Poland and Ukraine hold talks on farm imports dispute
Poland’s prime minister on Thursday hosted his Ukrainian counterpart for long-awaited talks designed to ease friction over Ukrainian farm imports and border blockades by disgruntled Polish farmers, reports news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Poland has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine as it fights off a Russian invasion, but ties have soured over the past months over economic disputes, with farmers complaining that imports from Ukraine have undercut prices for their own produce.
On Thursday, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk welcomed his counterpart Denys Shmygal to Warsaw, with Ukrainian flags hoisted outside the seat of government and the anthems of both countries played by the military band.
“There will be no safe Europe without a free Ukraine,” Tusk said on X as the talks began.
AFP say that Kyiv has repeatedly urged its EU neighbour to ease the cross-border traffic snarls, warning that delays triggered by the blockades could impede weapons deliveries to the country.
“We count on a pragmatic and constructive dialogue and the development of effective solutions,” Shmygal said on social media.
So far, only lower-level talks between the countries have been held, with little sign of progress. The Polish side has sought to tone down expectations before the latest meeting.
“It is hard to expect any breakthrough after these talks, any particular agreement … on agricultural issues,” Tusk’s chief of staff Jan Grabiec told the Polish state news agency PAP. “There are divergent positions on this matter,” he added.
Ukraine’s agricultural sector has been crippled by Russia’s 2022 invasion, with many export routes through the Black Sea blocked and swaths of farmland rendered unusable by the conflict.
Talks between ministers from both governments are also scheduled for Thursday, to discuss defence cooperation between the allies.
Key events
Ukraine has asked western allies for additional air defences.
An extraordinary meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council took place at ambassadors’ level today.
Rustem Umerov, the Ukrainian defence minister, briefed the ambassadors and “called on NATO member states to provide additional air defense systems and missiles to protect Ukrainian cities and citizens,” the Ukrainian mission said to Nato said.
Today an extraordinary meeting of the #NATO–#Ukraine Council was convened at the initiative of Ukraine in response to Russia’s missile attacks on 🇺🇦 critical infrastructure.
The meeting was held at NATO HQ at the level of Ambassadors. pic.twitter.com/h9LzUzmCwP
— UKR Mission to NATO (@UKRinNATO) March 28, 2024
Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) has carried out searches as part of an investigation with other European security services into alleged Russian espionage, the agency said today, Reuters reported.
“Actions aimed at organising pro-Russian initiatives and media campaigns in EU countries have been documented,” ABW said in a statement, mentioning the website voice-of-europe.eu which it says published pro-Russian material.
Earlier this week, the Czech Republic sanctioned two people and the website voiceofeurope.com, for what it said was leading a pro-Russian influence operation in Europe.
Miranda Bryant
Denmark’s ministry of defence is hoping to attract more women and ethnic minorities to join the country’s armed forces with free period products and prayer rooms.
It comes after the country announced earlier this month plans to conscript women in Denmark for military service for the first time, amid Europe’s worsening relations with Russia and the war in Ukraine.
According to a new “strategy for diversity and inclusion” draft, seen by DR Nyheder, on how to make the armed forces more attractive, the personnel board wrote: “There is a great potential for recruitment of women and ethnic minorities in particular, which we are not making sufficient use of”.
Commanders, it said, should in future be trained to guide conscripts on subjects including menstruation and religious considerations.
“To support this initiative, we will investigate the possibilities of making, for example, free hygiene items and prayer rooms available,” it added.
It also suggested marketing education programmes in the armed forces and emergency services more specifically at women and ethnic minorities for conscription and making working conditions “compatible with parenthood” with parental leave and the opportunity to transition into a job.
The armed forces is currently in the process of making uniforms and equipment better suited to female bodies.
According to the document, less than one in five (18.4%) of the ministry of defence’s employees were female in 2022 and among uniformed employees the figure was less than one in 10 (9.3%).
Among conscripts, just over 25% in 2022 were female. While just 2-4% were from ethnic minorities.
