May 24, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

Oleh Prudky, a former light-welterweight boxing champion of Ukraine, is seen in this recent photo.

Two Ukrainian boxing champions, Oleh Prudky and Oleksiy Yanin, have died while defending their country during Russia’s invasion, according to sports officials.

Prudky, a former light-welterweight champion of Ukraine, died battling Russian forces on Sunday, the Ukrainian Boxing Federation said in an Instagram post Monday.

Prudky is survived by his wife and two young daughters.

Yanin, a Ukrainian kickboxing champion and Muay Thai world champion, died in April while battling Russian and pro-Russian forces in Mariupol, Ukraine’s Ministry of Youth and Sports said Tuesday.

Yanin is survived by his wife and son.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has effectively halted all maritime trade at Ukrainian ports, according to newly declassified US intelligence, cutting off a critical export commodity for Ukraine and risking a global food crisis.

In the months since Russia moved to invade in February, it has established an “effective blockade” in the northern third of the Black Sea, according to a US official who provided a declassified map of the region to CNN on the condition of anonymity.?

The map analyzes the density of ships coming in and out of Ukrainian ports before and after the start of the conflict, showing an almost total drop-off of commercial traffic to ports in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov after the start of the invasion. A third map provides a current visualization of the density of Russian naval vessels clustered in the Black Sea off Ukraine’s coast, highlighting?“hotbeds of activity,” according to the US official.?

Ukraine provides about 10% of the world’s wheat exports, the official noted, the vast majority of which exit the country from Black Sea ports.?

Some context: Before the war, Ukraine was the world’s fourth-largest exporter of corn and fifth-largest exporter of wheat, according to the US State Department. Almost 30% of global trade in wheat came from Russia and Ukraine alone.

The United Nations World Food Program — which helps combat global food insecurity — buys about half of its wheat from Ukraine each year and has warned of dire consequences if Ukrainian ports are not opened up.

Last week CNN reported that the US and allies are holding discussions on how to safely develop routes to transport grain from Ukraine amid concerns about global food supplies.?New satellite images reported by CNN on Monday appear to substantiate Ukrainian claims that Russia is also stealing stores of grain that have been sitting idle at commercial ports.?

Since the start of the conflict, Russia has intimidated commercial traffic, occasionally impeded safe passage to Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and, most visibly, stationed warships off Ukraine’s coast and pummeled Ukrainian ports, the US official said.?

CNN’s Alex Marquardt contributed to this post

The English Premier League said Tuesday that its board has approved the sale of Chelsea Football Club to the ownership group led by Todd Boehly.

The deal, worth more than $5 billion, must still receive government approval before the transaction can be finalized.

Russia owner under sanctions: The club’s current owner is Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who is subject to sanctions by the British government and has seen his assets frozen.

Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale in early March following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying at the time it was “in the best interest of the Club.”

The Premier League statement noted Boehly had passed the board’s “Premier League’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test.”

Boehly owns stakes in the MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers, the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.

Read more:

Chelsea's stadium, Stamford Bridge is seen through trees in London on March 10, 2022, as Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich was hit with a UK assets freeze and travel ban, throwing his plans to sell the European and world club champions into disarray. - Chelsea shirt sponsor Three announced Thursday it was suspending its deal with the Premier League club after the UK government slapped sanctions on Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

Related article English Premier League approves sale of Chelsea FC

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk regional military administration, said Tuesday that Russian forces had taken the contested town of Svitlodarsk in the eastern Donbas region and that Ukrainian forces had withdrawn.

According to Kyrylenko, Svitlodarsk had been surrounded on three sides, and that the city had not been under intense shelling, so much of the civilian population remained.??

“This is not a retreat [of the Armed Forces of Ukraine], but a regrouping,” he said. “This is the right and logical decision in this situation to save the lives of [the military] and regroup.”

Pro-Russian Telegram channels showed images of the Russian flag being hoisted over the city administration building in Svitlodarsk.

Kyrylenko also described the situation as “very difficult” in Lyman, a city further north in Donetsk region.?

“It’s now under constant fire,” he said. “The enemy entered the territory of the Lyman community a long time ago. Their main goal is to take the centre of the community of Lyman. The estuary is now partially under control, they enter, then they are kicked out, heavy artillery drives in, and tanks enter the outskirts of the city to conduct shelling and occupy the entire center and the entire Lyman community. The situation there is now one of the tensest along the entire front line, along with Avdiivka.”

“Mariupol is now a city of ghosts,” an adviser to the mayor of?the ruined Ukrainian port city?said Tuesday.??

Speaking to CNN’s Melissa?Bell, Petro?Andriushchenko?— who has fled to Ukrainian held territory —?said that Mariupol town hall officials believe that at least 22,000 residents of the city were killed during three months of war — a figure that cannot be independently supported, with the free press now unable to get access to the city and those?still inside too scared to speak?openly.

The figure of 22,000 is based,?Andriushchenko?said, on the many contacts he and other town hall officials continue to have with officials trapped inside. But he believes the actual figure could be much higher.

Andriushchenko?said that the process of reburying the dead has been complicated by Russian official insistence that reclaimed bodies be brought to a morgue and that a person claiming a body must agree to record a video in which the applicant says the deceased was killed by the Ukrainian military.?

Andriushchenko said that, based on the information gathered from his network of sources,?Mariupol tonight is a city thrown back to the?Middle Ages.

“It is absolutely dark inside the city. The only lights are from Russian troops and Russian patrols,”?he said. “Everywhere it’s the smell of death and the smell of fire.”

The mayor’s adviser?said his contacts paint?a picture of a city in the grips of a humanitarian catastrophe with very little contact to the outside world. Mobile phone connections are only just beginning to be re-established.

He said residents are unable to move freely, with special passes needed for any movement within the city and a filtration system keeping them from fleeing altogether.

Mariupol has been at the center of a ferocious,?months-long battle between Ukrainian government forces and Russian soldiers and pro-Russian fighters.?

