US consumer prices rise moderately; underlying inflation too hot

People shop at a Target store in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., November 25, 2022. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska

U.S. consumer prices barely rose in March as the cost of gasoline declined, but stubbornly high rents kept underlying inflation pressures simmering, likely ensuring that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again next month.

Nevertheless, the mixed report from the Labor Department on Wednesday offered some encouragement in the fight against inflation. Services inflation showed signs of moderating. Rents, though still high, rose at their slowest pace in nearly a year.

Food prices were unchanged, the weakest reading since November 2020, with households getting relief on some products at the supermarket.

"The bottom line is that inflation still remains too hot for the Fed's liking," said Sarah House, a senior economist at Wells Fargo in Charlotte, North Carolina. "That said, there are forward-looking signs that suggest inflation will slow further in the coming months."

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) climbed 0.1% last month after advancing 0.4% in February. A 4.6% decline in gasoline prices was offset by higher rental costs. Gasoline prices are set to rebound after Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ oil producers early this month announced further oil output cuts.

The cost of food consumed at home fell 0.3%, the first decline since September 2020. Egg prices tumbled 10.9%. Meat, fruits and vegetables were also cheaper. But prices for cereals and bakery products as well as nonalcoholic beverages increased. It also cost more to eat out. In the 12 months through March, the CPI increased 5.0%, the smallest year-on-year gain since May 2021. The CPI rose 6.0% on a year-on-year basis in February.

The annual CPI peaked at 9.1% in June, which was the biggest increase since November 1981, and is subsiding as last year's initial surge in energy prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine drops out of the calculation.

President Joe Biden said the sharp slowdown in the overall annual inflation rate meant "more breathing room for hard-working Americans." Inflation by all measures remains more than double the Fed's 2% target.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI gaining 0.2% last month and advancing 5.2% year-on-year.

The inflation data came on the heels of last Friday's employment report, which showed a solid pace of job growth in March and the unemployment rate falling back to 3.5%, but wage gains remaining moderate.

With an easing in financial market stress following last month's collapse of two regional banks, economists expect the U.S. central bank to raise rates one more time in May before pausing its fastest monetary tightening campaign since the 1980s in June.

Financial markets are leaning toward the Fed increasing rates by another 25 basis points at its May 2-3 policy meeting, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. Markets are even betting the central bank could start cutting rates this year as the economy slumps into a recession.

Stocks on Wall Street were mixed. The dollar fell against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury prices rose.

GRAPHIC: Inflation

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The Fed last month raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, but indicated it was on the verge of halting further rate increases in a nod to the financial market turmoil. It has hiked its policy rate by 475 basis points since last March from the near-zero level to the current 4.75%-5.00% range.

Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the CPI increased 0.4% last month after rising 0.5% in February. While sticky rents continued to drive the so-called core CPI, relief appears to be on the way.

Owners' equivalent rent (OER), a measure of the amount homeowners would pay to rent or would earn from renting their property, rose 0.5%. That was the smallest gain since April 2022 and followed a 0.7% increase in February.

With independent measures showing rents on a downward trajectory, housing inflation is expected to continue subsiding this year. The rent measures in the CPI tend to lag the independent gauges. The slowdown in rent gains led economists at Goldman Sachs to withdraw their forecast for a June rate hike.

"It points to strong disinflationary forces in the coming months as housing cost pressures ease significantly on the back of a sharp pullback in housing demand," said Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY Parthenon in New York. "This slowdown may surprise many on the downside once it gets underway."

The moderation in rent gains helped to restrain the pace of increase in the cost of services to 0.3% from 0.5% in February.

Airline fares increased 4.0% despite falling energy prices, which some economists said reflected higher wages and spring travel. The cost of hotel and motel accommodation also rose strongly.

Services excluding shelter were unchanged after edging up 0.1% in the prior month. Core services, which exclude energy, increased 0.4% after advancing 0.6% in February.

According to economists' calculations, prices of core services outside housing climbed 0.4% after rising 0.5% in February. These prices are being monitored by policymakers to gauge their progress in taming inflation.

