16″ September “2022” Aljazeera
Russian President Vladimir Putin says there were no plans to adjust Moscow’s military operations in Ukraine despite a counteroffensive.
Putin tells India’s prime minister he wants the war in Ukraine to end “as soon as possible”.
The UN plans to send monitors to Izyum after Ukraine claimed a mass grave was found in the recaptured town.
The UN plans to send monitors to Izyum after Ukraine claimed a mass grave was found in the recaptured town.
A bomb blast killed two separatist prosecutors in the eastern Luhansk region, according to local Moscow-backed officials
NATO warns Ukraine’s counteroffensive is “not the beginning of the end of the war” despite recent successes
We are not in a hurry in Ukraine: Putin
Putin has said there were no plans to adjust Russia’s military operations in Ukraine despite a counteroffensive, saying Moscow was in no rush to finish the campaign.
“The plan is not subject to adjustment,” Putin told reporters during a regional summit in Uzbekistan.
“Our offensive operations in Donbas itself do not stop. They are going at a slow pace … the Russian army is occupying newer and newer territories,” Putin said, adding, “We are not in a hurry … there are no changes.”
Putin says Russia wants end to war in Ukraine ‘as soon as possible’
Putin has told India’s prime minister that he wants the war in Ukraine to end “as soon as possible”, adding he understands that India has concerns about the war.
“I know about your position on the conflict in Ukraine, and I know about your concerns. We want all of this to end as soon as possible,” the Russian president told Narendra Modi during a meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Uzbekistan.
The SCO’s permanent members, besides India, include China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Putin, who has also held direct talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the summit, on Wednesday acknowledged Beijing’s concerns about the war
Putin says Moscow not to blame for EU energy crisis
Putin has denied his country had anything to do with the energy crisis in Europe, and said that if European Union countries wanted more gas, they should ask Ukraine to open gas pipelines, and lift sanctions preventing the opening of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic pipeline.
Putin also blamed what he called “the green agenda” for the energy crisis, and insisted that Russia would fulfil its energy obligations.
Russia has cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland because they refused to pay in roubles rather than the currency of the contract. It has also shut down the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which takes gas to Germany and other European buyers, arguing that Western sanctions are preventing vital repairs.
Western customers reject this justification as a spurious pretext for economic retaliation against countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia
Putin says West wants breakup of Russia, he invaded Ukraine to stop it
Putin has accused the West of wanting to break up Russia, adding he sent forces into Ukraine in February to prevent this.
Speaking at the SCO summit, and discussing the war publicly for the first time since Ukraine routed Russian troops in the Kharkiv region last week, Putin threatened strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure, and said: “We will see how
Putin says Erdogan helping to end war but Zelenskyy not ready for talks
Putin has praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine, but said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not prepared to hold peace talks.
Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan, Putin said Erdogan was always proposing meetizngs with Zelenskyy – although he had not done so at their meeting this time in Samarkand – and that the Turkish leader had made a “significant contribution” to attempts to end the conflict.
Putin urges removal of export curbs for Russian and Belarusian fertilisers
Putin has called for the resolution of remaining problems for exports of Russian fertilisers and the removal of export restrictions on Belarusian fertilisers caused by Western sanctions.
Russian exporters of fertilisers are experiencing problems with freight and insurance, Putin told reporters.
Ukraine says over 1,000 people tortured, killed in Russia-occupied areas
The Ukraine parliament’s human rights commissioner said more than 1,000 people had been tortured and killed in Russian-occupied areas of Kharkiv region, Interfax news agency said.
Dmytro Lubinets also said that in the coming days Ukrainian authorities would release the exact number of people found at a mass burial site in the city of Izium, the agency added.
Evidence of war crimes in Ukraine’s northeast: Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said there is evidence that Russian forces committed torture and killed civilians in parts of the country’s northeast prior to withdrawing from the territories, likening the aftermath there to the one seen following Russia’s pullback from near Kyiv months ago.
In an interview at his office, Zelenskyy told the Reuters news agency an investigation was under way with international assistance and that there was clear evidence of Russian war crimes in the areas retaken by Ukrainian troops during a multipronged counteroffensive.
“As of today, there are 450 dead people, buried,” he said, in an apparent reference to a reported mass grave in Izyum.
“But there are others, separate burials of many people. Tortured people. Entire families in certain territories,” Zelenskyy added.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify Zelenskyy’s claims. There was no immediate comment on his remarks from Russia
UN General Assembly to allow Zelenskyy to speak by video
UN member states have voted to make an exception to allow Ukrainian leader Zelenskyy to address next week’s General Assembly by video.
Of the 193 member states, 101 voted in favour of allowing Zelenskyy to “present a pre-recorded statement” instead of in-person as usually required at the UNGA. Seven members voted against it, including Russia, and 19 abstained.
Blinken says Russia acting ‘horrifically’ after mass graves in Ukraine
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said Russia was behaving “horrifically” and was likely responsible for war crimes after the discovery of mass graves in Ukraine.
“This is part, horrifically, of a continuing and ongoing story whenever we see the Russian tide recede from the parts of Ukraine that it’s occupied. We see what’s left in its wake,” Blinken told reporters
Putin says 25 percent of gas supplies to Turkey will be paid for in roubles
Russia’s leader has said that 25 percent of his country’s gas supplies to Turkey will be paid for in roubles as part of an agreement on such exports set to come into force soon.
“Our agreement on deliveries of Russian natural gas to Turkey should come into effect in the near future, with 25 percent of payment for these deliveries in Russian roubles,” Putin said during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan.
Since an array of Western countries imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has sought to conduct as many transactions as possible in currencies other than dollars or euros – the usual default currencies for energy contracts, in particular.
It has also demanded that payments for some gas exports be made in roubles, in some cases in contravention of existing contract terms.
Bodies with tied hands found at Izyum mass grave: Governor
Bodies with their hands tied have been unearthed from a mass burial site in the recaptured town of Izyum, in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, according to a regional official.
“We are at the site of the mass burial of people, civilians who were buried here, and now according to our information they all have the signs of violent death,” Oleg Synegubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, said from the area.
“There are bodies with hands tied behind [their backs]. Each fact will be investigated and will be properly and legally evaluated,” he added.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify Synegubov’s account. There was no immediate comment on his remarks from Russia.
Ukraine has accused Moscow’s forces of carrying out a slew of war crimes during their offensive, including the torture and killing of civilians in various parts of the country – charges Russia has routinely denied as false.
Germany seizes Russian oil firm Rosneft’s refineries
Germany has taken control of the German operations of Russian oil firm Rosneft to secure energy supplies which have been disrupted after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Rosneft’s German subsidiaries, which account for about 12 percent of oil refining capacity in the country, were placed under the trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency, Germany’s economy ministry said in a statement.
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