live ticker Russian war of aggression
Kiev agrees with lenders on a loan program worth billions
“According to Prigozhin, the Wagner mercenaries control around 70 percent of the city area”
“The Wagner mercenaries are still on the rise,” says WELT reporter Christoph Wanner on the situation in Bachmut. “The eye of the needle, through which the Ukrainians come in and out, is only two kilometers wide.” However, Wagner boss Prigoschin sees the flanks at risk in a counter-offensive.
The loan program promised by the IMF is intended to give the country access to 14.5 billion euros. The goals are to maintain economic and financial stability and long-term growth as reconstruction progresses. More in the live ticker.
Dhe Ukraine and its international donors have agreed on a new billion-euro financing package. The loan program promised by the IMF is intended to give the country access to 15.6 billion US dollars (around 14.5 billion euros). This was announced by the International Monetary Fund based in Washington.
The technical level agreement (a so-called Staff Level Agreement) is subject to approval by the Executive Board. The test is expected to take place in the coming weeks, it said.
In addition to the terrible humanitarian consequences, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to have a devastating impact on the economy, according to the IMF. “Economic activity fell by 30 percent in 2022, much of the capital stock was destroyed and poverty has increased.” The goals of the aid program are to maintain economic and financial stability and long-term growth as part of post-war reconstruction.
All developments in the live ticker:
4:04 a.m. – Swedish parliament votes on joining NATO
Sweden’s parliament will vote on whether the country should join NATO on Wednesday. The parliamentarians’ approval of the government’s proposal to join the western military alliance is considered certain. However, the yes of the NATO members Turkey and Hungary is still pending. Turkey has so far blocked Sweden’s membership and is demanding that the government in Stockholm take tougher action against Kurdish activists in the country, whom Ankara considers “terrorists”.
In May, following the Russian attack on Ukraine, Finland and Sweden gave up their decades-long policy of military neutrality and jointly applied to join NATO. After months of delays, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave the green light for Finland to join NATO on Friday. During a visit to Berlin last week, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he hoped for a “rapid ratification” of his country’s bid “after the Turkish elections”.
10:33 p.m. – USA: China not “impartial” in Ukraine war
The US sees China as unsuitable to act as an “impartial” mediator between Moscow and Kiev in the Ukraine war. “I don’t think China can be considered impartial in any way,” White House spokesman for the National Security Council John Kirby told reporters. Beijing has not condemned the Russian invasion and continues to buy Russian oil, Kirby stressed.
He also accused Beijing of passing on Russian propaganda that the war in Ukraine was the result of Western aggression.
Referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who during a visit to Moscow on Tuesday hailed Xi’s entry into a “new era” of their “special” relationship, Kirby said the two had no true alliance but were connected by a “marriage of convenience”.
China and Russia “want to change the rules” that govern the international order, Kirby said. However, the US would maintain communication channels with China and US President Joe Biden still plans to speak to Xi, Kirby added – without giving further details.
10:22 p.m. – Selenskyj recalls the first successes after the start of the war a year ago
More than a year after the start of the Russian war of aggression, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recalled the first successes of his army. On March 21, 2022, the battle for the village of Moshchun, not far from the capital Kiev, was won, Zelensky said in his evening video speech on Tuesday. “It was our state’s first major step towards victory in this war.” The Ukrainian leader also recalled the subsequent recapture of the eastern Kharkiv region and part of Kherson in the south of the country.
“We will come to the same result with other offensive actions,” Zelenskyj said confidently, also with a view to the currently hard-fought Donbass in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian flag will also fly again on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, he stressed.
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