It officially fell to Russian forces Friday when the last?group?of the Azovstal fighters at?the steel plant they had been holding out in for several weeks?surrendered.

Hungary will enter a “state of emergency” due to the war in Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in?a video posted on his official Facebook account on Tuesday.?

“Hungary must stay out of this war and protect families’ financial security. To do this, we need room for maneuver and the ability to act immediately,” Orban said.?

The state of emergency is set to go into effect starting at midnight local time on Wednesday, according to Orban, who did not give details regarding the extent of the emergency powers.?The prime minister said he would share more details regarding his decision on Wednesday.?

This would not be the first time Hungary has activated a state of emergency. A bill was passed during the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 that allowed Orban to rule by decree.?

Hungary also recently voiced its opposition to a proposal from the European Union to ban imports of Russian oil, saying it will not support such a measure.?

Russia would remain a threat for peace in Europe even after a ceasefire in Ukraine, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said on Tuesday.

“That Russia changes immediately after a ceasefire has been agreed is daydreaming. It would remain a danger for peace in Europe,” Rau said during a joint press conference with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock.

Rau said he feared a Russian invasion into Poland, as well as “the danger of an armed invasion of the countries in the NATO eastern flank.”

Poland and Germany must strive for Russia “to suffer a strategic defeat and its occupation forces to leave Ukraine within the borders recognized by international law,” Rau also said.?

Baerbock also made clear that the Donetsk region belonged to Ukraine, saying, “Ukraine is a sovereign state within its borders and this is true for now, this is true since 2014 and this is true for the future.”

France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna listens as Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a press conference in Berlin on Tuesday.

The European Union needs to adopt its sixth package of sanctions against Russia soon, according to France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna.

Speaking during a joint press conference in Berlin with her German counterpart, Colonna stressed the need “to strengthen our support to Ukraine.”?

Despite opposition from countries like Hungary, Colonna said she is “optimistic” that the package will be approved and commended the “remarkable” unity shown by the EU in holding Russia accountable.?

“We have to continue because it is this unity that is our strength,” Colonna emphasized.?

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is contributing to a sharp rise in the number of people suffering from severe food insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean, the United Nations World Food Programme warned in a?statement?Tuesday, heaping more pressure on a region that is already suffering from the fallout of Covid-19 and the effects of climate change.

Between December 2021 and March 2022, the WFP said that, according to recent surveys conducted by the organization, the number of people suffering due to severe food insecurity “shot up” by more than 500,000. Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

The WFP said the war in Ukraine has led to a surge in commodity and energy prices, which is leading to a rise in food inflation that threatens the region since several countries are highly dependent on cereal imports. It added that Caribbean nations that import substantial amounts of food will be particularly affected due to “soaring” sea freight costs.

Before the war, wheat supplies from Russia and Ukraine accounted for almost 30% of global trade, and Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest exporter of corn and the fifth-largest exporter of wheat,?according to the US State Department. The WFP, which helps combat global food insecurity, buys about half of its wheat from Ukraine each year and has warned of dire consequences if Ukrainian ports are not opened up.

Since the war began, Russia has been blocking Ukraine from exporting goods from its ports, fueling fears of a global food crisis.?

“Russia has blocked almost all ports and all, so to speak, maritime opportunities to export food — our grain, barley, sunflower and more,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday.

The US and Ukraine have also accused Russia of stealing Ukrainian grain supplies, which Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says is “fake news,” according to Russian state news agencies. CNN has viewed satellite images that show two Russian ships docking and loading up with what is believed to be stolen Ukrainian grain. CNN also tracked a Russian ship carrying Ukrainian grain from Crimea to Syria after being turned away from ports in Egypt and Lebanon.

CNN’s Alex Marquardt and Tim Lister contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

A top Russian security official said Russian forces are not “chasing deadlines” in Ukraine, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for continuing economic and political pressure on Moscow.

If you’re just reading in now, here are some of the latest developments of the war in Ukraine:

Boris Bondarev

Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s top diplomat to the United Nations, said that the protest resignation of a Russian foreign service officer is a “very courageous act,” but he remains disappointed that so few Russian diplomats have spoken out.

“On the one hand, I can say that it was a very courageous act,” Kyslytsya told CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour Tuesday. “On the other hand, I would say that I’m disappointed.”

Boris Bondarev, a 20-year veteran of Russia’s diplomatic service, announced his resignation Monday in protest against his country’s war on Ukraine by posting a statement on a LinkedIn account. In the post, he criticized the Russian foreign ministry for participating in an “aggressive war” — language that is proscribed in Russia under wartime censorship laws.??

Kyslytsya said that Russian diplomats who continue to be complicit in Russia’s war against Ukraine would ultimately face accountability for their actions.

“I think that everything they say in the Security Council may and will be used in a tribunal that will be established. There is no end to this story until all of them, including the Russian diplomats, are called to account,” he said.?

Kyslytsya drew a parallel between Russian diplomats today and the ultimate fate of Joachim von Ribbentrop, the foreign minister of Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945. Von Ribbentrop was found guilty and sentenced to death at the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal following World War II.

“When Ribbentrop was denying his knowledge of concentration camps, by the end of the day, he was convicted. We all know what happened to him,” the ambassador said.?

The Ukrainian military has for the first time released footage of special forces using foreign-made kamikaze drones targeting Russian positions. According to the Ukrainian military, the drone was equipped with a powerful explosive that caused damage to a Russian tank after it flew into it.?

“The combat use of kamikaze UAVs is a constant practice for SOF of Ukraine in the war with Russian invaders,” the Ukranian military said. “This is a good example of how the help of foreign partners together with the training and professionalism of our soldiers give positive results at the front.”

The US sent 100 Switchblade drones?to the Ukrainian military in April. The small, portable, so-called kamikaze drones carry warheads and detonate on impact. The smallest model can hit a target up to six miles away, according to a company that produces the drones.

