Pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin mounted on the battlefield and in the halls of global power as Ukrainian troops pushed their counteroffensive Saturday to advance farther into Ukraine’s partly recaptured northeast.

At a high-level summit in Uzbekistan, Putin vowed to press his attack on Ukraine despite recent military setbacks but also faced concerns by India and China over the drawn-out conflict.

“I know that today’s era is not of war,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the Russian leader in televised comments as they met Friday in Uzbekistan.

“We discussed this with you on the phone several times, that democracy and dialogue touch the entire world.”

At the same summit a day earlier, Putin acknowledged China’s unspecified “questions and concerns” about the war in Ukraine while thanking Chinese President Xi Jinping for his government’s “balanced position” on the conflict.

The hurried retreat of Russian troops this month from parts of a northeast region they occupied early in the war, together with the rare public reservations expressed by key allies, underscored the challenges that Putin faces on all fronts.

Both China and India have maintained strong ties with Russia and had sought to remain neutral on Ukraine. Xi, in a statement, expressed support for Russia’s “core interests” but also wanted to work together to “inject stability” into world affairs.

Modi said he wanted to discuss “how we can move forward on the path of peace,” adding that the biggest concerns facing the world are the problems of food security, fuel security and fertilizers.

“We must find some way out and you too must contribute to that,” Modi stressed in a rare public rebuke.

The comments cast a shadow over a summit that Putin had hoped would burnish his diplomatic status and show he was not so internationally isolated.

On the battlefield, Western defense officials and analysts said Saturday that Russian forces were apparently setting up a new defensive line in Ukraine’s northeast after Kyiv’s troops broke through the previous one. The British Defense Ministry said the new front line likely is between the Oskil River and Svatove, 150 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

Read Also: Putin to West: Russia hasn’t even started in Ukraine yet

The new line emerged after the Ukrainian counteroffensive punched a hole through the war’s previous front line, allowing Kyiv’s soldiers to recapture large swaths of land in the northeastern Kharkiv region that borders Russia.

After the Russian troops retreated from the city of Izium, Ukrainian authorities discovered a mass grave site, one of the largest so far discovered.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says more than 440 graves have been found at the site but that the number of victims is not yet known.

Zelenskyy said the graves contained the bodies of hundreds of civilian adults and children, as well as soldiers, and some had been tortured, shot or killed by artillery shelling. He cited evidence of atrocities, such as a body with a rope around its neck and broken arms.

Ukrainian forces, in the meantime, are crossing the Oskil River in the Kharkiv region and have place artillery there, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Saturday.

The river, which flows south from Russia into Ukraine, had been a natural break in the newly emerged front lines since Ukraine launched its counteroffensive about a week ago.

“Russian forces are likely too weak to prevent further Ukrainian advances along the entire Oskil River,” the institute said. Videos circulating online Saturday indicated that Ukrainian forces were continuing to retake land from Russian forces in the country’s embattled east, although their veracity could not be independently verified.

One video showed a Ukrainian soldier walking past a damaged building then pointing at a colleague hanging the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag over a mobile phone tower. The soldier identified the seized village as Dibrova, just northeast of the city of Sloviansk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

Another video showed two Ukrainian soldiers in what appeared to be a bell tower, with one saying they had retaken the village of Shchurove, just northeast of Sloviansk. The Ukrainian military and the Russians did not comment on the two villages.

Peace Ambassador and Spokesman for Superior Council of Imams of Cote d’Ivoire, Imam Cisse Djiguiba and a Professor of International Relations at Kaduna State University, Prof. Usman Mohammed, has urged the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member states to dialogue and set up an interfaith regional peace organisation to help in addressing religious extremism and conflicts in the sub-region.

This is as Djiguiba blamed clerics for religious crisis and intolerance in the West African sub-region.

According to him, clerics are taking religion as business.

He spoke at the ongoing delocalised meeting of the joint Committee of Education, Science and Culture/ Committee on Health/Committee on Telecommunications and Information Technology, with the theme: “Religious tolerance and harmony: Essential factors for development, peace and stability in the ECOWAS region”.

Djiguiba said the proliferation of religious leaders has helped produce bad eggs, who are propagating wrong messages and thereby causing frictions among the citizens.

He said there was the need for ECOWAS to train religious leaders on their responsibility to promote peace and harmony in the sub-region.

The cleric said the sub-region needs “to create a regional peace organisation with the support of ECOWAS to train religious leaders; since there are many religious leaders but very few true religious leaders”.

Read Also: Clerics, monarchs: Muslim-Muslim ticket non-issue

“Some think that religion is a profession while being an Imam is justification. We know that there are schools to train priests and Imams, and so religion should not be business.

Also, Prof. Mohammed identified deliberate and sustainable dialogue as a solution to religious intolerance in the sub-region.

Mohammed also urged Nigeria government to do more in its efforts and avail itself of all means including but not limited to engaging the group or groups in meaningful dialogue.

