Ukraine

Foreign Ministers met in Brussels on Wednesday (3 April 2024) for the first of two days of meetings to mark NATO’s 75th anniversary and prepare for the Washington Summit in July.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) issued a new report on Tuesday, revealing a surge in credible allegations of torture and executions of captured Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) at the hands of Russian forces.

Ukraine hopes to sign a deal in June to buy two nuclear reactors from Bulgaria as it seeks to compensate for the loss of its vast Russian-occupied six-reactor Zaporizhzhia plant, the head of nuclear firm Energoatom said in an interview.

The assets were frozen shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and have remained so since. It is estimated that roughly 260 billion euros ($281 million) in securities and cash belonging to Central Bank of Russia have been frozen, out of which 210 billion euros are in the European Union and the rest in other Group of Seven countries and Australia.

Russia has instilled a pervasive atmosphere of fear in the occupied regions of Ukraine, perpetrating egregious violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws in an attempt to cement its control, according to a new report from the UN human rights office, OHCHR, released on Wednesday.

A recent sharp rise in deadly attacks against civilians in Ukraine and Russia, including by armed drones, run counter to international law and must end now, top UN officials told the Security Council on Friday afternoon.

The European Parliament approved a resolution Wednesday (28 February) calling on the European Investment Bank (EIB) to repeal restrictions on financing ammunition and weapons production, putting pressure on the EU’s multibillion lending arm to ramp up security-related expenditure as Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its third year.

Zelensky met Balkan leaders at the “Ukraine-Southeast Europe” Summit in Tirana on Wednesday where he thanked them for their political and humanitarian support but stressed that, although “there are about 500 defence companies operating in Ukraine”, it is “not enough to win over [Vladimir] Putin”.

Several European countries have rejected the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine after the French president said "nothing should be ruled out." Russia, for its part, says it would make war with NATO inevitable.

Western foreign ministers from the G20 group of nations meeting in Brazil on Wednesday attacked Russia for its invasion of Ukraine as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov listened, diplomats said.