The Guardian has contacted the Danish ministry of defence for comment.
A spokesperson from its personnel board told DR: “The strategy is currently a working version, which awaits approval in the Ministry of Defence. Therefore, we currently do not have any comments on the content.”
The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, said today that we are closer to finding a solution with Ukraine regarding food imports, Reuters reported.
Tusk hosted his Ukrainian counterpart for talks designed to ease friction over imports and border blockades by disgruntled Polish farmers.
“We are close to a solution,” Tusk said. “This applies to the amount of products that can flow into Poland, once we determine it, we are close to ensuring that transit does not disturb the Polish market.”
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, has appointed Oleh Ivashchenko as the new head of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence service.
I have appointed combat general Oleh Ivashchenko as the new head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service.
He is a professional who perfectly understands intelligence activities and our state’s current goals. During times of war, there are absolutely non-public matters that… pic.twitter.com/ZinPoSxlS5
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 28, 2024
Russia strikes Ukraine’s Kharkiv with aerial bombs killing at least one civilian, say local officials
Russia struck the north-eastern city of Kharkiv with aerial bombs on Wednesday for the first time since 2022, killing at least one civilian and wounding 16 others, local officials said.
According to a report by the Associated Press (AP), the airstrikes caused widespread damage, hitting several residential buildings and damaging the city’s institute for emergency surgery.
Russia has escalated its attacks on Ukraine in recent days, launching several missile barrages on the capital Kyiv and hitting energy infrastructure across the country in apparent retaliation for recent Ukrainian aerial attacks on the Russian border region of Belgorod.
The Kharkiv region cuts across the frontline where Ukrainian and Russian forces have been locked in battles for more than two years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The region is frequently attacked with missiles and drones.
According to the AP, Sergey Bolvinov, head of the investigative police department in Kharkiv, said in a Telegram post that Wednesday’s attack marked the first time aerial bombs were used since 2022. Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov also reported the use of aerial bombs.
The recent escalation comes as exhausted Ukrainian troops struggle with a shortage of personnel and ammunition and face growing Russian pressure along the frontline that stretches more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).
Russian president Vladimir Putin briefed South African president Cyril Ramaphosa by phone on the situation in Ukraine, Reuters reports, citing the Kremlin.
The two leaders also discussed cooperation in energy and trade, the Kremlin said.
Aminchon Islomov, one of eight suspects detained over suspected involvement in the Moscow concert hall attack last week, has appealed against his pre-trial detention, reports Reuters citing the Russian state news agency RIA on Thursday.
Islomov, a native of Tajikistan, is suspected of aiding the four Tajik nationals who attacked the Crocus city hall venue, killing at least 143 people.
The Kremlin gave no indication on Thursday that Russian president Vladimir Putin plans to visit family members of those killed in last Friday’s attack on a Moscow concert hall, which killed 143 people, reports AFP.
The Russian leader was seen lighting a candle for the victims at a Moscow church last week but has not visited the scene of the massacre or publicly met with its victims.
“If any contacts are necessary, we will inform you accordingly,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, when asked if Putin planned to meet family members of the dead.
According to AFP, Peskov also said Putin did not plan to visit Crocus city concert hall, the scene of the massacre where rescuers had for the past week been searching the rubble for bodies.
“In these days it would be completely inappropriate to carry out any fact-finding trips, because this would simply interfere with the work,” Peskov said.
Islamic State jihadists have said several times since Friday that they were responsible for the attack, but Putin and Russian officials have suggested Ukraine and western intelligence were somehow involved.
The Kremlin has expressed confidence in the country’s powerful security agencies, despite swirling questions over how they failed to thwart the massacre.
The Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor has restricted access to 11 channels in the Telegram messaging app “with terrorist content” over the past two days, reports Reuters citing an article by the state-owned news agency RIA Novosti on Thursday.
