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© Reuters. Ukrainian servicemen return from heavy fighting amid Russia?s attack on Ukraine, close to Bakhmut, Ukraine, April 15, 2023. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
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(Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Gutterres told a meeting chaired by Russia’s foreign minister that the invasion of Ukraine is “causing massive suffering and devastation” while Moscow warned global risks were possibly worse than during the Cold War.
DIPLOMACY
* Finland said Russia could benefit from the crisis in Sudan and the European Union should do more to try to resolve it.
* Security will be a key issue at a wind energy summit of seven countries surrounding the North Sea, Belgium said. Dutch intelligence agencies have accused Russia of planning potential sabotage to offshore turbines. Moscow rejects that.
* Turkey’s defence minister said he planned to meet his Syrian, Russian and Iranian counterparts in Moscow on Tuesday, amid efforts to rebuild Ankara-Damascus ties after years of animosity during the Syrian war.
* EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed confidence that the bloc would finalise a plan within days to buy ammunition for Ukraine.
CHINA SEEKS TO END SOVEREIGNTY ROW
* China respects the status of former Soviet member states as sovereign nations, its foreign ministry said, distancing itself from comments by its envoy to Paris that triggered an uproar among European capitals.
FIGHTING
* Russia’s Black Sea Fleet repelled a drone attack on the Crimean port of Sevastopol early on Monday, the Moscow-installed governor of the city said through social media.
* Russia said on Sunday its forces had advanced in Bakhmut while a top Ukrainian commander said his troops were holding the front line through the city.
GRAIN DEAL
* Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that if the G7 moved to ban exports to Russia, it would respond by terminating the Black sea grains deal, which it has already signalled it will not allow to continue beyond May 18.
ECONOMY
* Global military spending rose to a record last year as Russia’s war drove the biggest annual increase in expenditure in Europe since the end of the Cold War three decades ago, a prominent think tank said.
* Russia’s richest people have added $152 billion to their wealth over the past year, helped by high prices for natural resources – rebounding from the huge losses they experienced after the start of the war in Ukraine, Forbes Russia said.
SPORT
Ukraine will continue playing Euro 2024 soccer qualifying matches despite the Kyiv government’s ban on national teams taking part in competitions involving athletes from Russia and Belarus.
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