The war between Russia and Ukraine
A heavy toll of civilian casualties. Moscow accuses the West of hypocrisy, and Washington: two countries support Russia militarily to continue the war
The United Nations painted a bleak picture of the course of the war in Ukraine, confirming that more than 18,000 civilian deaths occurred during it, and while the United States said that Russia was receiving military support from two countries that would enable it to continue the war, Moscow accused the West of "lying and hypocrisy" about the situation in Ukraine.
The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, said that 18,096 civilians have been killed since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, noting that there is no end in sight to the fighting or suffering in Ukraine.
For her part, the US delegate to the Security Council, Linda Thomas Greenfield, expressed her concern about what she said is the growing military support by Iran and North Korea for Russia and said that this support enables Russia to continue its war against Ukraine.
Grain crisis
During a UN Security Council session on political and humanitarian developments in Ukraine, Greenfield accused Russia of deliberately slowing down the work of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and of disabling dozens of ships.
It said most of the grain still in Ukrainian ports was destined for developing countries and called for faster inspections of departing ships.
The US representative explained that the Ukrainian grain export initiatives do not keep pace with the strong global need for grain from the Black Sea region.
