Author: yreape

According to reports, the prime minister of Ethiopia has declared a surprise truce, saying he hoped the move would ease humanitarian access to Tigray. Reportedly, tigrayan militants have agreed to a cessation of hostilities and urged the ethiopian government to send emergency aid to Tigray where hundreds of thousands are on the verge of starvation.

According to the report, the conflict erupted in November 2020 when the ethiopian prime minister sent troops into a Tigray to topple the Tigray people’s liberation front in response to attacks on army camps. Reportedly, Ethiopia was the largest contributor to as called u.n. peace keeping troops in Africa, many serving in Darfur which became a subject of controversy.

According to a report, the president of Ukraine has repeated he was ready to have a meeting with the russian president to discuss terms of a ceasefire and end the war. According to the report, a ukrainian presidential adviser said on Thursday morning that the front line was practically frozen. He said many russian troops lack the resources to be on the offensive, leading to a slowdown in hostilities. Reportedly, Russia have taken heavy casualties and are running low on supplies. According to the report, ukrainian forces destroyed a russian ship named the Orsk, near the occupied port of Berdyansk. Reportedly, it was large enough to carry 45 tanks and 400 people.

According to the report, in the part of Mariupol captured by russians, a grass area between charred apartment buildings has become a makeshift graveyard. Reportedly, trucks arrived with food supplies and hundreds of people, many elderly emerged to queue in silence while russians distributed boxes.

According to the report, the u.s. president said he is committed to identifying additional equipment, including air defence systems to help Ukraine. Reportedly, u.s. sanctions have extended to include members of the russian parliament and military contractors such as wagner.

According to a report, the eu imports 90% of its natural gas, used to generate electricity, heat homes and drive industry. Reportedly, russia supplies almost 40% of eu gas and a quarter of its oil. According to the report, the eu is looking to diversify suppliers.

According to reports, Russia, Canada, the u.s. and France are the world’s largest wheat exporters. Reportedly, millions of tons of wheat and corn has been earmarked for export by June, but russian forces have blocked the ports.

According to a report, the availability of wheat is of particular concern in east Africa. Reportedly, Russia and Ukraine supply 100% of Eritrea’s wheat and almost 90% of Kenya’s wheat imports, the trend is similar in other countries in the region.

According to a report, the president of Ukraine called for talks with the russian president on Monday, as ukrainian cities were reeling from constant shelling and more than a quarter of ukrainians displaced. Reportedly, early Wednesday he said negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow were confrontational but moving forward.

According to a report, on Tuesday the Mariupol city council said intense russian airstrikes were turning the city into the ashes of a dead land. Reportedly, russian forces and russian backed seperatists have taken over half the city.

According to reports, the u.s. president will visit europe on Thursday to take part in a special meeting of nato and address the european council. Reportedly, he plans to announce new sanctions and is expected to underscore efforts to enforce existing ones.

According to reports, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy and to a lesser extent France rely on Russia to supply from 24-77% of their total natural gas supplies, others, for example north Macedonia, Moldova and Bosnia and Herzogovina, 100% and Finland and Latvia 94 and 93%. The energy crisis has lead to the promotion of nuclear generated electricity, others dismissing gas as a contributor to green house gasses.

Reportedly, the remainders of plants and animals building up over millions of years amidst pressure and heat turned them into coal, oil and natural gas. Gas being a vapour would be free of pollutants.

Reportedly, fleeing citizens of Mariupol described relentless bombardments and corpses in the street. According to reports, weeks of shelling has cut off water, power and food supplies. Reportedly, the city council said that more than 1,100 people were on their way in a convoy of buses to another city to Mariupol’s north west. According to the report, an estimated 5,000 citizens have taken refuge in a camp set up by russian seperatists in Donetsk. Reportedly, according to the deputy prime minister more than 8,000 ukrainians escaped to safer places on Monday, 3,000 from Mariupol.

According to the report, ground offensives in other parts of the country advanced slowly or not at all, knocked back by lethal hit and run attacks by ukrainians. Reportedly, early Tuesday following a fierce battle, Ukraine forces forced russian troops out of the Kyiv suburb of Makariv. According to the report, the regained territory enabled forces to take control on a key highway and block russian troops from surrounding Kyiv from the north west.

Reportedly, the ukrainian president who said 117 children have died in the war, suggested Kyiv would be open to future discussions on the status of areas in the Donbas region, but said that was a topic for another time.