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Nikolai Patrushev, the head of Russia’s Security Council, said in remarks published Tuesday that Russian forces aren’t “chasing deadlines” in Ukraine, suggesting a possibly open-ended timeline for the Russian invasion.??

In an interview with the Argumenti and Fakti national newspaper, Patrushev said “Nazism has to be eradicated in full 100%, otherwise it will resurface in a few years in a much uglier form.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed — falsely — that Russia is waging a campaign of “denazification” in Ukraine, a vaguely defined goal.?Patrushev, a former spy chief, is seen as a hawkish member of Putin’s inner circle.?

The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said Tuesday it had charged members of the Russian military and a Russian mercenary group as suspects in the high-profile murder of a Ukrainian village mayor and two members of her family.

Olha Sukhenko, the mayor of the village of Motyzhyn,?was found murdered along with her husband and son?after Russian forces withdrew from the Kyiv region. The prosecutor general’s office said it had identified and charged five?Russian servicemen and three members of the Wagner private military group. The regional prosecutor’s office?had charged them in absentia of violating the laws of war combined with premeditated murder.

According to investigators, the suspects abducted the mayor of Motyzhyn and her husband and son to a temporary base, where they tortured them in an attempt to obtain information about Ukrainian troops and territorial defense forces and subsequently murdered them.?

The bodies of the mayor and her family members were found partly buried in a shallow grave.

According to the statement from the prosecutor general’s Office, the suspects allegedly robbed civilians, tortured and killed them and burned their homes.?The statement said pre-trial investigations had been carried out by the investigative department of the main directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine in Kyiv and Kyiv region; it did not name the suspects.?

Russian officials have dismissed allegations of war crimes by Russian troops as fake, despite firsthand evidence gathered by international news media. The participation of Wagner mercenaries in several conflicts, including in Ukraine, has been widely documented.

NATO member countries broadly support welcoming Finland and Sweden as members, the alliance’s secretary general told CNN’s Richard Quest in Davos.?

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he is “confident” that NATO will find a solution to Turkish concerns about the membership bid of the two countries.?

Stoltenberg said it is important for member states to “recognize that Turkey is an important ally,” and is “key in both the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria but also in addressing Russia in the Black Sea.”?

To grant membership to Finland and Sweden, there would need to be an agreement by the 30 current NATO allies. Turkey has said it won’t support their joining unless certain demands are met.

“We are in close contact with Stockholm, Helsinki and?Ankara and I am confident we will be able to find a solution,”?Stoltenberg said, adding that he expects Russia to “protest” if NATO does decide to accept the two new member states.

David Beasley, executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, during a panel session on the opening day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on May 23.

The head of the UN World Food Programme called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to reopen ports in Ukraine to prevent children around the world from starving.

Speaking to CNN’s Julia Chatterley at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, David Beasley called on the Russian leader to “have a heart.”

The growing food crisis has been a major issue at the forum, with Beasley being one of the leading voices calling for action. He warned that the Ukraine war has meant that “the breadbasket of the world was becoming the bread line of the world.”

Some background: Before the war, wheat supplies from Russia and Ukraine accounted for almost 30% of global trade, and Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest exporter of corn and the fifth-largest exporter of wheat, according to the US State Department.?

“The world is facing a food security crisis. It is immediate and long term. If we are struggling now to feed 7.7 billion, what is going to happen when we have 10, 12, 13 billion? That is on top of climate impact. It’s going to be resonating around the world,” he added.

He also said that renewed focus on the food crisis was a good thing, with world leaders recognizing the size of the problem, with solutions to solve issues.

European Commission President?Ursula von der Leyen earlier today accused Putin of “weaponizing” food supplies in his invasion of Ukraine. The Russian army is confiscating grain suppliers and machinery in areas of Ukraine and blocking exports from ports in the Black Sea, von der Leyen said.

President Ursula?von?der?Leyen?of the European Commission in Davos, Switzerland.

The president of the European Commission said a European embargo on Russian oil could come soon.?

President Ursula von der Leyen spoke to CNN’s Richard Quest at the World Economic Forum.

Some EU members, including Hungary,?continue to oppose a European Commission proposal to phase out Russian oil by early 2023.?A Russian oil embargo would be the sixth package of EU sanctions on Russia since it invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Von der Leyen also said Russia must play a role in Ukraine’s reconstruction. “The needs of reconstruction, financial needs are massive, and all of us should pay in, also the international financial institutions,” she said. “And I think it would be only fair that Russia also pays its share. Therefore we are now looking into the legal possibilities to also add the assets that are frozen to this reconstruction effort.?It’s not trivial, it’s not easy on the legal ground but we are working on it.”

John F. Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate of the United States, speaks during a news conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on May 24.

United States climate envoy John Kerry warned business and world leaders on Tuesday against locking in long-term fossil fuel use as countries shun Russia’s energy exports.?

The US has banned the import of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas and coal in response to its invasion of Ukraine, and the European Union is working toward phasing out Russian oil by the year end, while replacing much of its gas.

Europe is importing more liquified natural gas from the US to replace some of the Russian gas imports it usually relies on.?

“We have to do some of those things, we have to make up for the gas,” Kerry said. “So, where are you going to get it from? Well, Europe has made a decision to completely accelerate their deployment of renewables and France has determined that they’re going to have to double down on nuclear and make different choices.”

He added that the basic technologies were now available for the world to reach its climate goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% over this decade.

“We can’t do it if the new theology is going to be ‘we got to build out a massive gas infrastructure’ without regard to abatement and mitigation of that gas. The reason we’re in the predicament we’re in today is fossil fuel burning in a way that has polluted the atmosphere,” he said. “And so much so that this blanket is heating up the planet at an unacceptable rate.”

Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba talks to the press in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 23.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Tuesday he discussed?with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken?military aid and ways to unblock Ukraine’s food exports.?

