Month: October 2022

The resolution was supported by 143 countries, while 35 states – including China and India – abstained.

As well as Russia, four countries rejected the vote, namely Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Nicaragua.

Although symbolic, it was the highest number of votes against Russia since the invasion.

Last week, in a grand ceremony in the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin signed documents to make the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson part of Russia.

The agreements were signed with the Moscow-installed leaders of the four regions, and came after self-proclaimed referendums in the areas that were denounced as a “sham” by the West.

The resolution calls on the international community not to recognise any of Russia’s annexation claim and demands its “immediate reversal”. It welcomes and “expresses its strong support” for efforts to de-escalate the conflict through negotiation.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was grateful to the countries that supported it.

“The world had its say – [Russia’s] attempts at annexation is worthless and will never be recognised by free nations,” he tweeted, adding that Ukraine would “return all its lands”.

US President Joe Biden said the vote sent a “clear message” to Moscow.

“The stakes of this conflict are clear to all, and the world has sent a clear message in response – Russia cannot erase a sovereign state from the map,” he said.

Dame Barbara Woodward, Britain’s ambassador to the UN, said Russia had failed on the battlefield and at the UN, adding that countries had united to defend the world body’s charter.

“Russia has isolated itself, but Russia alone can stop the suffering. The time to end the war is now,” she said.

The General Assembly vote was triggered after Russia used its veto power to prevent action at the Security Council – the body in charge of maintaining international peace and security. As permanent members, China, the United States, France and the United Kingdom also hold vetoes on the council.

There have been calls for Russia to be stripped of its veto power after the Ukraine invasion.

The weaponry promised by the UK, Canada, France and the Netherlands includes missiles and radars. The US earlier made a similar pledge. One high-tech system from Germany is already in Ukraine.

The pledges come as Ukraine’s allies from 50 countries meet at Nato headquarters in Brussels.

Kyiv hailed the summit as “historic”.

Hours later Russian shelling hit the southern city of Mykolaiv on Thursday morning, officials said.

The city’s mayor Oleksandr Senkevich said the city was “massively shelled” at around 01:00 local time (23:00 GMT).

“A five-storey residential building was hit, the upper two floors were completely destroyed, the rest – under rubble. Rescuers are working on the site,” he said.

It has been a particularly intense week in Ukraine – on Monday and Tuesday, it saw some of its heaviest Russian bombardment in months when more than 100 missiles were launched, hitting energy infrastructure and other non-military targets including a children’s playground.

At least 19 people were killed on the first day of the strikes, which included hitting central Kyiv.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the missile strikes were retaliation for an attack on a key bridge linking Russia and Crimea – Ukraine’s southern peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Russia says Saturday’s blast was organised by Ukraine’s intelligence agency – a claim rubbished by Kyiv.

The UK will donate air defence missiles, as well as hundreds of aerial drones to support Ukraine’s information gathering and logistics capabilities. It will also provide 18 howitzer artillery guns in addition to the 64 already delivered.

“Russia’s latest indiscriminate strikes on civilian areas in Ukraine warrant further support to those seeking to defend their nation,” said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.

“These weapons will help Ukraine defend its skies from attacks and strengthen their overall missile defence.”

Speaking after the Brussels meeting on Wednesday, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said “we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that they [Ukrainians] they have what’s required to be effective”.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris would supply air defence systems to Ukraine.

In an interview to France 2 television, he did not specify which systems would be sent. But he did say their main function would be to protect the population from drones.

The Netherlands said it would deliver €15m (£13m; $14.5m) worth of air defence missiles.

Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren said the Russian attacks “can only be met with unrelenting support for Ukraine and its people”.

Canada pledged to provide more than C$47m ($34m; £31m) worth of military aid, including satellite communications and drone cameras.

The UK is expected to announce its weapons deliveries shortly.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military announced earlier on Wednesday that the first of several “state-of-the-art IRIS-T SLM has been delivered from Germany to Ukraine”. It said the air defence system would help protect the country “against terror”.

President Zelensky has for months been asking Ukraine’s allies to provide air defence systems to create an “air shield” for Ukraine.

In his video address late on Wednesday, the Ukrainian leader said: “The more audacious and cruel Russian terror becomes, the more obvious it is to the world that helping Ukraine to protect the sky is one of the most important humanitarian tasks for Europe of our time.”

“I believe that we will cope with this task,” he added.

Russia has repeatedly warned Ukraine’s allies against supplying advanced weaponry to Kyiv, stressing this would make them participants of the war that Mr Putin began on 24 February.

The West has accused Moscow of nuclear sabre-rattling, following a string of Russian military defeats on the battlefield.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said 115,000 members across the UK would walk out in a 24-hour strike on Thursday, starting at 04:00 BST.

General Secretary Dave Ward said workers faced the “biggest ever assault” on jobs, terms and conditions “in the history of Royal Mail”.

Royal Mail said further strikes would “weaken” its financial position.

The planned 19 days of industrial action include Black Friday week and Cyber Monday, as well as 13, 20, and 25 October, and 28 November.

Letters will not be delivered and some parcels will be delayed, the Royal Mail has warned.

