Manufacturing

Slovakia became the second Nato country to pledge Kyiv some MiG-29 aircraft on Friday, a day after Poland. Slovakia's fleet was grounded last year and it no longer uses the jets, the BBC reported. Ukraine has asked Western countries for modern jets like the F-16, but because of long training times, these are seen only as long-term options.

Guterres and Zelensky will discuss the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in all its aspects, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the statement. On July 22, 2022, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkey and the United Nations on grain and fertiliser exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

"I told the Chief of Staff to find the appropriate forces to help the guys in Bakhmut. There is no part of Ukraine about which one can say that it can be abandoned," Zelensky said on Monday during his evening address to the nation. Moscow has been trying to take Bakhmut for months, as both sides suffer heavy losses in a grinding war of attrition, the BBC reported. However, Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Marchenko has said that Russia had not yet gained control of the city.

Addressing a press conference after the day-long deliberations at the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting, Blinken, while referring to his brief unscheduled meeting with his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of the conference, said he told Lavrov to end the "war of aggression" and "engage in meaningful diplomacy that can produce a just and lasting peace".

The US will engage with G20 members and other international partners to address the humanitarian crisis emanating from the "full-scale" Russian invasion of Ukraine and will call upon the G20 countries to hold Russia accountable for resisting UN efforts to reopen sea-routes to allow movement of grain shipments.

"We must prevent further escalation," he told a Security Council high-level meeting on Ukraine, which was convened on the first anniversary of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and attended by about 30 foreign ministers and diplomats, Xinhua news agency reported. "We must all encourage every meaningful effort to end the bloodshed and, at long last, give peace a chance," said Guterres.

Beijing has released not one but two position papers - the first offering the Chinese solution to the war and the other outlining a plan for world peace, BBC reported. These largely retread the talking points China has reiterated in the past year, calling for respect for sovereignty (for Ukraine) and the protection of national security interests (for Russia), while opposing the use of unilateral sanctions (by the US).

Speaking at a news conference with visiting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Kyiv, Zelensky on Thursday stated that he had not seen the document yet, but was keen to meet with China to discuss their proposal before assessing it. He added that it was a positive development that China had started talking about Ukraine and sent some signals.

However, chasing such a mirage increases the risk of an unprecedented escalation by ignoring serious warnings from both sides. After a surprise stopover in Kiev announcing $460 million in military aid, US President Joe Biden made a strong pitch in Poland for support for Ukraine, despite the commotion caused by the ongoing Russia-China military drill in South Africa.

According to the study published by the German Economic Institute (IW) on Tuesday, Western economies were particularly affected as they lost two-thirds of their global production, reports Xinhua news agency. The war has a "high global economic significance", IW expert Michael Groemling said in a statement. Above all, energy and raw material supply problems.