Ukraine

Washington on Tuesday (26 April) said it would hold talks on a roughly monthly basis in Germany with allies inside and outside NATO to coordinate bolstering Ukraine’s defence capabilities as it battles Russia’s invasion.

Four OSCE national staff members have been arrested in Donetsk and in Luhansk in eastern Ukraine by Russian forces, the SHR Monitor has learned from sources familiar with the matter. The charges brought against them include alleged treason, spying and illegal activities.

UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Friday condemned the “horrors” committed against civilians in Ukraine as the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that it feared the worst in devastated areas of the country's east and south. 

[…] OAS action today sends a message to Russia that it must end hostilities, withdraw its forces, and abide by international law.

In efforts to end the war in Ukraine, Secretary-General António Guterres has written separate letters to the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to request meetings with them in their respective capitals, the United Nations said on Wednesday. 

Ukraine has completed a questionnaire which will form a starting point for the European Union to decide on membership for Kyiv, Ihor Zhovkva, deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office, said.

An expert report from the OSCE found “clear patterns” of Russian forces in Ukraine violating international humanitarian law. … The OSCE report is the first independent expert analysis from an international organization that identifies potential war crimes committee by Russia in Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden has for the first time accused Vladimir Putin’s forces of committing genocide in Ukraine, where Russia is intensifying its campaign to take the strategic port city of Mariupol.

Today, the Council adopted a decision amending the mandate of the EU Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform in Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine). Under the amended mandate, EUAM Ukraine will also provide support to Ukrainian authorities to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of any international crimes committed in the context of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine.

[…] In this interview with Eimer Curtin, an editor with the Global Observatory, Dr. Poast discusses the responses of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the shifts in European Union (EU) defense policies, and how this war might end.