Ukraine updates: Kyiv slams Russia language in G20 statement

The International Atomic Energy Agency said its experts deployed at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant reported hearing numerous explosions over the past week — possibly indicating an uptick in fighting in the area.

"I remain deeply concerned about the possible dangers facing the plant at this time of heightened military tension in the region," IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi warned in a statement issued late on Friday.

He said the IAEA team had also been informed that staff numbers at the Russian-occupied nuclear power plant had been temporarily scaled back to minimum levels due to concerns about more military activity in the area.

"Whatever happens in a conflict zone, wherever it may be, everybody would stand to lose from a nuclear accident, and I urge that all necessary precautions must be taken to avoid it happening," Grossi said.

Russia said on Saturday that its conditions for renewing the Black Sea grain deal had not changed.

It comes after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres proposed setting up a subsidiary of Russia's agricultural bank to facilitate transactions via the SWIFT global banking network.

"All our conditions are perfectly well known," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"They do not need interpretation, they are absolutely concrete and all this is absolutely achievable."

The European Union later condemned Russia's decision not to compromise in order to renew the deal.

"Not only have you decided to pull out of this agreement on the Black Sea, but at the same time you are attacking the port infrastructure," European Council President Charles Michel said at the G20 Summit in New Delhi.

"To add insult to injury, Russia is offering 1 million tons of grain to African countries in a parody of generosity," he said, adding: "What cynicism and contempt for African countries."

Japan's Foreign Minister Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi announced talks regarding security and reconstruction during a visit to Ukraine on Saturday.

Hayashi was accompanied by a delegation of Japanese business leaders including the CEO of technology giant Rakuten and the president of healthcare equipment maker Allm Inc.

"This is very important because we are actively working on the recovery of the Ukrainian economy and attracting new investments to Ukraine," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the delegation.

Ukraine has already received $7.6 billion (€7 billion) in humanitarian aid from Japan, according to Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Japan has also taken the rare steps of sending defensive equipment and offering refuge to those fleeing the conflict.

"I want Mr Hayashi and the entire Japanese people to know that the Ukrainian people remember and will never forget the humanitarian aid," Kuleba said during a joint press conference.

Kyiv has expressed disappointment at how Russia's invasion of Ukraine was referenced in the G20 communique released on Saturday. The issue was contentious because although the G20 includes staunch allies of Ukraine, it also includes Russia and some countries that have adopted neutral positions on the war. 

In the statement, G20 leaders said that "there were different views and assessments of the situation."

It cited the United Nations charter, saying "all states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state. The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible."

However, it did not mention Russia by name.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said the G20 statement was "nothing to be proud of."

"It is clear that the participation of the Ukrainian side [in the G20 meeting] would have allowed the participants to better understand the situation," he wrote on Facebook.

However, Nikolenko nevertheless thanked Ukraine's allies for pushing for stronger language during discussions.

"Ukraine is grateful to the partners who tried to include strong formulations in the text."

Russian negotiator Svetlana Lukash told journalists in New Delhi that Moscow welcomed the "balanced" declaration.

She acknowledged that there had been "very difficult negotiations" over the language regarding Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Untied States praised the statement for upholding the principle of territorial integrity and the sovereignty of states.

"From our perspective, it does a very good job," US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also hailed the communique because, "in the end, Russia gave up its resistance to such a resolution, simply because everyone else had moved in this direction."

When asked whether he shook hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Scholz replied that he did not.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on the international community to impose further sanctions on Russia rather than to give in to Moscow's demands. 

"Currently, we see a prolonged sanctions pause from our partners. And Russia's overly active attempts to circumvent the sanctions," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Thursday.

"Three priorities: further sanctions against Russia's energy sector, real restrictions on the supply of chips and microelectronics in general to terrorists, and further blocking of the Russian financial sector," he said.

"This world's sanctions offensive must resume," Zelenskyy said. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union's 27 member states, the US and others have adopted far-reaching sanctions aimed at weakening Russia's economy and limiting its ability to wage war.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reportedly contacted Russia to try to make concessions that would revive the Black Sea grain deal.

In July, Moscow ceased its participation in the deal, which established corridors in the Black Sea to export of tens of millions of tons of grain from Ukraine. 

The agreement is viewed as critical for keeping food prices down for developing nations. 

In an August 28 letter seen by DPA on Friday, Guterres proposed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that a subsidiary of Russia's agricultural bank could be established for certain SWIFT transactions.

Shortly after Russia began its invasion, the EU and other western countries cut off a series of Russian banks from the SWIFT system, a move that also hit its agricultural bank.

Russia on Saturday seemingly rejected the reported UN proposal, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Pesko saying Russia's state agricultural bank itself needed to be reconnected to SWIFT, rather than a subsidiary.