“Russian thieves steal Ukrainian grain, load it onto ships, pass through Bosporus, and try to sell it abroad,” Kuleba??wrote in another tweet. “I call on all states to stay vigilant and refuse any such proposals. Don’t buy the stolen. Don’t become accomplices to Russian crimes. Theft has never brought anyone luck.”

European Commission President?Ursula von der Leyen told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that Russia is “weaponizing” the food and energy sector and that the Russian army is confiscating grain suppliers and machinery in parts of Ukraine, and blocking exports from ports in the Black Sea.?

View Kuleba’s tweet here:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a meeting in Tokyo, Japan, on May 23.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Tuesday with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and discussed diplomacy and potential ways to get Ukrainian grain out of the country, according to a statement from the US State Department.

“The Secretary noted the global food security crisis resulting from President Putin’s brutal war requires a global response, and they discussed potential means to export Ukraine’s grain to international markets,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in the statement.

Blinken also gave Kuleba details about the $40 billion in supplemental appropriations that was signed into law this weekend, the readout said.

“The Secretary again underscored the United States’ strong support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Moscow’s aggression,” according to Price.

A Ukrainian official from the Russian-controlled port city of Mariupol claimed 200 bodies had been discovered in the rubble of a ruined high-rise building, another gruesome find in the city that has been devastated by months of Russian bombardment.?

Petro Andriushenko, adviser to the Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko, said in a statement on Telegram Tuesday that around 200 bodies were found during the dismantling of the rubble of a high-rise building near a suburban gas station. The bodies were found in a basement underneath the wrecked building in an advanced state of decomposition, he added.

CNN was not able to immediately verify Andriushchenko’s claim. Andriushchenko is not in Mariupol but has served as a clearinghouse for information from residents remaining in the city.?

Residential buildings heavily damaged during the Russian attack on the southern port city of?Mariupol, Ukraine, on May 11.

Ukrainian officials say more than 20,000 residents of the city died during three months of war — a figure that cannot be independently supported — and many of the dead have been hastily buried in courtyards.?Andriushchenko said the process of reburying the dead has been complicated by Russian officials’ insistence that reclaimed bodies be brought to a morgue and that a person claiming a body must agree to record a video in which the applicant says the deceased was killed by the Ukrainian military.?

“The city has turned into a continuous cemetery,” Andriushchenko said.?

Chinese and Russian bombers jointly flew around Japan, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi told reporters Tuesday, adding that the country’s Air Self Defense Force had to scramble its fighter jets and conducted surveillance.

Kishi told reporters that “military exercises by?China?and Russia during the Quad meeting are intended to show a demonstration against our country, the host county, and are more provocative than in the past.”

The four leaders of?the “Quad”?— the United States,?Japan,?India?and?Australia?— held an in-person summit in?Tokyo?Tuesday.

Kishi also said that Japan had conveyed its concerns to both?China?and Russia through diplomatic channels and urged?China?once again to play a responsible role in maintaining the peace and security of the international community.

China’s Ministry of Defense confirmed that China and Russia’s air forces conducted joint strategic air patrols over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the Western Pacific Ocean on Tuesday.

The joint patrol is part of an annual military cooperation plan between the two countries, the defense ministry added.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow must cease any dependency on the West and that it is instead strengthening ties with?China in the wake of the war in Ukraine.?

CNN’s Yong Xiong in Beijing contributed reporting to this post.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that the oil embargo against Russia is a “contentious point,” making an agreement on the next round of European Union sanctions difficult.

Speaking to CNN’s Richard Quest at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Morawiecki said that Poland is “working towards unity” around the oil embargo but that it is challenging for some countries without sea access, citing Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and the Czech Republic.

Morawiecki added that some EU countries might not be as vocal and “hide behind” the back of Hungarian leader Viktor Orban.

Asked about the next stage of EU sanctions, Morawiecki stressed that what would hurt Russia most would be the confiscation of Russian assets.

“The next stage — the most critical — is confiscating oligarchs’ money, confiscating Russian Federation assets, because this is the real pain which Russia is going to feel, and the perpetrator should bear the cost of the war,” he said, adding that “all the sanctions are important, but if we really want the sanctions to be painful for the aggressor, for the war criminals, we should seize the assets of the Russian Federation.”

Morawiecki called the current crisis “a turning moment in the history of Europe, potentially even the whole world,” urging for further financial, military and humanitarian aid so that this “colonial, imperial, nationalistic power called Russia is not succeeding, because if it is, then it’s a clear sign for some other potential aggressors that they could do the same.”

NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg addresses the assembly during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on May 24.

NATO’s chief has said he is confident?it will succeed in addressing Turkey’s concerns over Finland’s and Sweden’s applications to join the alliance.??

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg added he was optimistic that NATO would welcome the two countries as members.?

He warned business leaders gathered at the forum against trading security for short-term economic gains, as the war in Ukraine has highlighted the perils of dependence on “authoritarian regimes.”?

Stoltenberg cited overreliance on Russia for energy and on China for technology infrastructure, such as the 5G network.?

“Freedom is more important than free trade,” he said.

Stoltenberg’s comments come as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday that Finland and Sweden will attend the NATO summit taking place in Madrid in June.

“We are going to welcome two new countries in NATO and I think this is very important for European Union stability and for the NATO future,” Sanchez said during a question and answer session in Davos.

Madrid will host the NATO summit from June 28 to June 30. Expanding the military alliance, which currently has 30 member states, will be a key topic.?

Some background: Finland and Sweden have recently set aside decades of neutrality and requested membership in NATO, a dramatic evolution in European security and geopolitics sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The entry of the Finland and Sweden?would be?the most significant geopolitical outcome of the Ukraine war,?transforming the strategic security picture in northeastern Europe and?adding hundreds of miles of direct NATO borders with Russia.

An image taken with permission from the passport photo page of Russian diplomat Boris Bondarev on May 23.