Poland and Ukraine hold talks on farm imports dispute
Poland’s prime minister on Thursday hosted his Ukrainian counterpart for long-awaited talks designed to ease friction over Ukrainian farm imports and border blockades by disgruntled Polish farmers, reports news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Poland has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine as it fights off a Russian invasion, but ties have soured over the past months over economic disputes, with farmers complaining that imports from Ukraine have undercut prices for their own produce.
On Thursday, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk welcomed his counterpart Denys Shmygal to Warsaw, with Ukrainian flags hoisted outside the seat of government and the anthems of both countries played by the military band.
“There will be no safe Europe without a free Ukraine,” Tusk said on X as the talks began.
AFP say that Kyiv has repeatedly urged its EU neighbour to ease the cross-border traffic snarls, warning that delays triggered by the blockades could impede weapons deliveries to the country.
“We count on a pragmatic and constructive dialogue and the development of effective solutions,” Shmygal said on social media.
So far, only lower-level talks between the countries have been held, with little sign of progress. The Polish side has sought to tone down expectations before the latest meeting.
“It is hard to expect any breakthrough after these talks, any particular agreement … on agricultural issues,” Tusk’s chief of staff Jan Grabiec told the Polish state news agency PAP. “There are divergent positions on this matter,” he added.
Ukraine’s agricultural sector has been crippled by Russia’s 2022 invasion, with many export routes through the Black Sea blocked and swaths of farmland rendered unusable by the conflict.
Talks between ministers from both governments are also scheduled for Thursday, to discuss defence cooperation between the allies.
Here are some of the latest images on the newswires:
The Kremlin said on Thursday complete silence was needed when it came to discussions about possible prisoner exchanges involving Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter arrested in Russia a year ago on suspicion of espionage, reports Reuters.
Gershkovich, 32, became the first US journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the cold war when he was detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on 29 March.
The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said Gershkovich had been trying to obtain military secrets.
The reporter, the Wall Street Journal and the US government all deny he is a spy.
Reuters reports that when asked about when a court would hear Gershkovich’s case or whether there would be a prisoner exchange, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “We do not have information about the court – it is not our prerogative.”
“As for exchange matters, we have repeatedly stressed that there are certain contacts, but they must be carried out in absolute silence,” Peskov said, adding that public remarks were a hindrance.
Gershkovich has now spent almost a year at Moscow’s high-security Lefortovo prison, which is closely associated with the FSB, and his detention has been extended to 30 June.
Security measures in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv will be tightened after a spate of Russian ballistic missile attacks and threats of escalation, a city official said on Thursday, according to Reuters.
Russia staged concerted airstrikes on Ukraine’s energy system last week in what Moscow said was part of a series of “revenge” strikes in response to Kyiv’s bombardment of Russian regions.
Moscow has since increased its use of ballistic missiles, which are much faster than regular cruise missiles and harder to shoot down, to attack Ukrainian cities.
Reuters reports that Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said a city defence council would review the staging of public events and enhance security around large gatherings.
He said the decision had been made because of Russian statements and Russian forces’ use of missiles that reach their target within minutes of being fired.
He added that Russian agents “and other enemy elements” could be attempting to infiltrate the city.
“I ask Kyivans to remain calm. Do not panic. We are using preventive measures so that Kyiv and its residents are reliably defended,” he said on Telegram.
Kremlin says questions about the missing after concert attack are for investigators
The Kremlin, asked on Thursday about reports that dozens of people remain missing after the attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed at least 143, said that the question was best addressed to investigators, reports Reuters.
Russian Telegram channel Baza, which is close to the security services, reported on Wednesday that 95 people remain missing since the attack last Friday.
Ukraine’s foreign minister has arrived in New Delhi on for a two-day visit to boost bilateral ties and cooperation with India, which considers Russia a time-tested ally from the cold war-era.
The Associated Press (AP) reports that Dmytro Kuleba will meet with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Friday, as well as the deputy national security adviser, according to India’s Foreign Ministry.
