Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar shake hands during their meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, July 22, 2022. (Vadim Savitsky, Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)Russia Ukraine War Live Updates: Russia and Ukraine signed separate agreements Friday with Turkey and the United Nations clearing the way for the export of millions of tons of desperately needed Ukrainian grain — as well as some Russian grain and fertilizer — across the Black Sea. The long-sought deal ends a wartime standoff that has threatened food security around the globe. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called it “a beacon of hope” for millions of hungry people who have faced huge increases in the price of food.
The United States promised more military support for Ukraine, including drones, and is doing preliminary work on whether to send fighter aircraft, as fighting raged on in the east of the country five months into Russia’s invasion. There have been no major breakthroughs on front lines since Russian forces seized the last two Ukrainian-held cities in eastern Luhansk province in late June and early July.
The Ukrainian armed forces’ general staff said Russia had shelled several dozen positions on front lines on Friday but had no success capturing territory. Russian forces failed in a bid to establish control over Ukraine’s second biggest power plant at Vuhlehirska, north-east of Donetsk, and troops also tried to advance west from the city of Lysychansk but were pushed back, it said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, sit as two representatives of Ukraine and Russia delegations check hands during a signing ceremony at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, July 22, 2022. (AP)
Two months after the West Bengal government allocated seats for practical training to 412 medical students who had returned from Ukraine to the state, the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dr Bharti Pravin Pawar told the Lok Sabha that there were no provisions in the Acts governing medical education to allow such transfers. “Therefore, no permission has been given by the NMC to transfer or accommodate any foreign medical students in any Indian medical institute or university,” the minister’s reply read.
“As informed by National Medical Commission (NMC), the regulatory body of medical education in the country, no such information is available with them,” when asked about whether 400 students were accommodated by the West Bengal government in state universities. All admissions to MBBS seats – even the 85% seats under the state quota – happen according to the ranks of the students in the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET). (Read more)
In Kyiv, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba sounded a sombre note on the deal to export Ukrainian grain.
“I’m not opening a bottle of champagne because of this deal,” Kuleba told The Associated Press. “I will keep my fingers crossed that this will work, that ships will carry grain to world markets and prices will go down and people will have food to eat. But I’m very cautious because I have no trust in Russia.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy echoed Kuleba's concerns in his nightly video address, saying, “It is clear to everyone that there may be some provocations on the part of Russia, some attempts to discredit Ukrainian and international efforts. But we trust the UN.”
The White House announced Friday that the US is sending an additional $270 million in security assistance to Ukraine, a package that will include additional medium-range rocket systems and tactical drones.
The latest tranche brings the total US security assistance committed to Ukraine by the Biden administration to $8.2 billion, and is being paid for through $40 billion in economic and security aid for Ukraine approved. by Congress in May.
The new package includes four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS and will allow Kyiv to acquire up to 580 Phoenix Ghost drones, both crucial weapon systems that have allowed the Ukrainians to stay in the fight despite Russian artillery supremacy, according to John Kirby, the White House National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications. The latest assistance also includes some 36,000 rounds of artillery ammunition and additional ammunition for the HIMARS. (AP)
Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark deal on Friday to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports, raising hopes that an international food crisis aggravated by the Russian invasion can be eased.
The accord crowned two months of talks brokered by the United Nations and Turkey which U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said were aimed at restoring Ukrainian grain exports while easing Russian grain and fertilizer shipments despite tough Western sanctions on Moscow. Guterres said the deal, signed in Istanbul, opens the way to significant volumes of commercial food exports from three key Ukrainian ports – Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny.