According to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine wants to deliver $150 million worth of grain to the world’s poorest countries with the help of Western industrialized countries. “Food security is one of the key elements of global stability,” the 44-year-old said in his daily video address on Saturday. He presented the “Grain from Ukraine” program – marketed in English under the catchy name “Grain from Ukraine” – as an important step in tackling the global food crisis.
After the end of the Russian naval blockade, Ukraine had already shipped 12 million tons of food to 40 countries through its Black Sea ports. According to Zelensky, the country is preparing 60 ships of grain for poor countries. More than 20 countries support Kyiv with 150 million dollars.
struggle for the sovereignty of interpretation
Russia and Ukraine are not just fighting each other on the battlefield. It is also a matter of affirming one’s interpretation of the conflict at an international level. Both countries are increasingly targeting poor countries in Africa and Asia, which – in contrast to the industrialized countries of the West – have not yet positioned themselves clearly. Zelensky’s initiative serves to attract the largely neutral states of Africa and Asia to Kiev’s side.
For its part, Moscow recently blamed the West for the global food crisis. Kremlin head Vladimir Putin has described his war of aggression against Ukraine as a defense against Western claims to hegemony.
Scholz doesn’t see Russia winning in Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is increasingly confident that Russia cannot win in Ukraine. In light of Germany’s support of Ukraine, it is becoming increasingly clear “that Russia not only must not win this war, but will not win it,” Scholz said at the SPD Brandenburg state party conference in Cottbus on Saturday. The chancellor renewed his commitment to support Ukraine for as long as necessary.
Weber: More European solidarity for refugees
In view of a possible further influx of refugees from Ukraine in winter, the head of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, calls for more European solidarity in welcoming Ukrainian refugees. “If more Ukrainians are forced to flee Russian bombing and attacks during the winter, then Western Europe will have to take more responsibility,” said the CSU leader of the “Bild am Sonntag”. “This unprecedented challenge must be supported by all EU countries in solidarity.”
Cars drive past an airplane sculpture as they leave Kherson.
Bernat Armangue/AP/dpa
According to the UNHCR, some 7.9 million people (as of 22 November) from Ukraine have sought protection abroad because of the war since 24 February. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 1,027,789 people are registered in Germany. According to the UNHCR, significantly fewer were counted in France (about 119,000), Italy (about 173,000) and Spain (about 154,000), while Poland took in the most with more than 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees.
At least 13 injured in shelling of Dnipro
Meanwhile, the missile war in Ukraine continues. At least 13 people have been injured in new Russian rocket attacks on the Ukrainian industrial city of Dnipro. This was announced on Saturday by the military governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Valentyn Resnichenko, on his Telegram channel. In addition to Dnipro, the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region was also hit on Saturday. On the other hand, Russian-backed separatists said one person was killed and one injured in the Ukrainian shelling of the city of Donetsk.
Ukraine and Russia exchange prisoners again
Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners of war for the third time in a week. “We managed to free twelve of our own,” the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said on his Telegram channel on Saturday. Moscow’s Defense Ministry has confirmed the exchange of nine servicemen with Russian citizenship.
What is important today
Duma head Vyacheslav Volodin visits the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has triggered concerns about its own sovereignty in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. In view of Moscow’s continued supremacy in the region, there have been no open protests against Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, but given increasingly distant regional elites, the Russian leadership must fear a loss of influence there as well.