A?Russian diplomat who announced his resignation in protest against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine is “no longer with us, he is against us,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

CNN asked Peskov about Boris Bondarev, the diplomat who announced his resignation Monday in an open letter, in a conference call with reporters Tuesday.

“The Kremlin is not familiar with this letter. If he was an employee of the Foreign Ministry, then this is a question to the MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs),” said Peskov.

“Here we can only say that Mr. Bondarev is no longer with us, rather, he is against us,” said Peskov.

“He has a position in which he condemns the actions of the Russian leadership, and the actions of the Russian leadership are supported by almost the entire population of our country,” said Peskov when asked to elaborate on what “against us” meant.

“This means that this gentleman spoke out against the general consolidated opinion of our country,” he added.

Bondarev, a 20-year veteran of Russia’s diplomatic service, posted a statement on a LinkedIn account on Monday condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and criticizing the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for complicity in what he described as an an “aggressive war” – language that is proscribed in Russia under?wartime censorship?laws.

Russian President Vladimir Putin enjoys consistently high public approval ratings, but pro-Kremlin state television dominates the airwaves, political opposition is not tolerated and the Russian government has effectively outlawed criticism of the war in Ukraine.?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv is ready for an imminent prisoner exchange with Russia, and called on allies to continue to put economic and political pressure on Moscow.

Meanwhile, a British minister has warned that the number of deaths from global grain and food shortages due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “could be even greater than the lives lost in the war directly.”

Here are the latest developments:

Zelensky addresses World Economic Forum: The Ukrainian President told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Kyiv is prepared for a prisoner exchange with Russia “even tomorrow.” Speaking via video on Monday, Zelensky said “the exchange of people” is a “very political decision that depends on the support of many states.” He urged world leaders to “keep the political pressure” on Russia in “any way they can,” calling for increased business closures, oil embargoes and economic sanctions.

Global grain shortages: Deaths from global grain and food shortages due to the war in Ukraine “could be even greater than the lives lost in the war directly,” UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said during an interview with Sky News Tuesday. Shapps said he is “very concerned” about the issue, and met with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksandr Kubrakov last week in Germany to discuss how infrastructure could be put in place to ensure the grain leaves Ukraine. “It’s hard to overestimate the extent to which Ukraine was, and is, the breadbasket of the world,” he added. Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has accused Russia of “weaponizing” food supplies – as it has with energy.

Biden at Quad summit: US President Joe Biden met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his new Australian counterpart, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in separate meetings at the Quad Summit in Tokyo Tuesday. Ahead of his meeting with Modi, Biden said he and the Indian leader – who has been?reluctant to condemn?Russia’s war in Ukraine – would discuss the “brutal and unjustified” conflict. Meanwhile, Biden “commended Australia’s strong support for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion” during his assembly with Albanese, and both leaders “agreed on the importance of continued solidarity, including to ensure that no such event is ever repeated in the Indo-Pacific,” the White House said in a readout.

Colombia to train Ukraine in de-mining: The Colombian armed forces are sending a team to Ukraine to train its military on landmine removal operations, the Colombian Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Monday. The 11 military engineers will be deployed to an unnamed neighboring NATO country where the training will be carried out, according to the statement.?The news comes two months after US President Joe Biden announced Colombia would be designated as a major non-NATO ally, strengthening security and economic ties between the pair.

Kherson military base request: The pro-Moscow authorities of Ukraine’s Kherson region will request a Russian military base in the region, Russian state news agencies reported Tuesday.?Russian state news agencies RIA-Novosti and TASS quoted Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-installed administration of Kherson region, as saying,?“there should be a military base of the Russian Federation in the Kherson region. We will ask for this, and the entire population is interested in this.” The Russian military took control of parts of the Kherson region in mid-March, and Russian-backed officials claim to have occupied a series of government posts.?

Moscow strengthens alliance with China: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Moscow must cease any dependency on the West and that it is instead deepening ties with China.?“Now that the West has taken a ‘dictator’s position,’ our economic ties with China will grow even faster,”?Lavrov told an audience at a question and answer session in Moscow on Monday, according to a transcript from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses the assembly at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on May 24.

Russia is employing a similar tactic with food supplies as it is with energy, and “weaponizing” the sector with global repercussions, Ursula von der Leyen told the World Economic Forum Tuesday.?

The European Commission President said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – “the bread basket” of the world – and the sanctions imposed against it in response has pushed up global prices of grain and fertilizer, triggering a food crisis.?

The Russian army is confiscating grain suppliers and machinery in areas of Ukraine and blocking exports from ports in the Black Sea, von der Leyen said.

She urged the international community to come together to counter what she called Moscow’s “blackmail.”

Her comments come hours after UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said deaths from food shortages due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “could be even greater than the lives lost in the war directly.”

Shapps said in a television interview Tuesday that he met with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksandr Kubrakov last week in Germany to discuss how infrastructure could be put in place to ensure the grain leaves Ukraine.

Supplies from Russia and Ukraine account for nearly 30% of?global wheat trade.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on May 24.

Sanctions against Russia imposed by the EU, US and other Western countries are “draining Putin’s war machine,” Ursula von der Leyen told the World Economic Forum in Davos, as the bloc continues to negotiate even harsher measures.?

In a special address to delegates in Davos Tuesday, the European Commission President said Russia’s war is not just a matter of Ukraine’s survival or EU security, but “puts our whole global order in question.”

The bloc must do whatever is necessary to help defeat Russia and will play an important role in the rebuilding of Ukraine, she said, adding “we will hand in hand help Ukraine rise from the ashes.”

The World Economic Forum kicked off in Switzerland on Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for maximum sanctions against Russian in his virtual address.

The conference sees leading global politicians, CEOs and billionaires discussing economic issues and solutions. This year is the first to be held in-person since the pandemic.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a news conference following the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) leaders meeting at the Prime Minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on May 24.

Leaders from the US, India, Australia and Japan had a “frank discussion” about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday.

The heads of state from the four nations met in Tokyo for a summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), an informal group focused on security that dates back to the early 2000s.