In his paper presentation titled: “Religious Tolerance and Stability:  Key factors to peace and development in the ECOWAS region”, posited that there can be harmonious inter religious co-existence   through individual and communal efforts.

The university don who cited Ghana’s handling of religious issues despite the presence of numerous religions noted that the country did not achieve such a feat in a day but through a continuous effort in building a foundation of peace.

According to him, “Ghana remains a rare model  and evident justification that religious tolerance and harmony is a possibility  and is capable of ensuring peace and stimulating  development through decent and formable interfaith dialogue  because religious devotees in Ghana are more than those who claimed not to belong to any religion. Such initiative to ensure peace and societal  harmony can either be  communal or individualistic. Right from the past to the present , there have been deliberate and conscious individual and collaborative efforts , to ensure and enhance religious tolerance , harmony and calmness in Ghana.

The line of people waiting to see Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin lying in state in Westminster Hall yesterday reached more than six kilometres long, according to the United Kingdom’s government’s tracker.

Mourners wanting to pay tribute to the late monarch are being told to head past Tower Bridge in the east of the city to join the end of the line.

The Queen’s coffin sits on a plinth, known as a catafalque, with the Royal Standard draped over and the imperial crown on top. Four guards stand, one at each corner, the only official presence for the event.

The Royal Family has taken a step back, allowing the public to fill the void as hundreds of thousands of people are expected to pay their respects to the woman who was on the throne for 70 years.

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The government has issued advice for people attending the lying-in-state ceremony.

• The line is expected to be very long. Prepare to stand for many hours, likely overnight, with little opportunity to sit down, as the line will keep moving;
• Dress ‘appropriately’ – individuals wearing offensive or political slogans won’t be permitted entry;
• Filming and photography will be strictly prohibited;

You will need to go through airport-style security with tight restrictions on what you can take in. Only small bags are permitted; and

• Plan your journey – major public transport links will run a reduced service.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport launched a live queue tracker to inform people of the potential wait ahead of them, but falling temperatures and inclement weather have not perturbed many mourners.

When Elizabeth II’s father King George VI died in 1952, the lines, dubbed “the great queue”, stretched for more than six kilometres along the same route across Lambeth Bridge into Westminster.

The UK public seem to hold a similar affection for his daughter.

President’s articles in Kazakh, Uzbek media highlight warm ties with nations

Neighborly friendship, connectivity and common development stand out as key phrases used in both of President Xi Jinping’s signed articles published by leading media outlets in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on Tuesday.

The two articles were published prior to Xi’s Central Asia tour from Wednesday to Friday.

Xi will attend the 22nd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of State in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and make state visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and both Central Asian nations.

In his article for Kazakh media, Xi recalled the past 30 years by pointing to the major strides made in bilateral ties, remarkable results in pragmatic cooperation, extensive infrastructure links built between the two countries, and their flourishing friendship.

“We are friends to trust and partners to count on for each other, and our peoples always stand shoulder to shoulder with each other,” Xi wrote.

He envisioned the two nations’ further teamwork in bilateral and international contexts to boost growth, common security and global governance.

China would like to partner with Kazakhstan to remain pioneers in Belt and Road cooperation and cultivate new sources of growth such as artificial intelligence, big data, digital finance, e-commerce and green energy, he wrote.

In his article for Uzbek media, Xi said the two nations are “good friends sharing close affinity”, “good partners pursuing common development”, a “good example of dialogue between civilizations” and “good brothers supporting each other in times of need”.

Bilateral trade exceeded $8 billion last year and “is on course to reach the $10 billion goal set for 2022”, Xi wrote.

“The two countries have rendered mutual support on issues concerning each other’s core interests, supported each other’s implementation of development strategies, drawn upon each other’s experience of reform and opening-up, and injected positive energy into regional development,” he wrote.

The Central Asia trip is “China’s most important head-of-state diplomatic event ahead of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China”, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Tuesday.

Mao noted that both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are friendly neighbors and comprehensive strategic partners of China, and they are key countries on the routes of the Belt and Road.

The state visits will introduce new blueprints, goals and impetus for China’s bilateral ties with the two countries, showing that China’s bilateral ties with the two countries are entering a new phase of development, she added.

In both of his articles, Xi highlighted the fact that next year marks the 10th anniversary of his putting forward the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative — a key component of the landmark Belt and Road Initiative — in Kazakhstan in 2013.

The BRI “has become a platform for international cooperation that is open, inclusive and mutually beneficial, promotes win-win cooperation and is a global public good widely welcomed by the international community”, he noted.

He called for joint efforts to further put into action the Global Development Initiative — which he proposed last year and which has gained support from over 100 countries — so as to give impetus to world economic recovery.

In his article published in Uzbekistan, Xi also spoke highly of Uzbekistan’s role as chairman of the SCO Samarkand Summit this year.

