Day 185 of the Invasion of Ukraine: It is No Longer Enough that Kyiv renounced NATO Membership according to Medvedev

Dmitry Medvedev @RBK

Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

Another night of Russian strikes in the Zaporizhzhia region, rocket fire on Kharkiv as well

Ukrainian media reports new Russian attacks against infrastructure facilities in the Zaporizhzhia region. At the moment, there is no information about injured people.

During the night, an air raid alert was sounded in many cities, UNIAN news agency informed.

There was rocket fire in Kharkiv, confirmed the mayor of the city, Igor Terekhov.

Alexander Starukh, the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, reported on the social network "Telegram" about explosions in Zaporizhzhia. There are no reports of immediate danger to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

In his traditional address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said nuclear specialists at Europe's largest nuclear power plant had averted the worst-case scenario "despite constant Russian attacks."

"I want to emphasize that the situation remains very risky and dangerous - any re-shutdown from the grid, any actions by Russia that can cause a shutdown of reactors will bring the plant to the brink again," Zelensky warned.

Yesterday it became clear that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency intend to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as early as Monday.

According to information from the Wall Street Journal, the agency's team can deliver spare parts, including radiation monitoring devices.

The agency's director general, Rafael Grossi, who said a few days ago that he would lead the inspection, said the possibility of a permanent presence of the mission at the Zaporizhzhia NPP was being discussed.

Since March, the plant has been under the control of the Russian military, but the personnel serving it are Ukrainian.

Moscow and Kyiv have been accusing each other of attacks in the area on an almost daily basis.

Russian forces made no significant territorial gains in Ukraine last night, according to a daily analysis by the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War. The analysis states that preparations for holding referendums in the occupied regions of Ukraine on their accession to the Russian Federation continue.

"However, it is unlikely that the Russian occupation authorities will successfully hold fictitious referendums," say the experts of the Institute for the Study of War.

Raytheon will produce missile systems for Ukraine

The Pentagon has signed a $182 million contract with arms maker Raytheon to buy NASAMS short- and medium-range anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs) for Ukraine, the US Department of Defense said on Friday

“Raytheon has been awarded a $182,295,333 firm-fixed-price contract to purchase NASAMS systems. The expected completion date [for the production] is August 23, 2024," the statement said. It is noted that the payment will be made from funds previously allocated to the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).

Earlier this week, the US announced almost $3 billion in military aid to Kyiv. The new package included six NASAMS complexes.

Medvedev: It is no longer enough that Ukraine renounced NATO membership

“Ukraine's official rejection of its ambitions to join NATO will no longer be enough to end Russia's ‘special military operation’”, said one of the people closest to President Vladimir Putin, quoted by Reuters.

Even before the start of its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Russia warned that the neighboring country's membership in the Western alliance would be unacceptable to it.

"The refusal to participate in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is now vital, but it is no longer sufficient to achieve peace, said Dmitry Medvedev, who took over from Putin in 2008 as president. He said the "special military operation" would continue until it achieved its goals.

Medvedev, currently the deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, did not specify what those goals were. Putin says he wants the "denazification" of Ukraine. However, according to Kyiv and the West, this is an unfounded pretext for a war of conquest, notes Reuters.

Moscow is ready to negotiate with Kyiv "under certain conditions", Medvedev said in the interview. He indicated that "these (talks) will depend on the development of events (in the war)", and added that the Russian side was previously ready to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russia and Ukraine have held several rounds of negotiations since the invasion began. However, they did not make progress and there are no particular prospects for their resumption, notes Reuters.

Weapons supplied by the United States to Ukraine, such as the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), do not yet pose a significant threat, Medvedev assured. However, he acknowledged that the situation could change if Washington sent Kyiv weapons with a longer range.

"When this type of missile flies 70 kilometers (the range of the HIMARS, to which there can be precise targeting), it's one thing. But when it's 300-400 kilometers, it's another - then there would be a threat directly for the territory of the Russian Federation," said Medvedev.

44 ships with grain have sailed in a month from Ukraine, 70 more are being prepared

44 ships loaded with Ukrainian agricultural products have sailed from Ukrainian Black Sea ports, announced President Volodymyr Zelensky. He reported that another 70 deliveries were being prepared.

"Ukraine was and will be among the guarantors of world food security. Ukrainian grain and the very fact that the Ukrainian supply route to the world food market has worked allow to prevent market chaos, reduce the severity of the food crisis and prevented a catastrophic shortage," Zelensky said.

The president recalled that the grain export agreement reached almost a month ago allowed the three Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa and Yuzhny (South) to become operational.

Russia blocked the declaration from the UN conference on nuclear disarmament

Russia blocked the adoption of the final declaration of the UN conference on the nuclear disarmament treaty. Moscow's representative at the Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons claimed the proposed joint declaration was "politicized".

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which its 191 signatories review every five years, aims to promote complete disarmament and cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

After four weeks of negotiations, conference chairman Gustavo Zlauvinen said late last night that he was "unable to reach an agreement" on the text of the final declaration.

Russian representative Igor Vishnevetsky does not see "balance" in the text.

According to sources close to the talks, Russia objected to the passages concerning the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, which is occupied by the Russian military.

The statement expressed "serious concern" about military activities surrounding Ukrainian power plants, as well as Ukraine's loss of control over such sites and the resulting security risk.

Opening this year's disarmament conference, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world was facing a "nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War".

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