The demilitarization of Russia is “well underway,” Ukraine’s U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday as the conflict in Ukraine has entered its second month.
According to Kyslytsya, Russian forces have lost over 17,000 military personnel, over 1,700 armored vehicles, and almost 600 tanks since its invasion of Ukraine over a month ago.
Russia itself announced Tuesday it would scale back military operations near Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. But Ukrainian military officials said they distrust Russia’s announced withdrawal, and American officials remained skeptical.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there was no reason to believe Russia’s announcement that it would reduce military activity near Kyiv, the capital, as well as in the northern city of Chernihiv, given what’s still happening on the ground.
“We can call those signals that we hear at the negotiations positive,” he said in his nightly video address to the Ukrainian people. “But those signals don’t silence the explosions of Russian shells.”
In-person negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are expected to resume Wednesday.
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Latest developments
►The U.S. State Department renewed its Level 4 travel advisory to Russia and Ukraine, warning Americans may be singled out or detained by Russian officials if they travel there.
►Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck said Wednesday he was triggering the early warning level for gas supplies amid Russia’s continued demand to be paid in rubles.
►Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher on Wednesday as talks on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine appeared to make progress.
Ukraine war will have global food impact not seen since WWII
Ukraine and Russia together produce 30% of the world’s wheat supply. They contribute to 20% of the global maize supply, and 75 to 80% of the sunflower seed oil.
Now, the war in Ukraine is threatening the global food supply, the U.N. food chief warned Tuesday. He said the global impact will be the most severe the world has seen since World War II, and that the invasion has created “a catastrophe on top of a catastrophe.”
Many farmers from Ukraine, sometimes referred to as “the breadbasket of the world,” have left their farms and are fighting Russian soldiers amid already high food prices.
David Beasley, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, told the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that his agency had already begun cutting rations because of rising food, fuel, and shipping costs for millions of families around the world.
— Celina Tebor
Contributing: The Associated Press
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