According to a report, the president of Ukraine said he would consider not joining nato in exchange for a ceasefire and withdrawal of russian troops. Reportedly, negotiations continue today via video link.

According to reports, the u.s. president will hold a series of emergency summits in europe this week. Reportedly, Russia complained about a chemical weapons facility in Ukraine, known by nato which the u.s. president said was a clear indication that Russia could be planning a chemical or biological weapon attack.

According to a report, more than a quarter of the population have fled their homes in Ukraine. Reportedly, some of the thousands of Mariupol residents taken to Russia have been resettled in Taganrig, about 100 km from Mariupol.

According to reports, Russia have suffered major losses of troops and tanks, and have experienced a high level of attrition in their supply and logistics, especially approaching Kyiv.

According to a report, ukrainian officials have rejected a russian demand that their forces in Mariupol lay down their arms and raise white flags in exchange for safe passage. Reportedly, Russian forces said they would allow two humanitarian corridors, one to Russia, the other to another part of Ukraine. According to the report, residents were given until 5 am Monday to respond to the offer, the ukrainian deputy prime minister said no.

Reportedly, elsewhere russian ground forces are making little headway. According to a report, uk intelligence said russian forces heading towards the capital are either stalled or been repulsed. Reportedly, russian shelling has hit a shopping centre near the centre of Kyiv, killing eight.

According to a report, on March 15 the u.s. department of the treasury’s office of foreign assets control redesignated the president of Belarus who was already on the specially designated national’s list, and his wife, Galina Lukashenko. Reportedly, the ofac specially designated national’s and blocked person’s list is a list of individuals and companies owned or controlled by or acting on behalf of targeted groups, their assets are blocked.

According to reports, the eu has imposed five packets of sanctions on Belarus in response to allegations concerning protestors in favour of moving away from the union with Russia and the introduction of westernized democratic reforms. Reportedly, official 2020 election results were that the pro reform opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya obtained 10.12% of the vote. According to the report, following the election results which she did not accept she and other opposition activists moved to Poland.

Reportedly, the eu have imposed additional sanctions in response to the war in Ukraine, for their involvement in the war, that is russian soldiers attacked from Belarus. According to the report, sanctions include prohibition of trade with Belarus, and target 22 individuals.

According to a report, the u.s. president spoke to the president of China on the phone for two hours on Friday. Reportedly, the u.s. administration say they are concerned that China could be using the war to advance Beijing’s interests in competition with them. According to a report, a u.s. adviser warned China that any attempt to help Russia avoid sanctions would result in immediate action. Reportedly, a chinese spokesperson called nato a cold war vestige, saying sanctions against Russia are going to such lengths that globalisation is being used as a weapon, and even people from the sports, cultural, arts and entertainment communities are not being spared.

According to a report, over 6,000 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities via humanitarian corridors on Saturday. Reportedly, Meriupol city council said Russia bombed an art school where 400 people were sheltering. According to the report, the ukrainian president said Russia’s seige on Mariupol was a terror that will be remembered. Reportedly, russian forces have entered the city and thousands of citizens have been taken to Russia.

According to a report, the u.k. minister of defence said Russia had failed to gain control of the skies over Ukraine, and was likely to continue to use heavy fire power and inflict more civilian casualties. Reportedly, Russia said it had used hypersonic weapons which travel fast enough to evade detection by missile defence systems to destroy a military facility in western Ukraine.

According to reports, foreigners have arrived to fight in Ukraine from europe, the u.s. and elsewhere. Reportedly, as many as a thousand were training at the Yavoriv military facility when it was bombarded by 30 russian missiles on Saturday March 13. According to the report, until February the base housed an international centre for peacekeeping and security within the framework of the Ukraine-nato partnership for peace, then more recently used as a training facility for the ukrainian foreign legion. Reportedly, the ukrainian ministry of defence estimated 35 fatalities, according to another source over 100 volunteers died, thought to be including atleast three ex uk special forces.

According to a report, both Russia and Ukraine appear more optimistic about ongoing peace talks. Reportedly, the ukrainian president said Russia’s demands for ending the war were becoming more realistic. According to the report, the status of ukrainian territories taken by russian forces in 2014 could be a stumbling block in the agreement. Reportedly, the russian foreign minister said a business like spirit starting to surface in the talks gives hope that we can agree on this issue.