Core goods prices gained 0.2% after being unchanged in February. There were increases in the prices of apparel and new motor vehicles, but used cars and trucks maintained their downward trend.

In the 12 months through March, the core CPI gained 5.6% after rising 5.5% in February. That ended five straight months of slower increases in the year-on-year core CPI.

"We expect inflation to gradually cool but remain high through the rest of this year," said Ryan Sweet, chief economist at Oxford Economics. "Therefore, the Fed is likely to keep rates elevated through the rest of this year, bucking market expectations for rate cuts."

Companies hate remote work — till it’s time to fire you

When McDonald’s chief executive Chris Kempczinski demanded the fast-food chain’s corporate workers return to the office three days a week in the summer of 2021, he spoke up for the benefits of direct personal contact. “We ultimately are an in-person business,” he told Bloomberg Television. “You lose something from culture, you lose something from a connectiveness by being so remote.”

But, apparently, that doesn’t apply when it comes to firing people. McDonald’s ordered all its corporate employees to work remotely last week so that it could lay off hundreds of them — via Zoom, other computer meeting options or telephone.

McDonald’s action is the sort that inspires no small amount of cynicism about companies demanding workers return to the office. What kind of culture claims to desire “connectiveness” only to jettison it at the moment it most serves their employees?

“It’s almost like, ‘This is what you want. You want more remote opportunities. Well, we can also use remote work also when it’s convenient for us,” says Mark Bolino, a professor at Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma. “There’s something about it that feels a little bit adversarial.”

Remote work has emerged as a flash point of the worker empowerment movement we’ve come to call the “Great Resignation.” Three years after covid hit the United States, office occupancy is hovering around 50 percent of pre-pandemic norms, according to security firm Kastle Systems.

Employers, for the most part, would like to see more of their employees, claiming remote work hinders everything from employee spontaneity to hours workers put in. But many employees beg to disagree. They point to surveys showing that minus their pesky commutes, they are putting in more time on the job.

Still, more than a few members of Team CEO have taken to the media to predict we’ll see less remote work as employment slows — and they do it in tones that often sound punitive. “It’s not going to be so easy to give up your job,” warned Kathryn Wylde, the head of the Partnership for New York City, late last year. “As you go into a recession and people fear they might not have a job, that will bring people back to the office,” said real estate developer Stephen Ross. “The employees will recognize... that you have to do what it takes to keep your job and earn a living.”

At the same time, employers might like to think they are doing best by their employees, and the hamburger giant is no exception. “McDonald’s decided to close our offices out of respect,” a source familiar with the layoffs told me. “We’ve all been through restructures before and our goal here was to provide confidentiality and respect to our colleagues.”

But respect is not what comes across. Remote layoffs — especially by an organization that’s previously extolled the virtues of in-person work — allow the company physical and emotional distance, while leaving the now former employee completely alone. Those who rarely work in person, or live far away from the office, might think that’s just as well, but for someone who commutes several days a week, it’s likely a different matter. “It is yet another layer of dehumanization,” Barbara Larson, a professor at D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University, told me.

Of course, remote work is hardly the only area where employers can mistake their own self-interest for that of those laboring for them. Witness the recent spectacle of Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz testifying before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. With Starbucks paying $15 an hour and offering part-time employees access to health insurance and online college courses, Schultz seemed astonished that they would want to unionize — or, in other words, to demand an actual say in their working conditions.

Numerous companies and leaders have caught negative attention for how they’ve handled layoffs in this remote-work age. There was Vishal Garg, the chief executive of mortgage lender Better.com, who downsized 900 employees on a mass Zoom call, informing them they were “unlucky.” A remote downsizing by Google reached one woman shortly after she gave birth. Then there is Elon Musk’s Twitter, where some employees discovered they’d been separated from their jobs when they were locked out of their accounts, and others were, apparently, fired by mistake.

