French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on the Russian President for an immediate truce and withdrawal of troops from Ukraine during a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin on Saturday.
According to the service of the German government, the conversation took place on the initiative of France and Germany and lasted 80 minutes. “The Chancellor and the President of France called for an immediate truce and the withdrawal of Russian troops. They called on the President of Russia to enter into serious direct negotiations with the President of Ukraine and find a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Macron and Scholz also urged Putin to “improve the humanitarian situation of the civilian population” and “commended the commitment of the Russian President to the treatment of captured soldiers in accordance with international humanitarian law, in particular the Geneva Conventions, and to ensure unrestricted access for the International Committee of the Red Cross.”
In addition, the leaders of Germany and France also spoke with President Putin about the global food situation, “which has become particularly aggravated as a result of Russia’s aggressive war.” “President Putin has given assurances that he wants to allow grain exports from Ukraine, especially by sea. President Putin has vowed that he will not use the demining belt created to protect Ukrainian ports offensively to allow grain exports by sea. The Chancellor, President Macron and President Putin have agreed on the central role of the United Nations in reaching and implementing an agreement on this issue,” the federal government said in a release.
In turn, the Elysee Palace also reported that Macron and Scholz, during a telephone conversation with Putin, called for the release of 2,500 Ukrainian prisoners of war from Azovstal.
In addition, Macron and Scholz called on Putin to negotiate directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Macron and Scholz urged the interlocutor “to urgently lift the blockade from Odessa in order to enable the export of Ukrainian grain to prevent a global food crisis.” They took note of the readiness of the Russian Federation to let foreign ships into this port to export grain, the Elysee Palace said.
The Ferrero-Ukraine company informed the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection about the voluntary withdrawal from the Ukrainian market of certain batches of Kinder Schoko Bons and Kinder Surprise Maxi due to an outbreak of salmonella, reports the Main Directorate of the State Food and Consumer Service in Kyiv .
Ferrero Ukraine LLC has informed the State Food and Consumer Service of the voluntary recall of selected batches of Kinder Choco-Bons and Kinder Surprise Maxi products in Ukraine.
It clarifies that a message about an outbreak of a foodborne infection caused by Salmonella Typhimurirum, found in separate products of the Ferrero company (manufacturer: Ferrero Ardennes S.A., Belgium), exported to Ukraine by the Ferrero Ukraine company, was received by specialists of the State Consumer Service through the rapid food alert system. food and feed (RASFF).
“According to part 3 of article 20 of the Law of Ukraine “On the basic principles and requirements for the safety and quality of food products”, if the market operator believes or has reason to believe that the food products that he imported (sent) to the customs territory of Ukraine was produced, processed or which it carries out do not meet safety requirements, it immediately begins the procedure for withdrawing these food products from circulation and, within a period of no more than two working days, informs the competent authority in writing about the discrepancy found.
It adds that if such foodstuffs could potentially reach the consumer, the market operator informs consumers of the reasons for their withdrawal and, if necessary, recalls the foodstuffs if the application of other measures is insufficient to achieve an acceptable level of consumer health protection.
The flow to enter Ukraine through its western border for 18 consecutive days after May 9 exceeds the flow to exit, the total net inflow to Ukraine over these days amounted to 128 thousand people – these are record figures since the beginning of the war.
According to the State Border Service on Facebook, taking into account these data, the difference in the number of people who left and entered Ukraine through its western border since the beginning of the war has returned to the level of April 7.
The agency indicates that almost 37 thousand people left Ukraine on May 27, compared with 35 thousand the day before, while the number of arrivals in the country increased to 42 thousand from 38 thousand the day before.
“For more than two weeks, the number of citizens who return to Ukraine has exceeded the number of those traveling abroad,” the State Border Service states.
The agency clarified that over the past day, the number of registered vehicles with humanitarian cargo has decreased to 170 from 185 the day before.
According to the Polish Border Service on Twitter, on May 27, 27.2 thousand people entered Ukraine from the country, in the opposite direction the flow amounted to 22.9 thousand.
According to UNHCR data, as of 13:00 on May 26, a total of 6.7 million people left Ukraine since the beginning of the war (excluding the flow to enter), of which 3.559 million went to Poland, 1022.67 thousand to Romania and Moldova, and Russia – 971.42 thousand, Hungary – 665.53 thousand, Slovakia – 451.85 thousand, Belarus – 29.55 thousand.
At the same time, according to the State Border Service, 2.192 million people have entered Ukraine by this date since February 28.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said that during a telephone conversation, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a positive signal to the exchange of prisoners, and also wants to allow the movement of goods through the Black Sea.
“Our understanding of an active policy of neutrality is to seize every opportunity for dialogue. Therefore, I called President Putin. He gave a positive signal for the exchange of prisoners. He also wants to allow the movement of goods through the Black Sea,” the chancellor tweeted on Saturday night.
Civilian casualties from February 24, when Russia started the war against Ukraine, to 24:00 on May 26 amounted to 8,766 civilians (a day earlier – 8,691), including 4,031 dead (3,998), reports the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Friday.
“OHCHR believes that the actual figures are much higher as information is delayed from some areas of heavy fighting and many reports are still awaiting confirmation,” the UN data document notes.
According to him, this applies, for example, to Mariupol (Donetsk region), Izyum (Kharkiv region) and Popasna (Luhansk region), where there are reports of numerous civilian casualties. They are subject to further verification and are not included in the above statistics.
“The majority of civilian deaths or injuries were caused by the use of explosive devices with a wide area of effect, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as rocket and air strikes,” the report says.
According to confirmed UN figures, 1,529 men, 995 women, 100 boys and 92 girls died, while the sex of 69 children and 1,246 adults has not yet been determined.
Among the 4,735 injured were 132 boys and 110 girls, as well as 164 children whose gender has not yet been determined.
Compared to the report two days earlier, a child died and two more were injured.
OHCHR indicates that in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as of midnight on May 27, there were 2,145 (2,122) dead and 2,132 (2,124) injured in government-controlled territory, and 129 (129) dead and 541 (537) injured in territory controlled by self-proclaimed “republics”.
In other regions of Ukraine under government control (in Kyiv, as well as in Zhytomyr, Zaporozhye, Kyiv, Sumy, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Chernihiv regions), the UN recorded 1757 (1747) dead and 2062 (2032) wounded .
The summary traditionally states that the increase in the figures from the previous summary should not be attributed only to the May 26 cases, since during this period the Office verified a number of cases from previous days.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had a telephone conversation with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
“Informed about the situation on the frontline. We expect further defense support from our partners. Raised the issue of fuel supply. Ways to prevent the food crisis were discussed. We have to unblock Ukraine’s ports together,” Zelensky said on Twitter on Friday.