“The United States, India, Australia and Japan and the four leaders engaged in frank discussion over the impact of the Ukrainian situation on Indo Pacific region,” said Kishida.

“India also participated in stating our concern over the miserable war in Ukraine. We affirmed that the principles such as the rule of law, sovereignty and territorial integrity must be upheld in any region,” Kishida added.

“On the international situation, each country has its own historical developments as well as the geographical situation. So even amongst like minded countries, the positions may not agree fully,” Kishida said.

He added that, on Ukraine, all of the leaders “were able to reaffirm the importance of the various principles, such as the rule of law, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and also, a unilateral change of status quo or by force shall never be allowed in any region.”??

India has expressed concern over the situation in Ukraine but stopped short of condemning Russia’s invasion. The issue has been a point of contention between the Quad leaders.

Some context: The Quad has become more active in recent years as part of efforts to counter China’s reach and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific.

The meeting came at the end of US President Joe Biden’s?first trip to Asia?since becoming President, a five-day visit he began in South Korea.?

Local government officials and Ukrainian soldiers inspect a wheat grain warehouse earlier shelled by Russian forces on May 6, near the frontlines of Kherson in Novovorontsovka, Ukraine.

Deaths from global grain and food shortages due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “could be even greater than the lives lost in the war directly,” UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Tuesday.

Shapps said he is “very concerned” about the issue, and met with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksandr Kubrakov last week in Germany to discuss how infrastructure could be put in place to ensure the grain leaves Ukraine.

“I’m specifically concerned with the situation in Ukraine. We’ve seen this barbaric invasion by Putin,” Shapps said during an interview with Sky News Tuesday.

Shapps said that, while he couldn’t go into details about his meeting with Kubrakov, “there are lots of different potential ways to get grain and other goods out of the country, and indeed goods into the country as well.”

“I think it’s absolutely essential that we do, otherwise there could be a lot of hunger and indeed even famine, which could dwarf the numbers involved in the war itself,” Shapps added.

He said there are “a lot of complexities” in regards to getting grain out of Ukraine, including mined waters near the southern port city of Odesa.

Shapps added: “It’s hard to overestimate the extent to which Ukraine was, and is, the breadbasket of the world.”?

Some background: Supplies from Russia and Ukraine account for nearly 30% of global wheat trade.?

But international wheat prices have hit an all-time high since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Multiple sources have told CNN that Russian forces have been stealing thousands of tons of grain from Ukrainian farmers in areas they have occupied, while satellite imagery has appeared to show Russian ships loading what is believed to be stolen Ukrainian grain in Crimea.?

The rise in food prices is the most since 2008, according to a World Bank report published in April. Food costs will increase by 22.9% this year, highlighted by a 40% rise in wheat prices, the report said.?

However, US and European allies have been struggling with plans to get vital grain supplies out of Ukraine.

Outgoing President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has criticized his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for killing innocent civilians in Ukraine.

Duterte said that, while both he and Putin have been called killers, the two men are different.

“A lot of people are saying that Putin and I are the same because we kill people,” said Duterte during a public address on Monday night, according to?the state-run Philippines News Agency (PNA).?

“But I kill criminals. I do not kill children and elderly.?What is happening in Russia and America is different from what is happening here.”

File photo shows Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivering a speech on February 28 in Manila, Philippines.?

Duterte said he was not condemning his “friend” Putin, but was rather sharing his sentiment.

“Putin is my friend. You are in control of everything. Anyway, you really started the ruckus there. Control your soldiers. They’re running amok,” Duterte said, according to the news agency.?

Duterte also requested that the Russian Embassy in the Philippines relay his message to Putin, saying it is Putin’s obligation to ensure the safety of the innocent.

“The embassy of Russia, if you’re listening, I am not picking a quarrel with anybody. I said Putin is a friend of mine,” he said. “But … it is your moral obligation to see to it that the civilians, the innocent ones, children, the elderly, the women … They are too vulnerable.”

Some context: Russian troops have been accused of perpetrating a litany of alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Evidence is mounting of indiscriminate?killings of civilians?attempting to flee the violence and victims found with their?hands tied?behind their backs, as well as an attack on a?maternity hospital and a?theater-turned-shelter.

Russia has denied allegations of war crimes and claims its forces do not target civilians, but CNN journalists on the ground in Ukraine have seen firsthand evidence of atrocities at multiple locations across the country.

And on Monday a 21-year-old Russian soldier was sentenced to life in prison for killing an unarmed 62-year-old civilian man in Ukraine’s first?war crimes?trial since Russia’s?invasion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, greets Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, during their bilateral meeting on November 13, 2019 in Brasilia, Brazil.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow must cease any dependency on the West and that it is instead strengthening ties with China.?

“Now that the West has taken a ‘dictator’s position,’ our economic ties with China will grow even faster,”?Lavrov told an audience at a question and answer session in Moscow on Monday, according to a transcript from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

He said?China has “highly developed” information and communications technologies that are in “no way inferior to the West,” which “ensure mutual benefits.”

The foreign minister said if the West wants to resume relations,?then Moscow would consider if the country needed it or not.

He added that Russia needed to stop being dependent “in any way” on supplies from the West for the development of “security, the economy or our homeland’s social sphere.”

“When we can finally count only on ourselves and on countries which have proven themselves reliable and do not dance to someone else’s tune, then if Western countries come to their senses and begin to propose some form of cooperation, it will be up to us to decide,” he added.?

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have cultivated close ties, with China currently buying record amounts of Russian coal, but the two countries have shared historical rivalries.

Read more here:

Workers are loading coal into train cars at Borodinsky coal mine, which is part of the Siberian Coal Energy Company, in the Krasnoyarsk region, Russia on April 19, 2022.

Related article China needs Russian coal. Moscow needs new customers | CNN Business

An aerial view shows the city of Kherson, Ukraine, on May 20.