No one wants their last communique from their employer to be a Zoom call that suddenly fades to black. If companies want employees in the office on a regular basis, they should do them the courtesy of letting them go in person as well. There is no good way to lay someone off, but, as remote firings reveal, there are ways that are worse than others.

LIVE UPDATES - Wagner Assault Teams Capture Three Urban Areas in Artyomovsk

©Valentin Sprinchak/TASS

The assault teams of the Wagner private military company captured three urban quarters in Artyomovsk in the Donetsk area over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Wednesday.

"In the Donetsk direction, Wagner assault teams captured three urban quarters in the area of Artyomovsk. Airborne Force units immobilized enemy forces on the flanks of the assault teams," the spokesman said.

Operational/tactical aircraft, missile troops and artillery of the Russian battlegroup South struck enemy reserves, which attempted to break through to Artyomovsk from the settlements of Chasov Yar and Bogdanovka, and also units of the Ukrainian army’s 28th mechanized brigade near the settlement of Konstantinovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the general specified.

Russian forces destroy over 30 Ukrainian troops in Kupyansk area

Russian forces destroyed over 30 Ukrainian troops in the Kupyansk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Kupyansk direction, aircraft and artillery of the western battlegroup struck the Ukrainian army units in areas near the settlements of Pershotravnevoye and Berestovoye in the Kharkov Region and Stelmakhovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

Russian forces "destroyed over 30 Ukrainian personnel, two motor vehicles, and also a Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery gun and a US-manufactured Paladin motorized artillery system," the general specified.

In addition, "in the areas of the settlements of Sinkovka and Kislovka in the Kharkov Region, three Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance groups were neutralized," Konashenkov reported.

Russian forces eliminate over 80 Ukrainian troops in Krasny Liman area

Russian forces eliminated over 80 Ukrainian troops in the Krasny Liman area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Krasny Liman direction, assault aircraft and artillery of the battlegroup Center struck the Ukrainian army units in areas near the settlements of Chervonopopovka, Nevskoye and Chervonaya Dibrova in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Grigorovka and Terny in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

"Over 80 Ukrainian personnel, four armored combat vehicles, three motor vehicles and a D-20 howitzer" were destroyed in that area in the past 24 hours, the general specified.

Russian forces destroy over 245 Ukrainian troops in Donetsk advance

Russian forces destroyed over 245 Ukrainian troops in their advance in the Donetsk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"The enemy’s losses amounted to over 245 Ukrainian personnel, a tank, an armored personnel carrier, two armored combat vehicles, three pickup trucks, eight motor vehicles, a Msta-B howitzer, two D-20 howitzers, and also three Grad multiple rocket launchers," the spokesman said.

Russian forces destroyed roughly 180 Ukrainian troops in the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye areas over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

During the last 24-hour period, Russian combat aircraft flew eight sorties in that area while missile troops and artillery accomplished 52 firing objectives, he said.

Russian forces destroy 180 Ukrainian troops in southern Donetsk, Zaporozhye areas

"In the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, aircraft and artillery of the battlegroup East inflicted damage on the Ukrainian army units in areas near the settlements of Ugledar in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Gulyaipole and Orekhov in the Zaporozhye Region," the spokesman said.

In the areas of the settlements of Pavlovka and Novosyolka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Russian forces neutralized two enemy subversive/reconnaissance groups, the general said.

"As many as 180 Ukrainian personnel, 11 motor vehicles and a D-30 howitzer" were destroyed in those areas in the past 24 hours, Konashenkov reported.

Russian forces destroy 50 Ukrainian troops in Kherson area

Russian forces destroyed roughly 50 Ukrainian troops and a military equipment depot of the Ukrainian army in the Kherson area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Kherson direction, as many as 50 Ukrainian personnel, three armored combat vehicles and six motor vehicles were destroyed in the past 24 hours as a result of damage inflicted by firepower," the spokesman said.

In addition, in the area of the settlement of Otradokamenka in the Kherson Region, a military equipment depot of the Ukrainian army’s 121st territorial defense brigade was obliterated, the general added.

