Russian-backed separatists claim to have taken east Ukraine’s Pisky village
Pisky, a village on the outskirts of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, has been seized by pro-Russian forces, according to Russian state news agency Tass.
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Russian and pro-Russian forces said they have seized full control of Pisky, a village on the outskirts of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, according to Russian state news agency Tass.
They added that fighting was taking place in the city of Bakhmut, north of Donetsk.
The Ukrainian military said Thursday that Russian forces had mounted at least two assaults on Pisky but until then had been repelled.
— Karen Gilchrist
Russia says it is ready to discuss prisoner swap with the U.S.
US’ Women’s National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, waits for the verdict inside a defendants’ cage before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, on August 4, 2022.
Evgenia Novozhenina | AFP | Getty Images
Moscow said it was ready to begin talks with the U.S. about a prisoner swap following the sentencing of basketball star Brittney Griner.
A Russian court found WNBA Griner guilty of drug charges and sentenced her to nine years in prison Thursday.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden had previously agreed on a diplomatic channel that should be used to discuss such matters.
“We are ready to discuss this topic, but within the framework of the channel that was agreed upon by presidents Putin and Biden,” Lavrov said during a visit to Cambodia.
The Kremlin had previously warned the U.S. against turning to “megaphone diplomacy” in the case of Griner.
— Karen Gilchrist
Blinken and Lavrov won’t be speaking at ASEAN meetings in Cambodia
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken looks on at the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers meeting during the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Phnom Penh on August 5, 2022.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has no plans to speak with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Phnom Penh, Cambodia where the two men are attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for foreign ministers, a State Department official told reporters.
The two men did not make any eye contact despite sitting near each other at the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ meeting, pool notes showed.
According to the U.S. official, Russia has not provided a “serious response” on the Biden administration’s proposal to the Russian government for the release of Griner and ex-Marine Paul Whelan.
Addressing Russia’s war in Ukraine is one of Blinken’s objectives in Cambodia, where he will be until Friday, before traveling to the Philippines, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, said the U.S. Department of State.
— Natalie Tham
Three ships carrying grain leave Ukrainian ports
Three more ships carrying grain departed Ukrainian ports on Aug 5 as part of an internationally brokered pact.
Oleksandr Gimanov | Afp | Getty Images
Three more ships carrying Ukrainian grain exports left the country’s Black Sea ports, the United Nations’ coordination committee confirmed.
The vessels, carrying a combined 58,041 tons of corn, departed for the U.K., Ireland and Turkey.
The shipments form part of an internationally brokered deal to unblock Ukraine’s agricultural exports and ease a growing global food crisis. It follows the first grain shipment on Monday.
Meantime, a Turkish bulk carrier was expected to arrive in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Chornomorsk, the first to reach the country’s harbor since Russia’s invasion.
Kyiv has called for the pact to be extended to other goods such as metals.
— Karen Gilchrist
