Russia-Ukraine war Day 16 highlights: US revokes "most favoured nation" status for Russia, EU to bolster Ukraine's defence capabilities

Amid escalating war between Russia and Ukraine that entered sixteenth day, the US announced that Washington along with the G7 and European Union, will call for revoking "most favoured nation" status for Russia.

EU leaders adopted the Versailles declaration on Russian aggression against Ukraine during the two-day meeting for bolstering defence capabilities, reducing energy dependencies and building a more robust economic base.

European Union said that it will table proposals by the end of May to phase out the dependency of European Nations on Russian gas, oil and coal by 2027.

Amid the host of sanctions on Russia, Canada is also banning imports of oil products from Russia. Canadian Trade Minister, Mary Ng condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and said that it is a challenge to the rule-based system.

Filippo Grandi, head of the UN's refugee agency said that the number of people fleeing Ukraine has now reached 2.5 million estimating that about two million people are displaced inside Ukraine.

As the refugees' crisis worsens and more and more people are displaced in Ukraine, Japan extended USD 100 million in humanitarian aid to help Ukrainians in their motherland and neighbouring countries. Apart from Ukraine, the Japanese package will target Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Slovakia, and Romania.

Under the new emergency Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) programme, European Union disbursed EUR 300 million, the first payment of a EUR 1.2 billion package to support war-torn Ukraine.

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs shared the details of the losses that the Russian Armed Forces have incurred noting that more than 12,000 Russian troops have been killed with 353 enemy tanks being destroyed since the Ukraine war began.

On the other hand, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, to discuss the situation in Ukraine, including the evacuation of Turkish citizens, as well as the situation in the Middle East.

"During the talks, the current situation in Ukraine and the Middle East region was discussed. The defence ministers paid special attention to issues related to the evacuation of Turkish citizens from Ukrainian cities through humanitarian corridors," the ministry said.

According to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Russian delegation has made proposals to Ukraine in the form of a legal document during the latest round of talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Furthermore, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting, via videoconference, with permanent members of the Security Council where they discussed weapon assistance in Donbass, NATO's military build-up in eastern flank and sending of mercenaries to Ukraine.

Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against Facebook parent company Meta Platforms accusing the company's employees of "illegal calls for murder and violence" against Russian citizens, according to a statement the committee published on Friday.

Notably, Meta, the parent company of social networks Facebook and Instagram, is planning to allow the publication of calls for violence against Russians in response to the invasion of Ukraine, media reports said on Friday.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) convened to discuss the United States' alleged military biological research in Ukraine at Russia's request.

At the UNSC meeting that took place at the request of Russia, India said that it is important to ensure full and effective implementation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) in letter and spirit after the report emerges of biological activities relating to Ukraine.

Indian Embassy in Russia issued guidelines for Indian students studying in Russia saying that there are no security reasons for them to leave. It also added that if students have concerns regarding disruption of banking services in Russia and direct flight connectivity to India and if they like to travel back to India, they may consider doing so.

( With inputs from ANI )

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