Russia’s Aerospace Forces down Ukrainian Su-24 frontline bomber in DPR

Russian combat aircraft shot down a Ukrainian Su-24 frontline bomber in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"Fighter aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down a Ukrainian Air Force Su-24 plane in the area of the settlement of Krasny Liman in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

Russian forces strike 94 Ukrainian artillery units in past day

Russian forces struck 94 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"During the last 24-hour period, operational/tactical aircraft, missile troops and artillery of the Russian group of forces struck 94 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, manpower and equipment in 117 areas," the spokesman said.

Russian air defenses intercept two US-made HIMARS rockets

Russian air defense forces intercepted two rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and destroyed five Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the past 24 hours, air defense capabilities intercepted two rockets of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system. In addition, they destroyed five Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the settlements of Novokrasnyanka, Naugolnoye, Kremennaya and Chervonopopovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic and Yelenovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 407 Ukrainian warplanes, 228 helicopters, 3,741 unmanned aerial vehicles, 415 surface-to-air missile systems, 8,647 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,082 multiple rocket launchers, 4,570 field artillery guns and mortars and 9,483 special military motor vehicles since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.

Special operation, 11 April. Main:

▪️The Russian Defense Ministry reported that the main efforts of the RF Armed Forces in combat operations are concentrated in the Artemovsk area;

▪️The defense ministry added that Kiev lost more than 90 militants per day in the Krasnolymansk direction, over 450 people in the Donetsk direction, up to 30 servicemen in the Yuzhnodonetsk and Zaporozhye directions, and more than 30 militants in the Kupyansky direction;

▪️Prigozhin said that more than 80% of Artemovsk is under the control of Russian forces;

▪️Peskov, speaking about the prospects for the second wave of partial mobilization, stressed that they still did not exist and do not exist;

▪️The Russian Investigative Committee told RIA Novosti that two civilians were killed in the town of Alyoshki, Kherson region, as a result of Ukrainian shelling;

▪️Donetsk Mayor Kulemzin said that the bus came under fire in the Kuibyshevsky district of the city, there are victims;

▪️Ukrainian troops are preparing to force the Dnieper in the Kherson region, but their attempts are doomed to failure, said the acting governor of the region Saldo;

▪️The State Duma approved the final report of the commission on parliamentary investigation of the activities of US biological laboratories in Ukraine;

The Washington Post, citing leaked US intelligence documents, said that the United States doubts that Ukraine's expected offensive will bring it significant results.

NPR to quit Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media

NPR announced it would cease posting to Twitter after the social media platform labeled the nonprofit "Government-funded Media." Charles Dharapak/AP

NPR will no longer post fresh content to its 52 official Twitter feeds, becoming the first major news organization to go silent on the social media platform. In explaining its decision, NPR cited Twitter's decision to first label the network "state-affiliated media," the same term it uses for propaganda outlets in Russia, China and other autocratic countries.

The decision by Twitter last week took the public radio network off guard. When queried by NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn, Twitter owner Elon Musk asked how NPR functioned. Musk allowed that he might have gotten it wrong.

Twitter then revised its label on NPR's account to "government-funded media." The news organization says that is inaccurate and misleading, given that NPR is a private, nonprofit company with editorial independence. It receives less than 1 percent of its $300 million annual budget from the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

By going silent on Twitter, NPR's chief executive says the network is protecting its credibility and its ability to produce journalism without "a shadow of negativity."

"The downside, whatever the downside, doesn't change that fact," NPR CEO John Lansing said in an interview. "I would never have our content go anywhere that would risk our credibility."

In a BBC interview posted online Wednesday, Musk suggested he may further change the label to "publicly funded." His words did not sway NPR's decision makers. Even if Twitter were to drop the designation altogether, Lansing says the network will not immediately return to the platform.

"At this point I have lost my faith in the decision-making at Twitter," he says. "I would need some time to understand whether Twitter can be trusted again."

NPR is instituting a "two-week grace period" so the staff who run the Twitter accounts can revise their social-media strategies. Lansing says individual NPR journalists and staffers can decide for themselves whether to continue using Twitter.

