Satellite images show massacres and possible robberies in Ukraine 4:35
(CNN Spanish) --
Russia intensifies its efforts to take full control of the Luhansk region and "fierce battles" take place around Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said.
Look at the most important news of the war this Thursday, May 26:
Zelensky condemns Kissinger's idea of negotiating with Russia as 1938-style appeasement
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky compared Henry Kissinger's views to the appeasement of Nazi Germany in 1938 (Photo by Volodymyr Zelensky/Facebook)
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky has lashed out at former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who suggested on Tuesday that peace talks should aim to create borders along the "line of contact" in Donbas. , as it existed on the eve of the Russian invasion.
Kissinger spoke by video at the Davos Forum.
"No matter what the Russian state does, there is someone who says: 'Let's take their interests into account'. This year, in Davos, it has been heard again. Despite the thousands of Russian missiles that have hit Ukraine. despite the tens of thousands of dead Ukrainians, despite Bucha and Mariupol, etc., despite the destroyed cities, and despite the "filtration camps" built by the Russian state, in which they kill, torture, rape and humiliate like on a conveyor belt," Zelensky said in a video message Wednesday.
"Russia has done all this in Europe. But still, in Davos, for example, Mr. Kissinger emerges from the deep past and says that a piece of Ukraine must be given to Russia," he attacked.
Pro-Russian Agents Online Falsely Claimed Zelensky Killed Himself To Sway Public Opinion, Security Firms Say
In his remarks, Kissinger said of the conflict that "negotiations must start in the next two months before there are upheavals and tensions that will not be easily overcome. Ideally, the dividing line should be a return to the status quo ante," apparently suggesting that Ukraine agree to cede much of Donbas and Crimea.
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"Pursuing the war beyond that point would not be about Ukraine's freedom, but a new war against Russia itself," Kissinger said.
Zelensky compared Kissinger's views to the appeasement of Nazi Germany in 1938.
"It appears that Mr. Kissinger's calendar is not 2022, but 1938, and he thought he was speaking to an audience not in Davos, but in what was then Munich," he said.
"By the way, in the actual year of 1938, when Mr. Kissinger's family was fleeing Nazi Germany, he was 15 years old."
Zelensky described as "great geopoliticians" those who advise Ukraine to cede something to Russia.
Ukrainians on foot.
Millions of those who actually live in the territory they propose to exchange for the illusion of peace.
You always have to see the people."
UN officials to visit Moscow to discuss Ukraine and fertilizer exports
The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs is scheduled to visit Moscow in early June to discuss the situation in Ukraine, a spokesman for the Russian mission to the UN said on Wednesday, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.
Martin Griffiths is scheduled to visit Moscow to "continue the dialogue that he started during his previous visit to Moscow" and "discuss the full spectrum of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine," spokesman Fyodor Strzhizhovsky said.
Griffiths' previous visit to Moscow last month was an attempt to facilitate a "humanitarian ceasefire" after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tasked him with meeting with the two sides of the conflict.
Strzhizhovsky added that the secretary general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Rebekah Grynspan, will visit Moscow to discuss the export of Russian fertilizers.
In recent months, the price of fertilizers - essential for farmers to meet their crop production goals - have risen due to problems with Russian exports.
Europe's production has also fallen due to the rising price of natural gas, a key ingredient in nitrogen-based fertilizers.
Norway's Yara, one of the world's largest fertilizer makers, has cut its exports due to rising natural gas prices, cutting ammonia and urea output from its plants in Italy and France.
According to TASS, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko declared on Wednesday that the resolution of the food problem "requires a global approach", and called for the lifting of sanctions on Russian exports and financial transactions.
"The world is at a turning point," warns the German chancellor
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that Europe and the international community are at a critical point, saying the world has changed since the Ukraine war began.
"The world is at a turning point," Scholz said during a special speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, adding that not only Ukraine is at risk, but also the "system of international cooperation that was forged after two world wars." ".
Smoke rises from an oil refinery after an attack on the outskirts of the city of Lysychansk in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, on May 22, 2022, on the 88th day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
(Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)
The war was "lightning", but the prospect of Russia "capturing Ukraine seems less likely than at the beginning" of the invasion, Scholz said, citing fierce resistance by Ukrainian troops and help from the international community.
Moscow has failed in its military objectives so far, but has succeeded in uniting the international community and accelerating Ukraine's plan to join the European Union, he added.
"We cannot let Putin win this war, and I firmly believe that he will not win it," Scholz said.
The Central Bank of Russia cuts interest rates from 14% to 11%, claiming lower inflation
Russia cut interest rates on Thursday as the ruble's resurgence, fueled by strong oil and gas revenues, detracts from inflation.
Russia's central bank cut interest rates from 14% to 11%, after inflation slowed to 17.5% in May from 17.8% in April, said the bank, which now sees annual inflation decreases to 5-7% in 2023 and returns to 4% in 2024.
The bank raised interest rates to 20% when the Russian economy was hit by Western sanctions, but the latest move means they are now almost the same as before the Ukraine invasion, when they stood at 9.5%. %.
A Russian national flag flies over the headquarters of Bank Rossii, Russia's central bank, in Moscow, Russia, on February 28.
(Photo: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
"The external conditions of the Russian economy remain difficult and considerably limit economic activity," the bank said.
"Risks to financial stability have eased somewhat, which has allowed some capital control measures to be relaxed."
Reacting to the decision, William Jackson, chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, said further rate cuts and relaxation of capital controls seemed likely.
"The key point is that high oil and gas revenues are providing policy makers with a lifeline, allowing them to pull back from emergency economic measures," Jackson said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that the economy was "resisting the impact of sanctions" despite the gloomy outlook.
"Despite all difficulties, the Russian economy is resisting the impact of sanctions, and it is resisting it quite well," Putin said at a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi. .
"Yes, it's not easy. Everything that happens requires special attention from the government's economic bloc. In general, these efforts are having a positive effect," Putin said.
Some background
: In late April, the Russian Central Bank said the Russian economy was expected to contract by 8-10% in 2022, pointing to a slowdown in economic activity in March following the imposition of international sanctions on Russia .
Earlier in the same month, the World Bank predicted that Russian GDP would contract by 11.2% in 2022.
Western sanctions imposed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine are making life difficult for the Kremlin, but they are also affecting the world economy.
"The Russian invasion of Ukraine has compounded the Covid-19 pandemic — one crisis upon another — devastating lives, dragging down growth and pushing up inflation," according to an International Monetary Fund blog posted on Monday.
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