Ukraine

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the official start of the operation based in the Turkish capital, Istanbul, that will help implement the UN-brokered deal to resume exports of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, amid the ongoing conflict and rising food prices worldwide. 

At a conference in the Hague hosted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), among others, representatives from 40 nations agreed to coordinate efforts to bring perpetrators of war crimes in Ukraine to justice.

A report by the world’s largest security body on Thursday (14 July) expressed “grave concern” about alleged mistreatment of tens of thousands of Ukrainians at so-called filtration centres set up by Russia in occupied territories of Ukraine.

The UN Secretary-General is appalled by the deadly missile attack on Thursday against the city of Vinnytsia in central Ukraine, that reportedly killed at least 22 people, far from the frontline of the main fighting in the east, including three children and wounded more than 100 others, his Spokesperson said in a statement. 

The UN chief on Wednesday described progress between Russia and Ukraine on allowing the resumption of grain exports during UN-brokered talks in Türkiye, as a “ray of hope to ease human suffering and alleviate hunger around the world.”

Ukraine says it is investigating more than 21,000 war crimes and crimes of aggression allegedly committed by Russia since the start of its invasion.

Ukraine is holding talks with Turkey and the United Nations to secure guarantees for grain exports from Ukrainian ports, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday (4 July).

OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of Poland, Zbigniew Rau, and OSCE Secretary General, Helga Maria Schmid, have announced that the OSCE has initiated steps to close the office of the Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine. This decision follows the lack of consensus by the OSCE Permanent Council to extend the Project Co-ordinator’s mandate, due to the position of the Russian Federation.

Ukraine made an appeal on Tuesday to suspend Russia from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). “What is the added value of Russia’s participation in OSCE after it has violated all ten fundamental principles of the Helsinki Final Act?” asked Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at the OSCE Annual Security Review Conference, the OSCE’s flagship event on regional security challenges.

Russia pressed on with its offensive in eastern Ukraine on Thursday (29 June) after NATO branded Moscow the biggest “direct threat” to Western security and agreed plans to modernise Kyiv’s beleaguered armed forces.