The Russian Foreign Minister taking a page from the Donald Trump book chapetr on lying about reality….
Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is comforting himself ahead of his future war-crimes trial by somehow convincing himself that Russia didn’t attack Ukraine and that blowing up children’s hospitals is actually fine. On Thursday, Lavrov lived up to his reputation as one of the Kremlin’s slimiest operators by spouting a string of breathtaking falsehoods in front of the world’s media. With a straight face, the foreign minister insisted that every piece of footage and every testimonial from Ukraine is somehow made up, and had the gall to say the words: “We are not planning to attack other countries. We didn’t attack Ukraine in the first place….
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Russian forces were making slow, bitterly-fought advances in Ukraine on Thursday as high-level talks failed to yield progress on ending the war or even a temporary cease-fire. Russian troops were laying siege to Chernihiv, near the Belarus border, where the mayor reported that the city was running out of burial space as the death toll rises.
Although Russia has failed to capture major cities in the past week, its forces have gradually pushed forward into smaller population centers. Outside of Kyiv, Russian forces gained control of the town of Bucha and moved southwest in an attempt to encircle the capital. They were also approaching Kyiv from the east, with heavy fighting involving a line of Russian tanks reported in the suburb of Brovary, according to videos posted on Thursday.
There had been some hope that a meeting in Turkey between Ukraine and Russia’s foreign ministers might yield some progress on a cease-fire or safe passage to civilians trying to escape more besieged cites. But by the end of the day the two sides were still far apart….
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The top economic adviser to the Ukrainian government called on Thursday for a full, global embargo on Russian oil and gas, describing the payments for Russia’s energy products as “blood money.”
The adviser, Oleg Ustenko, made the plea as he outlined the steep economic costs that Russia’s invasion is having on Ukraine’s economy as the country faces relentless bombardment. He estimated that $100 billion worth of Ukrainian assets have been lost and destroyed so far…
Note…
At least 320 companies are exiting Russia as its invasion of Ukraine intensifies, but some U.S. and global drug companies who are exempt from sanctions are sticking around to manufacture and sell products, Kaiser Health News reports this morning.
Drugmakers, medical device manufacturers and health-care companies contend that humanitarian law requires they keep supply chains open, as Russians will continue to need access to medicines and medical devices during the conflict.
- Pharmaceutical companies Novartis, Abbott and Johnson & Johnson are among those who will remain.
But their decision to stay has drawn criticism by some who argue that the major drug companies’ interests are rooted in their investments in Russia’s sizable pharmaceutical complex and the country’s attractive research market that offers relaxed standards for clinical drug trials….