The pro-Moscow authorities of Ukraine’s Kherson region will request a Russian military base in the region, Russian state news agencies reported Tuesday.?

Russian state news agencies RIA-Novosti and TASS quoted Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-installed administration of Kherson region, as saying,?“there should be a military base of the Russian Federation in the Kherson region. We will ask for this, and the entire population is interested in this.”

The Russian military took control of parts of the Kherson region in mid-March, and Russian-backed officials claim to have occupied a series of government posts.?

Ukrainian officials estimate around half the population of Kherson has now left the region, many of whom say they have fled heavy-handed Russian rule.?

Russian efforts to advance a referendum on a so-called “Kherson People’s Republic” that would mirror the emergence of Russian-backed separatist statelets in eastern Ukraine appeared to have been put on hold.?

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, CE meets Minister of National Defense of Republic of Colombia Diego Andrés Molano Aponte at the Pentagon, Friday, May 20, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/

The Colombian armed forces are sending a team to Ukraine to train its military on landmine removal operations, the Colombian Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Monday.

The 11 military engineers will be deployed to an unnamed neighboring NATO country where the training will be carried out, according to the statement.?

Some context: In March, US President Joe Biden announced Colombia would be designated as a major non-NATO ally, strengthening security and economic ties between the pair.

As of this year, there are more than 15 nations that are designated as major non-NATO allies to the US, including Australia, Japan, Israel, the Philippines and Qatar.

Read more about forests littered with mines and unexploded ammunition here:

Related article Ukraine's natural environment is another casualty of war. The damage could be felt for decades | CNN

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, left, and US President Joe Biden hold a meeting during the Quad Leaders Summit at Kantei in Tokyo, Japan, on May 24.

US President Joe Biden’s first meeting with his new Australian counterpart, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, focused in part on the war in Ukraine, according to a US statement.

Albanese was sworn in on Monday before departing for the Quad Summit in Tokyo, joining leaders from the US, India and Japan.

US-India discussions: Biden also “condemned Russia’s unjustifiable war against Ukraine” in his meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to a White House statement.

Modi has been reluctant to condemn Russia’s invasion due to ties between the two nations.

Follow CNN’s live coverage of the Quad Summit here.

Russia has withdrawn its bid to host Expo 2030 because its bid would not be evaluated “fairly and impartially” under the current “anti-Russian campaign” waged by Western countries, the country’s foreign ministry said.?

World Expos have become another victim of a “large-scale anti-Russian campaign” waged by Western countries aimed at expelling Russia from all areas of cooperation, the statement said.

The ministry notified the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) of its decision on Monday, it said.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, pictured here at the Victory Day military parade at Red Square in Moscow on May 9, hopes Russia will be considered by the Bureau International des Expositions as a future host.

The BIE confirmed it received notification of Russia’s decision and said in a statement that?Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin expressed hope that the country will be a candidate “in the foreseeable future.”

Ukraine also bid to host: The host country of World Expo 2030 will be chosen by the 170 member states of the BIE in late 2023.

Odesa, the southern port city in Ukraine, is one of the four remaining cities that had bid for the hosting rights. The others are Rome, Busan in South Korea and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is seen on a giant screen during his address by video conference as part of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on May 23.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Kyiv is ready for a prisoner exchange with Russia “even tomorrow,” as he called on allies to continue to put pressure on Moscow.??

“The exchange of people — this is a humanitarian matter today and a very political decision that depends on the support of many states,” Zelensky said Monday via videoconference to an audience in Davos.

“We do not need the Russian servicemen, we only need ours. We are ready for an exchange even tomorrow,” Zelensky said.?

Ukrainians have also filled “tens of thousands” of black body bags with the remains of Russian soldiers left behind, he added.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and US President Joe Biden hold a meeting during the Quad Leaders Summit at Kantei in Tokyo, Japan, on May 24.

US President Joe Biden says he and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who has been reluctant to condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine — would discuss the “brutal and unjustified” conflict on Tuesday.

Biden and Modi are meeting on the sidelines of the Quad Summit, which is taking place in Tokyo and includes their counterparts from Japan and Australia.

Speaking to reporters, Biden raised the effect the war has had “on the entire global world order.”

India is the only Quad member yet to condemn Russia’s actions or impose sanctions on Moscow.

Modi delivered his remarks next, calling Quad meetings “very positive and productive.” He praised the US-India relationship as “a partnership of trust” and force for global good, highlighting their “common interests and shared values” as well as economic cooperation.

He did not mention the war in Ukraine.

A quip from Biden: After the two leaders spoke, they continued sitting for a moment to allow press photos — a brief silence broken almost immediately by reporters shouting questions about Russia.

“Will you push Prime Minister Modi to take a tougher stance on Russia?” one journalist said. Another asked, “Did you ask Prime Minister Modi to wean himself off of Russian oil?”

Follow CNN’s live coverage of the Quad Summit here.

US President Joe Biden’s greatest success has been to marshal most of the world against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Standing up to authoritarian aggressors for democracies is turning into the main theme of Biden’s presidency. He wants to show the world that the US form of government is better than the authoritarian version, where presidents change the rules to give themselves power for decades or for life and where they plot to seize land.

But at home, he faces an arduous task.

He’s bent on ensuring that the Ukrainian and Taiwanese people can choose their own leaders in free elections, but a shocking number of Republicans continue to reject his own election victory.

The Senate is so paralyzed by the filibuster, which gives a minority the ability to squash legislation, that no elected leaders seem to be seriously talking about federal legislation to deal with some of the largest American problems.

Read the full analysis here:

President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Akasaka Palace, Monday, May 23, 2022, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Related article Analysis: Biden finds unity abroad. He's losing it at home

US President Joe Biden said during opening remarks at the Quad Summit with leaders of Australia, India and Japan that “we’re navigating a dark hour in our shared history,” in reference to the war in Ukraine. He described the conflict as “a global issue” and said the US and partners will “lead a global response.”

