Jonathan Ernst | Reuters It has become routine since Russia invaded Ukraine: President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talk by phone every time the US announces a new military aid package for Kyiv. But a phone call between the two leaders in June had different results than previous ones, according to four people familiar with the call. Biden had just finished telling Zelensky that he had just given the go-ahead for another billion dollars in US military aid to Ukraine when Zelensky started listing all the additional aid he needed and wasn’t getting. Biden lost his temper, people familiar with the call said. The American people were generous enough and their government and the US military were working hard to help Ukraine, he said, raising his voice and Zelensky could show a little more gratitude. A spokesman for the National Security Council declined to comment for the story. A spokesman for Zelenskyy did not respond to a request for comment. Read the full story at NBC News.
Blinken talks to his Chinese counterpart about Russia’s war in Ukraine
Taiwan was the focus of 90-minute, “direct and frank” talks between Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Stephanie Reynolds | Afp | Getty Images US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke with his Chinese counterpart about Russia’s war in Ukraine, the State Department confirmed in a statement. Blinken spoke with State Councilor and Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China Wang Yi, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. “The secretary raised Russia’s war against Ukraine and the threats it poses to global security and economic stability,” Price said. Washington has repeatedly warned Beijing, the world’s second-largest economy, against providing financial aid to Moscow to help Russian President Vladimir Putin ease global sanctions. — Amanda Macias
Sanctions and Russian exit increase demand for jet fuel in Central Asia
Russians are seen trying to leave their country to avoid a military call-up for the Russia-Ukraine war as queues form at the Kazbegi border crossing in the Kazbegi municipality of Stepantsminda, Georgia on September 27, 2022. Mirian Meladze | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images Central Asian demand for jet fuel is soaring as the region has become a key air traffic hub, taking over from sanctions-hit Moscow and handling an influx of Russians leaving military service. Demand surged after Russia and the West closed their airspace to each other’s aircraft after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on February 24. It intensified further after President Vladimir Putin declared a “partial mobilization” on September 21 and Russians left the country in huge numbers, with more than 200,000 leaving for Kazakhstan alone. Industry data seen by Reuters showed that supplies of jet fuel from Russia to Central Asia rose in January to September to 385,590 tonnes from 194,444 tonnes in the same period in 2021. Central Asia, along with Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, has become an alternative route for Russians trying to reach Europe in the absence of direct flights from Russia to the EU. Airports in the region have also increased Russian turnover of goods and they enhanced the servicing and refueling of Russian aircraft. — Reuters
21 ships dedicated to Black Sea Grain Initiative await further instructions after Russia’s decision to withdraw from humanitarian food program
Ships, including those carrying grain from Ukraine awaiting inspections, are seen anchored off the coast of Istanbul on October 14, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey. Chris McGrath | Getty Images The agency that oversees Ukraine’s grain exports said there are 21 ships waiting to leave the besieged country. The Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, which oversees agricultural exports from Ukraine, said the ships have a capacity of more than 700,000 metric tons. One ship is chartered by the World Food Program and is carrying 30,000 metric tons of wheat bound for the Horn of Africa. Before the war, Ukraine and Russia accounted for nearly a quarter of the world’s grain exports until those shipments were severely disrupted for nearly six months. The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a UN-backed deal brokered in July, eased Russia’s naval blockade and saw the opening of three key Ukrainian ports. The first ship departed the port of Odessa, Ukraine on August 1 carrying more than 26,000 metric tons of corn. Since then, nearly 400 ships carrying a total of 9 million metric tons have left Ukrainian ports. On Saturday, Moscow suspended its participation citing retaliation for Kiev’s “terrorist act” against Russian warships. — Amanda Macias
Norway puts military alert in response to war in Ukraine
Norway will put its military on high alert from Tuesday as it tightens security in response to the war in Ukraine, the Scandinavian country’s prime minister said, Reuters reported. Norway is now the biggest gas exporter in the European Union, accounting for about a quarter of all EU imports after a drop in Russian flows. Houses by the sea in Norway Ryhor Bruyeu | EyeEm | Norway “This is the most serious security situation in many decades,” Prime Minister Jonas Gar Stoer told a news conference. “There are no signs that Russia is expanding its war to other countries, but heightened tensions make us more exposed to threats, intelligence operations and influence campaigns.” The armed forces will spend less time training and more time on operational tasks, and the Home Guard, a rapid mobilization force, will play a more active role, Defense Minister Bjoern Arild Gram said. — Reuters
More than 6,400 people have died in Ukraine, according to the UN
A community worker carries a cross during the funeral of Mykhaylo Matyushenko, a colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who was shot down in the sky over the Black Sea on June 26, 2022, in the Alley of Heroes of the Bucha cemetery, in the Kyiv region on October 3, 2022, in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sergey Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images The United Nations has confirmed 6,430 civilian deaths and 9,865 injuries in Ukraine since Russia invaded its former Soviet neighbor on February 24. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the death toll in Ukraine is likely higher because armed conflict may delay reporting of deaths. The international body said most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling by heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as rockets and airstrikes. — Amanda Macias
Intense fighting in the Kharkiv region, the situation “really tense”
Artillery craters mark the landscape on October 24, 2022 in Sulyhivka, Kharkiv Region, Ukraine. Carl Court | News Getty Images | Getty Images Heavy fighting is taking place in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine with the country’s armed forces battling to liberate 24 settlements and facing active Russian resistance in the process. “Our Armed Forces are actively fighting for the liberation of our territories. We still have an average of 24 settlements under occupation. I say “on average” because the situation is really changing on the front,” Oleg Synehubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Command , he said during a nationwide telethon, Ukrinform news agency reported on Monday. Synehubov said that Ukrainian forces are “making every effort to fully liberate the region as soon as possible” but that Russian units are “actively resisting and are not going to leave”. “The situation is really tense there,” he added, with both sides trying to strengthen their positions. “Defense and fortification structures are being built. Let me remind you that we have a 315-kilometer border with the Russian Federation. The Russians are also reinforcing positions from their territory. Indeed, construction is underway in fortified areas, concrete structures,” said Synehubov. —Holly Elliott
12 ships leave Ukrainian ports, despite Russia’s suspension of Black Sea Grain Initiative
A general view shows a road and rail bridge, which has been built to connect the Russian mainland with the Crimean peninsula, at sunrise in the Kerch Strait, Crimea, November 26, 2018. REUTERS | Pavel Rembroff A dozen ships carrying grain have left Ukrainian ports, despite Moscow’s announcement that it will suspend its participation in the United Nations-backed Black Sea Initiative. A record 354,500 tons of grain were transferred to ships leaving Ukrainian ports under the Black Sea grain deal, a spokesman for the Odessa military administration said, according to Reuters. In response to Russia’s decision to stop participating in the deal, the UN, Turkey and Ukraine reached an agreement on Sunday to unblock 16 grain ships in Turkish waters. This deal resolves Russian-imposed inspection delays and helps avert fears of a global food crisis. The UN and Turkish delegations provided 10 inspection teams to inspect 40 ships, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, said in a tweet. The Russian delegation is aware of the new inspection plan, he added. – Rocio Fabbro
Russian reserves will likely use “barely usable” weapons.
Russian reservists deployed to fight in Ukraine are likely to be using weapons that are in a “barely usable condition”, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. Russia has deployed several thousand newly mobilized reservists to the front lines in Ukraine since mid-October, the ministry noted, and “in many cases they are poorly equipped.” “In September, Russian officers were concerned that…