In an email to staff explaining the decision, Lansing wrote, "It would be a disservice to the serious work you all do here to continue to share it on a platform that is associating the federal charter for public media with an abandoning of editorial independence or standards."

For years, many journalists considered Twitter critical to monitoring news developments, to connect with people at major events and with authoritative sources, and to share their coverage. Musk's often hastily announced policy changes have undermined that. Lansing says that degradation in the culture of Twitter — already often awash in abusive content — contributed to NPR's decision to pull back.

Musk proves conciliatory and erratic in BBC interview

PBS, which also receives money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the BBC, which is funded by a uniform license fee charged to British television viewers, are among those whose Twitter accounts were given the same designation.

In the new interview with the BBC's James Clayton, Musk almost appeared to be seeking a compromise with the journalist. He said Twitter would adjust its labels for the British public broadcaster to "publicly funded."

"We're trying to be accurate," Musk said. "I actually do have a lot of respect for the BBC." He said the interview offered him a chance to "get some feedback on what we should be doing different."

When questioned by Clayton, Musk replied that the "publicly funded" label would apply to NPR as well. The change was not made before NPR's decision on Wednesday morning, however.

The BBC exchange showed Musk as alternately conciliatory and erratic. He also said that he's sleeping on a couch at work, that he followed through on his promise to purchase Twitter only because a judge forced him to, and that he should stop tweeting after 3 a.m.

"The point is the independence," NPR leader says Lansing says Musk is focusing attention on the wrong element of the equation.

"The whole point isn't whether or not we're government funded," Lansing says. "Even if we were government funded, which we're not, the point is the independence, because all journalism has revenue of some sort."

NPR's board is appointed without any government influence. And the network has at times tangled with both Democratic and Republican administrations. For example, NPR joined with other media organizations to press the Obama administration for access to closed hearings involving detainees held by U.S. authorities at Guantanamo Bay. And "All Things Considered" host Mary Louise Kelly stood her ground in questioning then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over then-President Donald Trump's actions in Ukraine despite being berated by Pompeo.

Most of NPR's funding comes from corporate and individual supporters and grants. It also receives significant programming fees from member stations. Those stations, in turn, receive about 13 percent of their funds from the CPB and other state and federal government sources.

‘Saudi Arabia wanted to help us, Biden insulted them,’ Donald Trump tells Fox News

Donald trump told Fox News he intends to run for president despite allegations. (FILE/AFP)

Former US president Donald Trump, in his first public interview after being arraigned on federal charges, had choice words for Joe Biden administration’s to describe its current state of relations with Saudi Arabia, which the Democratic leader earlier publicly denounced as a ‘pariah.’

“You take a look at Saudi Arabia, look at what happened. They are great people, they wanted to help us. He goes over there... he gets a fist bump. You know the fist bump means don’t shake my hand because your hand’s dirty… they were so insulted, do you understand that? Oh I don’t want to shake your hands, let’s go fist bump,” Trump told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson in an hour-long interview.

Trump, the first former US president to face criminal charges, also said he would not drop his bid for a White House return if convicted of the 34 counts of falsifying business records that were filed against him.

“No, I’d never drop out – it’s not my thing. I wouldn’t do it.”

Trump: Macron over in China kissing Xi's a** - and then Biden got fist bump from the Saudis, which means don’t shake my hand your hands are dirty pic.twitter.com/BbMiE7jJ5T

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) April 12, 2023

The US Constitution does not prevent someone who has been charged with or convicted of a crime from seeking or holding office.

Trump likewise said that he does not see Joe Biden running for re-election in 2024: “I think it is almost inappropriate for me to say it, but I don’t see how it is possible. And it is not an age thing.”

“There is something wrong. I saw his answer today on television about where or not he is gonna [seek re-election]... that was a long answer... I don’t think he can, but say what you want. They did not expect him to get in, people could say he won an election… They are surrounded by vicious smart people, radical left people,” Trump said.

One possible candidate that could lead the Democrats for the 2024 elections, the former US president said, would be vice president Kamara Harris.