US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the Quad Summit Tuesday, May 24, in Tokyo, Japan.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials reported Russian aerial strikes in east-central Ukraine and heavy fighting” in the eastern Donetsk region where Russian forces are trying to advance.

Here are more of the latest headlines from Russia’s war in Ukraine:

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at the Quad Summit in Tokyo on Tuesday.

In his opening remarks at the Quad Summit, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida highlighted the war in Ukraine as a major focus of the meeting.

“A grave incident which has fundamentally shaken the rule of law-based international order we value has happened since we met last September,” Kishida said.

US President Joe Biden also condemned Russia’s invasion in his opening remarks, pledging US support for Ukraine.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi —? who has so far resisted condemning the Russian invasion or imposing sanctions on Moscow —? did not mention the war in Ukraine during his opening comments. Instead, Modi emphasized the importance of “mutual cooperation.”

Planning efforts to bring US troops back into Ukraine in any capacity — like to protect the recently reopened US embassy in Kyiv — are “underway at a relatively low level,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said during a press conference at the Pentagon on Monday after the conclusion of the second Ukraine Contact Group meeting.

Those plans “have not made it to the [Defense] Secretary or myself for that matter for refinement of courses of action and what’s needed,” Milley added.?

“We’re a ways away from anything like that, we’re still developing courses of action and none of that’s been presented yet to the Secretary,” he added.

People displaced by Russian shelling remain in an underground subway station where they have been sheltering for months on May 19 in Kharkiv, Ukraine.?

Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, said the city’s subway system would resume operations Tuesday, after months of serving as a shelter for citizens looking to escape Russian bombardment.?

During the height of the Russian bombardment of Kharkiv — Ukraine’s second-largest city — many residents of Kharkiv took refuge in the city’s metro system. Terekhov said many of those who remained underground?had been relocated in dormitories, in areas further away from shelling.?

“If necessary, people can use the subway as a bomb shelter, especially subway underpasses,” Terekhov said.?

The subway in Kharkiv became a shelter in the opening hours of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24. Residents occupied benches, steps, and station floors, as well as subway cars.

The United Nation flag waves in the wind on the top of an UN building in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, June 14, 2021. A veteran Russian diplomat to the UN Office at Geneva says he handed in his resignation before sending out a scathing letter to foreign colleagues inveighing against the “aggressive war unleashed” by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. Boris Bondarev, 41, confirmed his resignation in a letter delivered Monday morning at the Russian diplomatic mission after a diplomatic official passed on his English-language statement to The Associated Press.

A 20-year veteran of Russia’s diplomatic service announced his resignation Monday in protest of his country’s war on Ukraine, multiple media outlets reported.??

In a rare public protest by a Russian official,?Boris Bondarev, a diplomat posted to Russia’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva, posted a statement on a LinkedIn account condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and criticizing the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for complicity in what he described as an an “aggressive war” — language that is proscribed in Russia under wartime censorship laws.?

The respected Russian business newspaper Kommersant reached out to Bondarev, who confirmed the authenticity of the post. The New York Times confirmed the receipt of a resignation sent by email to?diplomats in Geneva.

The Russian mission to the UN in Geneva declined to comment on the matter to CNN, and Bondarev did not respond to messages sent to the LinkedIn account.?

It also singled out the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for harsh criticism.?

“I regret to admit that over all these twenty years the level of lies and unprofessionalism in the work of the Foreign Ministry has been increasing all the time. However, in most recent years, this has become simply catastrophic. Instead of unbiased information, impartial analysis and sober forecasting, there are propaganda clichés in the spirit of Soviet newspapers of the 1930s,” the post read.

“Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not about diplomacy. It is all about warmongering, lies and hatred. It serves interests of few, the very few people thus contributing to further isolation and degradation of my country. Russia no longer has allies, and there is no one to blame but its reckless and ill-conceived policy,” the post continued.

The LinkedIn profile describes Bondarev as a veteran of Russian?diplomatic service, with expertise in arms control and nonproliferation. The picture on the profile now has the hashtag #opentowork.?

The US State Department said Monday that Bondarev’s resignation shows that “despite the Kremlin’s propaganda, there are Russians who profoundly disagree with what President Putin is doing in Ukraine and share our concern about the danger he is creating for the entire global community.”

A State Department spokesperson said it was encouraging that “many are willing to stand up to” Putin and noted that “it takes immense bravery to stand up to an oppressor, and it requires courage to speak truth to power, especially given the Russian government’s long and terrible track record of attempting to silence legitimate and peaceful protests and dissent.”?

“Plummeting morale is clearly not limited to Russia’s military forces fighting in Ukraine,” they said.?

“Boris Bondarev’s statement underscores that people around the world, including in Russia and even within the Russian government, are recognizing the brutality of the Kremlin’s assault on the Ukrainian people,” the spokesperson said. “They are doing so despite the Kremlin’s best efforts to manufacture and perpetuate disinformation.”

Pesident Joe Biden made opening remarks to the Quad Summit on Tuesday in Tokyo, addressing the importance of the alliance amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Biden warned that President Vladimir Putin is “trying to extinguish a culture,” pointing to Russia’s targeting of Ukrainian schools, churches and museums.

The US, he said, will continue its work with partners to “lead a global response.”

Russia’s invasion, Biden later added, “only heightens the importance” of the Quad’s goals and shared values.

The comments come as the White House has said Biden intends to speak during the summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – who has resisted US pressure to punish Russia – about how to strengthen US-India ties, a suggestion he hopes to wean Delhi off its reliance on Russian-made arms.

Biden reiterated his belief that the world is at a “transformative moment” and a question of whether democracies can prevail over autocracies.

He commended Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s “extraordinary leadership” as he thanked his host.

Biden also welcomed and congratulated Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – who was sworn into office this week – into the group of world leaders, joking that it was “okay” if he fell asleep during the summit.

Follow CNN’s live coverage of the Quad Summit here.