti agency as saying that pro-Russian forces in occupied Donetsk are making some territorial gains in the Vuhledar direction.
-
Moscow will “shortly” summon the UK ambassador to Russia, Deborah Bronnert, over its unsupported accusation that British specialists had been involved in a Ukrainian drone attack over the weekend on the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Russia has repeatedly blamed the UK for the attack and said a Royal Navy unit masterminded operations from the southern Ukrainian port of Ochakiv. The UK government has dismissed this.
-
Russian security services in Crimea claim to have foiled a plot to sabotage energy supplies in the region by Ukraine’s security service and have detained a man over it.
-
Poland will build a razor-wire fence on its border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, its defence minister said on Wednesday. Construction of the temporary 2.5-metre (8ft) high and 3-metre deep barrier will start immediately, Mariusz Błaszczak told a news conference.
