Photo : REUTERS/Emily Elconin
12 May 2022, Wednesday| NIAS Europe Daily Brief #198
War in Ukraine: Day 77
by Rishma Banerjee
War on the Ground
Ukraine, which has made allegations of war crimes against Russian soldiers, is starting their first war crimes trial. 21-year-old soldier, Vadim Shishimarin, who was a member of the elite 4th Guards Tank Division will be the first one to be tried.
Ukaine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed that he had a fruitful discussion with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. They spoke about cooperation in the energy sector, aid for defence and the increment of sanctions on Russia.
Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine’s pipeline operator halted the Russian shipment of natural gas through a hub in Eastern Ukraine. They said that they have been trying to reroute the gas, but Gazprom has said that it would be too complicated a process.
The deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that they were negotiating with Russia about swapping Russian prisoners of war for the badly injured defenders in the Azovstal plant.
The Moscow View:
Claims by Russia
On 11 May, Russia said that the people living in Kherson will be deciding if they want to join Russia or not. Kherson, in southern Ukraine, is one of the Russian-occupied regions in Ukraine. Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the military administration in Kherson, made the annexation call and said: “... There will be a request to make [Kherson] into a full-fledged region of the Russian Federation.”
On the same day, Russia asked for a formal apology from Poland, in the context of Moscow’s ambassador to Warsaw being attacked with red paint on 09 May. They have warned that without the apology, Polan can expect future reprisals.
After the new USD, 40 billion package was approved by the US House of Representatives, former president of Russia Dmitry Medvedev accused the United States of waging a “proxy war” against Russia. Russia’s State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin also spoke along the same lines and said that the US was just using this opportunity to ‘indebt’ Ukraine.
The West View:
Responses from the US and Europe
The US House passed the measure to provide USD 39.8 billion in aid to Ukraine. The package now will now need to be passed by the Senate, before it is sent for president Joe Biden’s signature.
Deliberations are going on about EU sanctions that are to be imposed on Russia. But, Hungary said that a deal was out of the question unless the EU could offer a solution for the hundreds of millions of dollars necessary to replace Russian oil in the Hungarian economy.
Finland and Sweden have been deliberating about joining the Nato for quite some time now. On 11 May, Finland's president Sauli Niinisto and prime minister Sanna Marin said that they are in favour of applying for the membership. In a joint statement, they said: “Now that the moment of decision-making is near, we state our equal views, also for information to the parliamentary groups and parties… Nato membership would strengthen Finland's security.”
Neighbouring Sweden is also expected to state their positions soon, as both the countries want to apply for membership together. The Swedish prime minister, Magdalena Andersson met with Boris Johnson, and both of them said that following Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, relations with Vladimir Putin can never be normalised again.
The Global Fallouts:
Implications of the Ukraine war
On 11 May, the UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said that he was deeply concerned about food security given the current situation in Ukraine. He also mentioned how the war in Ukraine was exacerbating issues of hunger in different parts of the world.
References
“UN chief: 'deeply concerned' about risks of global hunger due to war in Ukraine,” Reuters, 11 May 2022
“Ukraine's Zelenskiy says he spoke to Scholz, discussed more Russia sanctions,” Reuters, 11 May 2022
“Ukraine proposes swapping injured Azovstal defenders for Russia prisoners,” Reuters, 11 May 2022
“Russia's Medvedev, Volodin lash out at U.S. aid to Ukraine,” Reuters, 11 May 2022
“Hungary says its backing of EU's Russia oil ban hinges on hundreds of millions of dollars,” Reuters, 11 May 2022
“Kherson’s military administrators to call for Russian annexation,” The Guardian, 11 May 2022
“Russia demands formal Polish apology for Warsaw anti-war protest,” Reuters, 11 May 2022
“Ukraine latest news,” BBC Live, 11 May 2022