Highest-Level Russia-Ukraine Talks Since War Began Yield No Breakthroughs
Talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, failed to yield any breakthroughs (FT) despite Kyiv’s new offer of Ukrainian neutrality. Kuleba said Russia refused to guarantee access (RFE/RL) for humanitarian corridors. In the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, a Russian siege has blocked missions to rescue noncombatants, and a Russian attack on a maternity hospital killed at least three people.
“There are risks, of course, to signaling openness to negotiation. It is always possible that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin could interpret this as a sign of weakness and escalate,” the University of Toronto’s Janice Gross Stein writes for Foreign Affairs.
“How can we have internationally coordinated economic sanctions on a very large scale without equally internationally coordinated measures to stabilize global food, energy and commodity markets?” the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Isabella M. Weber tweets.
CFR provides analysis, explainers, podcasts, and more on the war in Ukraine.
Pacific Rim
Conservative Wins South Korean Presidential Election
China: Beijing refused to supply components (Reuters) for Russian airliners, a Russian official said. Russia turned to China for the parts after Western companies stopped supplying them due to sanctions.
Upstart Political Party Wins Punjab State Elections in India
The anticorruption Aam Aadmi Party appeared likely to win in a landslide, leading with 91 of 117 seats (Reuters) in Punjab. Meanwhile, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept other state elections (Economic Times), as the opposition failed to coalesce around the Congress Party.
Pakistan: The country’s two largest opposition parties are seeking a congressional vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Imran Khan over his economic management, Bloomberg reported.
Middle East and North Africa
UN Calls for Aid, Civilian Casualty Probes in Escalating Syrian War
A new UN commission report said sanctions on Syria should be reviewed (OHCHR) for their humanitarian impacts on the population, 90 percent of which is living in poverty. It also expressed concern over “systemic failures” of probes of possible war crimes by the U.S.-led coalition in 2018 and 2019.
Iraq: Hundreds of people protested rising food prices (AFP) in the southern city of Nasiriya. Officials attributed the price spike to the war in Ukraine.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Fuel Scarcity Expected to Disrupt Nigerian Flights
Mali: The country said it will investigate the disappearance (Reuters) of several Mauritanians in Mali. The incident provoked a diplomatic dispute, with Mauritania summoning Mali’s ambassador earlier this week.
Europe
Hungarian Parliament Elects Orban Ally as President
Colombian President Ivan Duque and U.S. President Joe Biden are expected to discuss migration (CNN), security cooperation, and environmental concerns, among other issues.
Brazil: Thousands of people gathered outside Congress to protest a set of bills (AP) they said would encourage deforestation and encroachment on protected Indigenous lands.
United States
Biden Orders Regulators to Study Cryptocurrencies
In a new executive order, Biden instructed regulators (Vox) to study cryptocurrencies’ effects on the U.S. economy and propose rules to govern its use.