This is the sixth strike for postal workers, and comes after a summer of unrest which saw rail workers and criminal barristers walk out amid disputes with their employers.

The CWU has accused Royal Mail of planning structural change. This would effectively see employees in secure, well-paid jobs turned into a “casualised, financially-precarious workforce overnight”, said the union.

It said plans by the postal service include cutting workers’ sick pay, delaying arrival of post by three hours and inferior terms for new employees.

General Secretary Mr Ward said the changes could lead to the “destruction of the special relationship that postal workers and the public have in every community in the UK”.

He described the plans as an “asset-stripping business plan” that will lead to the break-up of the company.

Royal Mail said it would do what it could to keep services running, but the strike was likely to cause disruption.

No letters will be delivered during strike days, said Royal Mail, but as many special delivery and Tracked24 parcels as possible would be delivered.

It also said it would prioritise the delivery of Covid-19 test kits and medical prescriptions.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Royal Mail is losing £1m a day and must change faster in response to changing customer demands.”

Industrial action will threaten the job security of postal workers, said Royal Mail, calling on the leaders of CWU to cancel the walk-out and accept invitations for talks.

Royal Mail apologised for any delays to customers, adding: “We are doing all we can to minimise any delays and keep people, businesses and the country connected.”

The warnings came ahead of a bruising appearance for the prime minister at a meeting of Tory backbenchers.

One loyal minister told the BBC: “We are completely in a dreadful place. There is no way out – maybe Liz Truss will find a way, but I cannot see it.”

Ms Truss has repeatedly defended the proposed tax cuts outlined last month.

The chancellor’s mini-budget on 23 September, which included £45bn of tax cuts funded by borrowing, sparked turmoil on financial markets and prompted the Bank of England to intervene to protect pension funds.

Kwasi Kwarteng is due to set out how he will fund the package and reduce debt on 31 October.

However, Mel Stride, a prominent backer of Ms Truss’ leadership rival Rishi Sunak, suggested the government would need to show a “clear change of tack” to restore credibility with the financial markets.

“Given the clear government position expressed today on protecting public spending there is an emerging question. Whether any plan that does not now include at least some element of further row back on the tax package can actually satisfy the markets,” he said.

Earlier, he told the Commons he believed it was “quite possible” the chancellor would have to further row back on the tax cuts announced in his mini-budget.

Asked to confirm whether this possibility was still on the table, Treasury Minister Chris Philp replied: “There are not any plans to reverse any of the tax measures announced in the growth plan.”

The prime minister insists cancelling a rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25% due in April and other tax cuts will help boost growth.

She also believes stepping back from what she describes as the highest tax burden in 70 years would allow the public to keep more of the money they earn at a time of global high prices.

Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake, who was also a Sunak supporter, said it would be better for the chancellor to U-turn on aspects of his mini-budget rather than cause more market turmoil.

“I think it’s better to have looked at this more carefully in the context of what’s happened over the last few weeks and say ‘I think we’ve got some of this wrong and these tax cuts need to be introduced over time’,” he told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme.

He suggested reversing the government’s decision to scrap the planned hike in corporation tax was one potential option.

Mr Hollinrake said the markets would want to see something “tangible”, adding: “It’s got to be either moderate some of those tax cuts or cut spending to give the government credibility.”

Meanwhile, former deputy prime minister Damian Green said an obvious way to reduce debt while ruling out public spending cuts would be to defer some tax cuts.

He told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme the reversal of some parts of the mini-budget was being discussed openly by Tory MPs.

Former Conservative minister David Davis suggested overturning some of the tax cuts would “buy some time” and persuade Tory critics to “come in behind them”.

He told ITV’s Peston the mini-budget was a “maxi-shambles” but he did not think there would be moves to replace the prime minister in the next few months as the party would have “zero chance” of winning an election if it was in a “civil war”.

The government has already U-turned on its plan to scrap the top rate of income tax, following market turmoil and vocal opposition from some Tories.

However, this only made up £2bn of the tax cuts announced by the chancellor.

On Wednesday evening, Ms Truss faced sharp criticism from some of her own MPs during a meeting of the 1922 committee of backbenchers.

Sources in the room told the BBC that Robert Halfon had accused Ms Truss of “trashing blue collar conservatism”.

He told her the party’s record over the past 10 years had included things like boosting apprenticeships and the living wage, whereas she had cut tax for millionaires and wanted to cut affordable housing and benefits.

MPs who were present said he got a cheer, while Ms Truss looked “shocked” and said he could come to speak to her.

They said another Tory MP, James Cartlidge, also criticised the government’s mini-budget, saying the communication had been poor and she had not prepared the markets.

Both MPs supported Mr Sunak during the Tory leadership election.

The BBC’s Nick Watt said he encountered a “wall of derision and unease” about the prime minister outside the room.

The loyal minister also told him: “It’s like Black Wednesday in 1992, when interest rates shot up, we lost economic credibility, and it took us 15 years to get it back.”

However, leaving the meeting the prime minister said it had been “very good”.

One MP who supported Ms Truss in the leadership race said the PM acknowledged during the meeting that she could have laid the ground better for her recent policies.

During the initial election rounds most MPs did not back Ms Truss to become one of the final two in the contest. She won based on a final vote among party members.