On Thursday, Kuleba will pay his respects to Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi at the Rajghat memorial site.
His visit comes a week after Indian prime minister Narendra Modi spoke to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian president Vladmir Putin, whom India has so far avoided criticising over the war in Ukraine. Instead, New Delhi has stressed the need for diplomacy and dialogue on ending the war and has expressed its willingness to contribute to peace efforts.
Putin’s spy chief visited North Korea, Russian intelligence service says
Russian president Vladimir Putin’s foreign intelligence chief paid a visit to North Korea this week to deepen bilateral cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang and discuss broader regional security, Russia’s spy service said on Thursday according to Reuters.
Sergei Naryshkin, the head the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service, visited Pyongyang on March 25-27, the SVR said. North Korea’s KCNA state media first reported the visit, said Reuters.
Naryshkin met North Korean minister of state security Ri Chang Dae, the SVR said. “They discussed topical issues of the development of the international situation, ensuring regional security, and deepening Russian-North Korean cooperation in the face of attempts to increase pressure from external forces,” the SVR was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency Tass.
KCNA said the two sides discussed further boosting cooperation to deal with the “ever-growing spying and plotting moves by the hostile forces”.
Putin has deepened ties with North Korea since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and the US and its allies have condemned what they say have been significant North Korean missile deliveries to Russia to help its war effort.
Both Russia and North Korea have repeatedly dismissed the criticism.
Moscow says it will develop ties with whatever countries it wants and that its cooperation with Pyongyang does not contravene international agreements.
Russia will not attack Nato countries, Putin says
Russia has no designs on any Nato country and will not attack Poland, the Baltic states or the Czech Republic but if the west supplies F-16 fighters to Ukraine then they will be shot down by Russian forces, president Vladimir Putin said late on Wednesday, reports news agency Reuters.
Speaking to Russian air force pilots, Putin said the US-led military alliance had expanded eastwards towards Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union but that Moscow had no plans to attack a Nato state.
“We have no aggressive intentions towards these states,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript released on Thursday.
“The idea that we will attack some other country – Poland, the Baltic States, and the Czechs are also being scared – is complete nonsense. It’s just drivel.”
The Kremlin, which accuses the US of fighting against Russia by supporting Ukraine with money, weapons and intelligence, says relations with Washington have probably never been worse, reports Reuters.
Asked about F-16 fighters which the west has promised to send to Ukraine, Putin said such aircraft would not change the situation in Ukraine. “If they supply F-16s, and they are talking about this and are apparently training pilots, this will not change the situation on the battlefield,” Putin said.
“And we will destroy the aircraft just as we destroy today tanks, armoured vehicles and other equipment, including multiple rocket launchers.”
Putin said that F-16 could also carry nuclear weapons.
“Of course, if they will be used from airfields in third countries, they become for us legitimate targets, wherever they might be located,” Putin said.
Putin’s remarks followed comments earlier in the day by Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba that the aircraft should arrive in Ukraine in the coming months.
Ukraine, now more than two years into a full-fledged war against Russia, has sought F-16s for many months.
Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands are among countries which have pledged to donate F-16s. A coalition of countries has promised to help train Ukrainian pilots in their use.
Opening summary
It has gone 10am in Kyiv and 11am in Moscow. This is our latest Guardian blog covering all the latest developments over the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Overnight, Ukrainian forces shot down 26 out of 28 attack drones launched by Russia, Kyiv’s military said on Thursday.
The Iranian-made drones were destroyed over parts of eastern, southern and southeastern Ukraine, the air force added.
The Zaporizhzhia region’s governor said on Telegram that two women had been wounded when debris struck a residential neighbourhood in the regional capital, while prosecutors in the eastern Kharkiv region said a restaurant, a store and offices were damaged by debris from three drones.
Meanwhile, it was reported that Russia has no designs on any Nato country and will not attack Poland, the Baltic states or the Czech Republic, president Vladimir Putin said late on Wednesday. He said if the west supplies F-16 fighters to Ukraine then they will be shot down by Russian forces.
