Issued on: 15/11/2022 – 04:28

4:04am: Macron calls for Paris and Beijing to work together on Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron and China’s leader Xi Jinping shook hands as they began discussions on the sidelines of the G20 summit, which is expected to pile pressure on over its invasion of and address the global fallout from the war.

We must “unite forces to respond… to international crises like Russia’s war in Ukraine,” told Xi.

On Monday, the French presidency said Macron would tell the Chinese president it was in “your interest” to pressure Russia to return to the negotiating table over the Ukraine conflict.

Xi meanwhile made no mention of the conflict in his opening remarks, calling more broadly for the two countries to “uphold the spirits of independence, autonomy, openness and cooperation”.

The pair met a day after Xi held marathon talks with US President Joe Biden, with the leaders vowing to prevent their rivalry from spilling over into outright conflict.

03:46am: European leader calls on world, China to pressure Russia

The European Council president urged global powers Tuesday to intensify pressure on Russia over its war against Ukraine, including Moscow’s biggest supporter, China, saying that this week’s meeting of the world’s largest economies was crucial to stopping Moscow’s push “to use food and energy as weapons.”

Charles Michel, speaking to reporters on the first day of the Group of 20 meeting in Bali, said the nine-month war waged by Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has disrupted lives across the world, as food and energy prices surge and economies stagnate.

“Russia’s war impacts us all, no matter where we live, from Europe to Africa or the Middle East, and the single best way to end the acute crisis in food and energy is for Russia to end this senseless war and to respect the UN charter,” Michel said. “The Kremlin has decided to weaponise food, driving up hunger, poverty and instability.”

9:34pm: Turkey now a ‘go-to place’ for meeting between Americans and Russians

CIA Director William Burns met with his Russian intelligence counterpart in Turkey, where he warned of consequences if Russia were to deploy a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.

Reporting from the Turkish capital, Ankara, FRANCE 24’s Jasper Mortimer says Turkey has played a key role in hosting meetings between Russian and Ukrainian officials since the February 24 invasion. “Now it appears that Turkey has become the go-to place for meetings between the Americans and the Russians,” said Mortimer.

“The meeting here in Ankara served the purpose for CIA Director William Burns to tell the Kremlin that when [US President Joe] Biden says the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine will not be tolerated, Biden is not talking tough to impress American voters. Biden actually means it and if the Russians nuke the Ukrainians, Biden will make them pay for it,” explained Mortimer.

03:31

 

8:38pm: UN General Assembly calls for Russian reparations to Ukraine

The UN General Assembly has approved a resolution calling for Russia to be held accountable for violating international law by invading Ukraine including by paying reparations for widespread damage to the country and for Ukrainians killed and injured during the war.

The resolution in the 193-member world body was passed by a 94-14 vote with 73 abstentions. It was close to the lowest level of support of the five Ukraine-related resolutions adopted by the General Assembly since Russia’s February 24 invasion.

The resolution recognises the need to establish “an international mechanism for reparation for damage, loss or injury’” arising from Russia’s “wrongful acts” against Ukraine.

It recommends that the assembly’s member nations, in cooperation with Ukraine, create “an international register” to document claims and information on damage, loss or injury to Ukrainians and the government caused by Russia.

8:05pm: Ukraine says Russia hit Kherson power station before retreat

Ukrainian national energy company Ukrenergo has said Russia destroyed key energy infrastructure before retreating from the western bank of the Dnipro river last week. 

“The energy facility that provided power supply to the entire right bank of the Kherson region and a significant part of the Mykolaiv region, is practically destroyed,” Ukrenergo chief Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said in a post on Facebook, adding these were the “consequences the powerless anger of the occupiers before fleeing”.

7:34pm: Ukrainians controlling access to Kherson due to unexploded ordnance

Reporting from Kherson, FRANCE 24’s Luke Shrago says the Ukrainian military is still tightly controlling access to the city due to the massive amounts of unexploded ordnance left in and around Kherson by withdrawing Russian troops. 

01:02

6:48pm: Macron to push Xi to ‘pressure’ Russia on Ukraine

President Emmanuel Macron will urge his Chinese counterpart to “pressure” Russia to return to the negotiating table when the French president meets Xi Jinping before the opening of the G20 summit in Indonesia on Tuesday.

Macron will tell Xi “your interest, like mine, is to put pressure on Russia so it returns to the negotiating table and respects international law”, a senior French official told AFP. 

He will also seek to convince Indian President Narendra Modi, who like Xi has stopped short of condemning the invasion, that the conflict “is not a good thing”.

4:25pm: Poland to take over Gazprom’s Polish assets

Poland will take over Gazprom’s Polish assets, said Polish Development Minister Waldemar Buda, adding that the move concerned the Russian company’s 48% stake in Europolgaz, which owns the Polish section of the Yamal gas pipeline.

The compulsory administration will ensure security of the critical infrastructure used for gas transit, said Buda in an emailed statement.

In September, Poland imposed sanctions on Gazprom and said its assets would be frozen after the April sanctioning of 50 Russian oligarchs and companies, including Gazprom.

Russia at the same time halted gas exports to Poland after Warsaw refused to pay in roubles.

While Europolgaz owns the 684-kilometre long Polish section of the Yamal, the pipeline is operated by Polish state-owned gas transmission company Gaz-System.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)

 

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