Italy's Giorgia Meloni said her country would not waver in its support for Kyiv after holding talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of a business forum on Saturday. Zelensky earlier rejected calls for a ceasefire voiced by Hungary's Kremlin-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who was also attending the summit in northern Italy. Read our live blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
Summary:
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The heads of the US CIA and Britain's spy service said in an op-ed on Saturday that "staying the course" in backing Ukraine's fight against Russia was more important than ever and they vowed to further their cooperation there and on other challenges.
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The Ukrainian Air Force said that 67 drones were launched over the country overnight from Friday to Saturday, with air defences active in 11 regions across the country, including in the capital Kyiv. Fifty-eight drones were shot down, with three more destroyed by electronic weapons systems, it said.
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at a forum in Italy on Saturday and pressed Western allies to provide more weapons in his country's fight against Russia. Meloni reaffirmed her country's "determined" support for Kyiv.
Yesterday's key developments:
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a visit to Germany, asked for more weapons and permission to use them to strike targets in Russia during a meeting with Kyiv's allies at the US Ramstein Air Base.
- The UK said it would provide Ukraine with 650 missile systems worth 162 million pounds ($213.13 million) to help protect the country from Russian drones and bombing.
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Russian forces took control of the village of Zhuravka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, Russian media cited the defence ministry as saying on Friday. Ukraine meanwhile claimed to have recaptured a part of the eastern town of New York (or Niu-York), a settlement in Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine, in Kyiv’s first success on this part of the front in months.
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US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that President Joe Biden will approve an additional $250 million in security assistance for Ukraine at the opening of a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
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France’s defence ministry announced that it will use a share of €1.4 billion in revenue from frozen Russian assets to finance the purchase of military equipment for Ukraine, the defence ministry announced on Friday.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, Reuters)