More on that in a moment, but first, here are the other latest developments:
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The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will discuss support for Ukraine during talks in Paris next week with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the US state department has announced. After Paris, Blinken will head to Brussels for talks of Nato foreign ministers ahead of the alliance’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington in July. Blinken will also hold a three-way meeting in Brussels with EU leaders and the Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, who wants to branch out from Armenia’s alliance with Russia.
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Ukraine downed 26 Russian drones over Wednesday night, Mykola Oleshchuk, the head of Ukraine’s air force, said on Thursday morning. “The enemy launched a missile airstrike against Ukraine using three Kh-22 cruise missiles and an Kh-31P anti-radar missile (from the Black Sea), an S-300 anti-aircraft guided missile (Donetsk) and 28 attack UAVs of the Shahed-136/131 type. Twenty-six attack UAVs of the Shahed-136/131 type were destroyed within Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions,” he said on Telegram, without providing details on the missile strikes.
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Russia has bombed the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, killing at least one civilian and wounding 16 others, according to authorities. The airstrikes caused widespread damage, hitting several residential buildings and damaging the city’s institute for emergency surgery.
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, condemned the attack as “Russian terror” and Volodymyr Tymoshko, head of the Kharkiv regional police, said Moscow might have used a new type of guided bomb, which he described as the UMPB D-30. “This is something between a guided aerial bomb which they [the Russians] have used recently, and a missile. It’s a flying bomb so to say.” The regional governor, Oleh Synehubov, said: “It seems that the Russians decided to test their modified bombs on the residents of the houses.”
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After the attack on Kharkiv, Zelenskiy urged Ukraine’s allies to speed up deliveries of warplanes and air defence systems. “There are no rational explanations for why Patriots, which are plentiful around the world, are still not covering the skies of Kharkiv and other cities.”
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Russian has formed a “Dnipro River flotilla” in occupied Kherson that is likely to be susceptible to attacks by Ukraine’s uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs), or drone boats, according to an intelligence update from the UK Ministry of Defence.
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Vladimir Putin has reportedly told Russian military pilots that the supply of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will not alter the situation on the battlefield. But they can carry nuclear weapons and Moscow would have to take account of that in its military planning, the Russian president was quoted as saying. Earlier on Wednesday, the Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said the jets should arrive in Ukraine in the coming months.
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A Ukrainian spy chief has hinted at a secretive assassination campaign “possibly” run by Ukraine’s SBU spy agency to take out Ukrainian citizens collaborating with Russia. In a televised interview with Ukraine’s national broadcaster ICTV, the head of the SBU, Vasyl Malyuk, said Ukrainian spies had targeted “very many” people responsible for war crimes and attacks against Ukrainian citizens. “Officially, we will not admit to this. But at the same time I can offer some details.”
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The SBU has detained two alleged agents of Russia’s intelligence agency accused of passing the location of sensitive military targets to enemy forces. “As a result of a special operation, two [Russian] FSB agents were detained in Kyiv and Odesa,” the SBU said in a statement. “Both criminals were detained red-handed while spying on potential targets for the occupiers.” One of the suspects photographed a thermal power station, ostensibly to help Russia with its bombardment of Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Both were charged with collaboration and face life in prison.
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A Russian court has sentenced Lucy Shtein, a member of feminist group Pussy Riot and a former municipal deputy in Moscow, to six years in prison in absentia for anti-war social media posts, Reuters reported the court’s press service as saying on Wednesday. Shtein, 27, in March 2022 posted on X accusing Russian soldiers of “bombing foreign cities and killing people”. Shtein fled house arrest in Moscow to live in Iceland soon after the invasion, and reportedly has Icelandic citizenship.
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Samsung has said it will stop supporting the Russian payment card Mir on its mobile payment service from 3 April – a result of anti-war sanctions. The US treasury has announced sanctions on Russia’s national payment card system, the central bank-owned entity that operates Mir.