“Obviously, the one they would talk about would be the vice president, Kamala. I don’t think she has performed well on the big stage, maybe I’m wrong. But there would be a certain group of people who would go crazy if it is not her, they’re gonna be very angry if it’s not her.”

Trump also quipped about the US shooting ‘57 missiles into Syria’ while having chocolate cake with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, while the Asian leader was on a visit.

“President Xi was top of the line smart, our guy never was… President Xi was a brilliant man... there is nobody like him, we have a great relationship,” Trump commented.

Trump also narrated his 57-minute visit to the New York courthouse for his arraignment: “They were incredible… they signed me in, and I’d tell you people were crying, people that worked there. They have no problems putting in murderers, and they see everybody. It’s a tough place, and they were crying and said ‘I’m sorry.’”

During the interview, Mr Trump, who has been impeached twice, also speculated that Mr Biden “can’t” run for a second term due to his “mental state”. He complimented the mental faculties of Home Depot founder Bernard Marcus.

The interview with Carlson comes weeks after the publication of text messages that the Fox News host sent in January 2021 in which he said of the former president: “I hate him passionately. ... I can’t handle much more of this.”

Video: Russian Kornet ATGM Destroys Convoy of Ukrainian Tanks

©AFP 2023 / ANATOLII STEPANOV

The Kornet is a Russian man-portable anti-tank guided missile developed by the Shipunov Tula Instrument Design Bureau.

The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage of a Kornet man-portable anti-tank guided missile system with thermobaric ammunition and other anti-tank weapons destroying Ukrainian tanks attempting to counterattack Russian positions in the direction of Ugledar in the People's Republic of Donetsk.

The operation was observed by a UAV.

Known as AT-14 Spriggan by NATO, the Kornet is designed to destroy tanks and other armored targets, including those equipped with modern explosive reactive armor.

All administrative buildings in Artyomovsk controlled by Russian forces — DPR head

All administrative buildings in Artyomovsk (known as Bakhmut in Ukraine) are controlled by Russian forces, acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said on Tuesday.

"All administrative buildings are already controlled by our forces," he said in an interview with Russia’s TV Channel One.

Pushilin stressed that he had been to Artyomovsk to see it with his own eyes, adding that he hardly saw any building not seriously damaged there, which could be "slightly reconstructed" and used in the future.

Earlier, Wagner PMC founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said that Russian forces controlled more than 80% of Artyomovsk, including all administrative centers.

Ukrainian ministries create shell companies for arms export contracts — Hersh

Ukrainian ministries create shell companies to sign arms export contracts, US journalist Seymour Hersh said in an article, published on the Substack platform Wednesday.

"Many government ministries in Kiev have been literally "competing," I was told, to set up front companies for export contracts for weapons and ammunition with private arms dealers around the world, all of which provide kickbacks. Many of those companies are in Poland and Czechia, but others are thought to exist in the Persian Gulf and Israel," Hersh says.

Depleted Uranium Shells Supplies to Ukraine Threaten Humanity: Turkiye's Presidential Candidate

Muharrem Ince, a Turkish presidential candidate from the Homeland Party (Memleket Partisi), has said in an interview with Sputnik that deliveries of munitions containing depleted uranium to Ukraine are a threat to humanity as a whole.

"Signals, which are being sent through deliveries of munitions containing depleted uranium, pose a threat not only to Russia and Turkiye but to all of humanity. The entire humanity should oppose it," Ince said.

"I think Britons should act more carefully on the matter," he added.

In March, UK Minister of State for Defense Annabel Goldie said that the country would provide Ukraine with depleted uranium tank ammunition, including armor-piercing shells for the 14 Challenger 2 battle tanks UK is planning to supply to Ukraine.

The Kremlin has repeatedly warned against further escalation of the situation. Presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Turkiye on May 14. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, put forward by a six-party opposition alliance, is considered incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main opponent. The list of presidential candidates also includes Ince and Sinan Ogan of the ATA Alliance.