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Russian President Putin has said Moscow sees no desire from kyiv to honor a “preliminary peace agreement” reached in March to end fighting in Ukraine, where Russian bombardment continues into Day 147 of the conflict.
A local resident helps firefighters put out a fire in the yard of a house in the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut following an airstrike. (AFP)
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Zelenskyy fires another senior official and calls for even stronger ties with the United States
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired a deputy head of the Internal Security Service (SBU) and appointed a number of new regional SBU heads.
Ivan Bakanov was removed from his post as head of the SBU by a comfortable majority, several lawmakers said on the Telegram messaging app.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska has arrived in Washington and Zelenskyy said his wife’s planned speech to Congress on Wednesday should yield “meaningful results”, saying he hopes it will influence US policymakers in Washington.
Zelenska’s tasks include increasing U.S. support for Ukraine, securing additional support to “protect people from Russian terror” and boosting humanitarian aid, he said in a statement. his video speech.
Putin warns EU gas supply could continue to dwindle
Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was the West’s fault that the flow of Russian natural gas to European customers had fallen and warned it could continue to fall.
Putin’s statement has further increased pressure on the European Union, which fears Russia will cut off the gas to wreak economic and political havoc in Europe this winter.
Speaking to Russian journalists in Tehran, Putin said the amount of gas pumped through the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany would fall further from 60 million to 30 million cubic meters per day, about a fifth of its capacity, if a turbine is not replaced promptly.
For live updates from Tuesday, July 19, click here
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
