Photo : Nato.int
Photo : Nato.int
By Neha Tresa George
WAR ON THE GROUND
On 17 June, Ukrinform reported that the consumers in six regions in Ukraine remain without power supply due to the increasing hostilities in war and particularly targeting the energy grids. According to the Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy, consumers in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Kherson remained without electricity mainly due to shelling. Moreover, an overhead powerline in the Dnipropetrovsk region was disconnected due to unauthorised actions. Technological reasons in the Odesa region resulted in power cutoff for 1,736 customers. On 16 June, power companies supplied power to the regions of Kherson and Kharkiv affected by the unfavourable weather conditions. It was later restored to the regions of Donetsk, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine now faces power cuts every day from ten to fourteen hours. The situation is predicted to remain worse in the upcoming months.
On 17 June, Reuters reported on the failure to reach agreement in the meeting held between Ukraine and its international bondholders to cut its debt to finance. This means Ukraine would see USD 23 billion sovereign default later in 2024. Although both sides seem distant in reaching an agreement, Serhiy Marchenko, Ukraine’s Finance Minister said that his team will continue conversing with a select group of larger creditors like money managers who deal with pension and investment funds. One of the upcoming problems will be the government's lack of time as the two-year debt freeze will end by August, pushing Ukraine on the verge of default again. This can be resolved only through IMF’s USD 15.6 billion support program and the G7 countries’ USD 50 million from the frozen Russian assets. Ukraine’s proposal to the creditors was to slash the value of their bonds by up to 60 per cent. Meanwhile, the creditor committee in return proposed for cuts over 22 per cent. This divide in the agreement resonates with the uncertainty in the war and how much debt Ukraine will carry forward. If Kyiv does not manage to cut its debt level, the IMF might come under pressure to halt its crucial financial program for the country.
On 17 June, Ukrinform reported on damage on civilian infrastructure facility by the Russian forces in the Poltava district resulting in casualties. Filip Pronin, head of the regional military administration said: "According to tentative reports, the enemy hit a civilian infrastructure facility in the Poltava Oblast. There are casualties, people may remain under the rubble.” The incoming reports from the ground were being verified. As per earlier reports by Ukrinform, the Russian strike in the Myrhorod (city in Poltava Oblast) resulted in one injury.
THE MOSCOW VIEW
Claims by Russia
On 18 June, The Moscow Times reported on Kremlin’s statement on how the Ukraine Peace Summit held in Switzerland had “zero” results. Dmitry Peskov, Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation said: “If we talk about the results of this meeting, then they come down to zero.” Although 90 countries gathered to support Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the prime question of ending the war remained unanswered. The summit's final communique was not signed by all the countries including Saudi Arabia, India and the United Arab Emirates. Peskov added that these countries understood the lack of perspective in any discussion without the presence of Russia thus citing their exclusion from the summit. He also added that Putin was still “open to dialogue and discussion.” Previously, Putin said Russia would commence the peace talks only if Ukraine gave up four of its regions and surrender.
THE WEST VIEW
Responses of the US and Europe
On 17 June, NATO published its defence expenditure of NATO Countries report for 2014-2024. The expenditure represents the payment by a national government or planned for the fiscal year to meet the armed forces needs. The graphs showcasing the defence expenditure indicate a new high of 17.9 per cent with more than 20 NATO allies meeting the two per cent defence budget. According to the report, the equipment expenditure increased from 16.4 in 2023 to 36.9 in 2024.
On 18 June, POLITICO reported on 23 out of 32 NATO allies reaching the two per cent defence spending target. According to the latest NATO report, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Turkey reached the target for the first time. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General said: "Across Europe and Canada, NATO allies are, this year, increasing defence spending by 18 percent. That’s the biggest increase in decades." This portrayed their shared responsibility to protect the countries in the NATO alliance. The non-US allies also met the target for the first time, since NATO was looking forward to highlight the share of defence expenditure as proof to the US critics. As per the report, Poland tops the chart at 4.12 per cent, followed by Estonia at 3.43 per cent, the U.S. at 3.38 per cent, Latvia at 3.15 per cent and Greece at 3.08 per cent. While, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain were listed among the lowest spenders.
References
“Kremlin Says Ukraine Peace Summit Produced 'Zero' Results,” The Moscow Times, 18 June 2024
Marc Jones “Explainer: What happens next in Ukraine's debt restructuring?” Reuters, 18 June 2024
“Casualties as Russian strike targets civil infrastructure in Poltava region,” UKRINFORM, 17 June, 2024
“Record 23 countries hit 2 percent defence spending target, NATO says,” POLITICO, 18 June 2024
Choe Sang-Hun “In Need of Munitions, Putin to Visit North Korea,” The New York Times, 17 June 2024
“Consumers in six regions of Ukraine have no electricity supply due to hostilities,” UKRINFORM, 18 June 2024