SPUTNIK TOP STORIIES OF THE DAY

(Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th May, 2022) The Zaporizhzhia region has begun preparations for the issuance of Russian passports, lists of people are being specified, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the military-civilian administration of the region, told Sputnik.

* Five foreign vessels were able to leave the port of Mariupol after demining, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

* Claims that Russia is using its military to transport Ukrainian grain to Russian territory are false, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said.

* The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has stopped supplying the Donbas republics with essential medicines under the pretext of the unstable situation in the region, the head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev, said.

* Kiev has no precondition for the resumption of diplomatic negotiations with Moscow, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

* Washington's decision not to renew the existing general license that provided Russia with a range of exemptions associated with the debt repayment infringes on the rights of foreign investors and undermines confidence in the Western financial system, the Russian finance ministry said on Wednesday.

* US economic sanctions against Russia are "slowly strangling" the Russian armed forces by cutting off crucial high tech spare parts for their tank manufacturing and aircraft industries, Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez said.

* The EU still can agree upon new sanctions against Moscow, including the oil embargo, before the bloc's summit on May 30-31, European Council head Charles Michel said.

* Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that it is impossible for Belgrade to impose sanctions against Moscow right now but the future remains unknown.