He expressed his confidence that, with the joint efforts of all sides, the Samarkand Summit will produce “fruitful outcomes” and make a greater contribution to building an even closer SCO community with a shared future and to regional peace, stability, development and prosperity.

At the SCO summit, Xi will exchange views with other attending leaders on “all-around cooperation within the SCO framework as well as major international and regional issues”, according to Mao, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.

The SCO’s role has been highlighted in securing regional security stability and promoting countries’ development and prosperity amid profound changes in the global situation and the COVID-19 pandemic, she said. (www.chinadaily.com.cn)

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has applauded the outgoing President of 76th session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Abdulla Shahid, for his skills and dedication in leading the Assembly.

Gutters made the recommendation at the closing ceremony of the UN General Assembly’s 76th session on Monday at UN headquarters in New York.

“The accomplishments of the last year would not have been possible without…Abdulla Shahid.

“In spite of the unprecedented times, he gathered member states together in common cause,” he said.

Like the previous one, this session was marked by a series of deepening challenges, he told the participants, citing rising prices, growing food insecurity and “the gathering shadows of a global recession”.

The UN chief continued, citing “a global pandemic that refused to be defeated – and the emergence of another health emergency in monkeypox – and deadly heatwaves, storms, floods and other natural disasters”.

Meanwhile, every day ferocious conflicts continue to put millions of lives in jeopardy.

He gave examples of deepening poverty, inequality that continues to impede recovery and development, and “a morally bankrupt global financial system” that penalises developing countries and blocks their path to sustainable recovery.

As the Assembly worked over last year to address these challenges, the top UN official acknowledged Shahid’s steady hand and “enormous skill”.

During unprecedented times, he brought “fresh vision to issues like gender equality, climate action and the unique perspective of small island States”.

Moreover, Guterres praised the outgoing President as being “invaluable” during the first year of the Our Common Agenda report – a blueprint for global cooperation and reinvigorated multilateralism – by facilitating Member State consultations, which “paved the path to progress”.

“His ‘presidency of hope’ delivered exactly that – hope that we can come together and face the challenges before us, in solidarity,” the UN chief said, thanking Shahid for his “strong stewardship”.

The Secretary-General looked forward to working with Csaba Korösi, the new Assembly President, as he carries forward Shahid’s “spirit of cooperation and hope” during the 77th session.

Noting that the road ahead will be “challenging and unpredictable,” he said that “the coming session will continue to test the multilateral system like never before. And it will continue to test cohesion and trust among Member States”.

However, the UN’s top official assured that by using diplomacy, negotiation and compromise – “the tools of our trade” – the UN can “continue supporting people and communities around the world”.

“We can pave the way to a better, more peaceful future for all people,” he attested, “And we can renew faith in the United Nations and the multilateral system, which remain humanity’s best hope”.

Before congratulating  Korösi, the UN chief again recognised President Shahid for his vision and “tireless dedication” to the Organisation, multilateralism, and the General Assembly.

He also thanked the Member States “for coming together during these unprecedented times”.

In welcoming the President of the Assembly’s 77th session, the secretary-general looked forward to collaborating closely with him on the world’s many challenges and solutions to address them.

“The coming year will be another difficult one. But the United Nations was made for moments like this,” he said, explaining the need to marshal global co-operation from Government halls to business boardrooms to UN conference rooms.

Guterres underscored the need for co-operation to: rescue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and put progress back on track, urgently; reform a morally bankrupt global financial system, and help developing countries access the financing and debt relief they need.

“As we close this session and look ahead to the next, let us all renew our commitment to co-operation, and the eternal tools of diplomacy, dialogue and debate,” he concluded.

“Let’s work as one to forge a better, more peaceful future for all,” he added.

In delivering his final speech as Assembly President, Shahid spoke about the “unprecedented journey” of his presidency of challenges and triumphs; twists and turns; and laughter and friendship.

He described it as “a journey of renewed hope,” that would have been impossible “without the support, the friendship, and the guidance of all member states”.

“I thank you, dear Ambassadors. You made me feel like part of the family from day one.

“Amid the difficult times we have endured, we have celebrated many occasions over the past year. We celebrated unity, camaraderie, and hope, together, as a family.’’

The outgoing Assembly President urged those present to “not lose hope and give into cynicism” or “turn our backs on those who look to us at the United Nations for solutions”.

“Let us use the instruments at our disposal to secure global peace and justice…[and] tell the next generation that their aspirations, their futures, their planet, are worth fighting for,” he underscored.

“We owe it to ourselves, to our peers, to our children, to our grandchildren, to humanity, to choose hope”.

He welcomed President-elect Csaba Korosi and wish him “the very best,” in leading the 77th session.

The 77th regular session of UNGA will run from Sept. 13 through to Sept. 27 while the High-Level Week of the gathering will be from Sept. 20 to 27.