EsadeGeo Daily Digest, 22/09/2022

The Washington Post – John Hudson / Ukraine president Zelensky presents plan to end war against Russia

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky unveiled a plan to end the nearly seven-month war between Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday at the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
• The five-point plan urged world powers to punish Russia and surge military aid to Kyiv in an effort to force Moscow forces out of Ukraine, which Russia invaded Feb. 24.
• “Russia wants war, it’s true, but Russia will not be able to stop the course of history,” Zelensky said.
• The remarks were an implicit rebuke of non-Western and developing countries who called on Ukraine and Russia to immediately engage in a negotiated end to the conflict.
• Financial Times – Max Seddon and Polina Ivanova / Why Vladimir Putin is raising the stakes in Ukraine war

NPR – Deepa Shivaram / Biden slams Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in a speech to the United Nations

• President Biden criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ongoing efforts to seize Ukrainian territory, in his second address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York Wednesday.
• "A permanent member of the United Nations Security Council invaded its neighbors, tempted to erase the sovereign state from the map," Biden said. "Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations charter."
• The president called plans for snap votes in parts of occupied Ukraine to join Russia a "sham," saying they were designed to try to annex more of Ukraine. He also criticized Putin's announcement to call up more troops to the fight.
• "Ukraine has the same rights that belong to every sovereign nation. We will stand in solidarity with Ukraine. We will stand in solidarity against Russia's aggression, period," Biden said.
• Politico – Nahal Toosi / 5 takeaways from Biden’s speech to the world

The Guardian – Reuters / Tigrayan forces accuse Eritrea of launching full-scale offensive on border

• Forces in Ethiopia’s Tigray region said troops from neighbouring Eritrea launched a “full-scale offensive” on Tuesday and heavy fighting was ongoing in several areas along the border.
• Reuters was not immediately able to verify the account on Twitter from Getachew Reda, a spokesperson for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
• The TPLF has been battling Ethiopian federal forces and their allies for nearly two years.
• Eritrean troops entered Tigray to back the Ethiopian military after fighting broke out in November 2020 before withdrawing from most areas last year.
• International Crisis Group / Avoiding the abyss as war resumes in northern Ethiopia

Reuters / Iran protests spread, death toll rises as internet curbed

• Iranian authorities and a Kurdish rights group reported rising death tolls on Wednesday as anger at the death of a woman detained by the morality police fuelled protests for a fifth day and fresh restrictions were placed on social media.
• Iranian media and a local prosecutor said four people were killed in the last two days, bringing the total death toll according to official sources to eight, including a member of the police and a pro-government militia member.
• The demonstrations erupted over the death in detention last week of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old from Iranian Kurdistan who was arrested in Tehran for "unsuitable attire".
• The protests, which were concentrated in Iran's Kurdish-populated northwestern regions but have spread to at least 50 cities and towns nationwide, are the largest since a wave of demonstrations in 2019 over gasoline price rises.
• The Washington Post – Ishaan Tharoor / At UN Assembly, Iran’s leader ignores an uprising at home

Today’s extra reads:

• Politico – Hans von der Burchard and Jakob Hanke Vela / Berlin and Madrid raise pipeline pressure on France
• Foreign Affairs – Sergey Radchenko / Coups in the Kremlin