Ukraine Latest: Foreign Minister to Visit Iraq in Bid for Allies

(Bloomberg) -- Some 130 Ukrainian POWs were returned by Russia over the Orthodox Easter weekend. Russia said Saturday that mercenaries in the Wagner group captured two districts of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, where battles have raged for months.

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China’s new defense minister, Li Shangfu, heads to Russia on Sunday in his first official foreign trip since being appointed in March. Li is expected to hold talks on global and regional security with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu during the visit.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba plans to visit Baghdad on Monday for talks with Iraqi leaders, a week after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke by phone with Iraq’s prime minister. Sergey Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, will travel to Latin America in the coming week.

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(All times CET)

Ukrainian-Iraqi Talks Planned in Baghdad (10:13 p.m.)

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will visit Baghdad on Monday for talks with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani and other senior Iraqi officials, according to a Ukrainian cabinet statement. The goal is to increase political dialogue, trade and communication in international forums, according to the statement.

Baghdad is exploring a potential role as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine in the almost 14-month-old war, Iraq’s Shafaq news agency reported earlier Sunday, citing a person close to the government it didn’t identify. Zelenskiy and Al-Sudani had a phone call on April 10 to discuss cooperation.

Russia’s Lavrov Heading for Latin America (4 p.m.)

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit several Latin American countries starting Monday, Russia’s foreign ministry said on Sunday.

The top Russian diplomat is expected to visit Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba for talks with the leaders of those countries and his peers.

A stop in Brazil would come days after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited Beijing, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said the US needs to stop “encouraging war.”

Russia’s Deputy PM to Lead Business Group to India (4:40 p.m.)

Russian deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov will lead a delegation to India made up of more than two dozen deputy ministers and chief executives of private firms, India’s Economic Times reported.

Among Manturov’s meetings over two days will be ones with India’s external affairs minister, national security advisor and commerce minister. He may also meet with Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s finance minister, the newspaper reported.

Economic ties between Moscow and New Delhi are on the rise. Above all, India has emerged as one of the key buyers of Russian crude following, and India has stood out among major democracies for its reluctance to criticize President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine.

Read more: Why India Walks a Tightrope Between US and Russia

EU Assails Poland, Hungary Halts on Ukraine Grain (4 p.m.)

The European Union slammed moves over the weekend by Poland and Hungary to ban imports of grain from Ukraine, saying “unilateral actions” were unacceptable and a potential breach of the bloc’s trade policy.

Ukraine’s neighbors said Saturday they would halt the imports of grain and certain other foods because the ample supplies had depressed domestic prices and is threating the livelihood of local farmers.

India Could Buy Russian Crude Past Cap if OPEC+ Cuts Boost Costs (11:30 a.m.)

India will explore buying Russian crude oil near or past the price cap imposed by the G-7, said finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

“We have a large population and we also therefore have to look at prices which are going to be affordable for us,” Sitharaman said in an interview Saturday in Washington, where she attended the IMF/World Bank spring meetings.

The South Asian nation needs to constantly look for the “best deal” since it imports almost 80% of its crude oil requirements, Sitharaman said. India, along with China, has emerged as one of the key buyers of Russian crude.

130 Ukrainian Prisoners Returned in Easter Exchange, Zelenskiy Aide Says (10 a.m.)

Among those returned in a Easter POW swap were members of the military, border guards, national guardsmen and sailors, including personnel captured in Bakhmut, Soledar, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, said Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukraine’s president.

“The quintessence of Easter holiday is hope. This is exactly what the relatives of the prisoners felt. They had been waiting for them for so long,” Yermak said. There was no immediate word from Russia on the latest exchange.

The previous big swap came on April 10, when 106 Russians and 100 Ukrainians were freed. Many of the Ukrainians were reported to have serious injuries or illnesses.

Chinese Defense Minister Heads to Russia (8:30 a.m.)

China’s new defense minister, General Li Shangfu, travels to Russia on Sunday on his first official foreign trip since he was appointed in March. He’ll meet there with Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in the latest signs of close ties between Moscow and Beijing.

Announcing the visit on Friday, Russia’s defense ministry said the pair would “discuss the status and prospects of bilateral cooperation in the defense sphere as well as topical global and regional security issues.” The statement made no mention of the war in Ukraine.

Read more: China Sends Defense Minister to Russia for First Time Since War

Teenagers Killed in Missile Attack in Mykolayiv Region (8 a.m.)

Two teenagers were killed in a Russian S-300 missile attack on Snihurivka in the Mykolayiv region of southeastern Ukraine, the local governor said in Telegram.

Missile strikes were also launched on Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions, with at least four injuries reported. The focus of hostilities remains the Donetsk towns of Bakhmut and Mariyinka.

Russia’s Teplinsky Making a Comeback, UK Says (7 a.m.)

General Colonel Mikhail Teplinsky, commander of Russia’s corps of airborne troops, or the VDV, “has highly likely returned to a major role in Ukraine” after being removed from action in January, the UK defense ministry said.

“Teplinsky is likely one of the few senior Russian generals widely respected by the rank-and-file,” the ministry said in a Twitter thread. “His recent turbulent career suggests intense tensions between factions within the Russian General Staff about Russia’s military approach in Ukraine.”

The VDC have resumed a key mission in the battle for Bakhmut in Ukraine’s east in recent days, the UK said.

Hungary, Poland Block Ukrainian Farm Imports as Accord Falters (11:32 p.m.)

Hungary joined Poland in announcing a halt in Ukrainian agricultural imports, saying that duty-free imports from its neighbor in the face of Russia’s invasion are putting Hungarian farmers at risk.

The suspension will be in effect until June 30 “in the absence of substantive EU measures,” the Agriculture Ministry in Budapest said in a statement. Poland halted imports of grain and some other food products from Ukraine to avert a “crisis of agriculture,” Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the governing Law and Justice party, said earlier Saturday.

Read more: Hungary, Poland Block Ukrainian Farm Imports as Accord Falters

Prigozhin Says Russia Should Declare It Has Met Its Goals (5:19 p.m.)

Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said Russia could simply declare victory if it ended its more than year-old invasion of Ukraine today, reasoning that its forces have seized a “fat chunk” of territory.

“The ideal scenario is to declare an end to the ‘special military operation’, and tell everyone that Russia has achieved the results it planned to,” he said in an article published by his press service and on Telegram. The thing to do now, he wrote, is to “firmly hold onto the territories that we already gained.”

Prigozhin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, later clarified his remarks. He said the main point was to underline his support for “an honest fight and no back deals” and alert to the risk of the what he called the “deep state” hindering that fight.

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