German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday said the country should not "block" the United States from sending cluster bombs to Ukraine, while defending its opposition to the use of the controversial weapon. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday voiced hope for the "best possible result" from an upcoming NATO summit where Kyiv is looking for a greenlight regarding its bid to join the alliance. Follow our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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05:30am: US, Ukraine's top diplomats hold 'important' call before NATO summit
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said late on Sunday they held a phone call to discuss this week's NATO summit and Kyiv's counteroffensive campaign to reclaim land taken by Russia.
"I had an important discussion with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba today ahead of this week's NATO Summit," Blinken said on Twitter.
The US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a separate statement that the two diplomats discussed also "progress in Ukraine's counteroffensive."
Kuleba said on Twitter that the call was to work out details ahead of the NATO summit, which starts on Tuesday in Vilnius.
"I had a productive call with Secretary Blinken ahead of Vilnius," Kuleba said on Twitter. "With 48 hours left, we are working to make its final decisions a win for all: Ukraine, NATO, and global security.
02:15am: Russian embassy in U.S. condemns Washington's decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine
The White House has in effect confessed to committing war crimes by agreeing to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, the Russian embassy in the U.S. said in comments published late on Sunday.
"We paid attention to (White House national security spokesperson John) Kirby's statements about the supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine. The official admitted de facto to committing war crimes by the United States in the Ukrainian conflict," the embassy said on the Telegram messaging app.
Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of already using cluster munitions in the 500-day war that Moscow has been waging against Kyiv. Ukraine promised last week the munitions that the U.S. decided to ship to Kyiv will not be used in Russia.
01:45am: Ukrainian forces advance in south, hold 'initiative,' says Zelensky
Ukrainian troops pressed on with their campaign to recapture Russian-held areas in the southeast on Sunday as President Volodymyr Zelensky said in broadcast comments that his country's forces had "taken the initiative" after an earlier slowdown.
Russian accounts said heavy fighting gripped areas outside the eastern city of Bakhmut, captured by Russian mercenary Wagner forces in May after months of battles.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said one of his units was deployed in the area.
Equipped with increasingly sophisticated Western weaponry after more than 500 days of war, Ukraine has launched an anticipated counter-offensive focusing so far on capturing a cluster of villages in the southwest.
Its forces have also been trying to retake areas around Bakhmut.
Ukraine's deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said heavy fighting raged in two areas of the southeast.
"We are consolidating our gains in those areas," she wrote.
01:29am: Fencing-Ukrainian fencing team likely to miss Paris 2024 Olympics, says Kharlan
Ukraine athletes' boycott over the presence of Russians and Belarusians at the fencing World Championships could cost the country valuable points and jeopardise its qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games, Ukrainian sabre fencer Olga Kharlan said.
Ukraine will not take part in the individual events at the World Championships starting on July 22 in Milan, just as they did at last month's European Championships, after the International Fencing Federation (FIE) allowed Russia and Belarus fencers to compete as neutrals.
Four-time Olympic medallist Kharlan, a member of the Ukraine Fencing Federation Athletes' Commission, said Russia and Belarus featuring in these tournaments will prevent Ukraine from qualifying for individual events at next year's Games in Paris.
"Given all the bans, I can't qualify for the Olympics in the individual competition. I need to earn points to get to the Games. I need to participate in all competitions," Kharlan told Ukrainian news site Tribuna in an interview released on the weekend.
11:40pm: Zelensky eyes 'best possible result' from NATO summit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday voiced hope for the "best possible result" from an upcoming NATO summit where Kyiv is hoping for a clear signal that it could one day join the alliance.
After meeting his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, Zelensky said the two discussed the summit, which opens on Tuesday in Vilnius, and agreed to "work together to get the best possible result for Ukraine".
Poland is one of Ukraine's biggest supporters within NATO and has said it wants "security guarantees" for the country from other NATO members.
Zelensky has said he does not expect Ukraine to actually join NATO until after the war but he hopes the summit will give a "clear signal" on the intention to bring Ukraine into the alliance.
US President Joe Biden, who arrived on Sunday in Britain on his way to the NATO summit, said he hoped the military alliance leaders would "lay out a rational path for Ukraine to be able to qualify to be able to get into NATO".
10:57pm: Biden arrives in London ahead of NATO summit
US President Joe Biden arrived in London late on Sunday for the start of a three-nation tour that will include a meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street and talks about climate change with King Charles at Windsor Castle on Monday.
Biden will travel to Vilnius, Lithuania, on Monday night, where he will hold talks with NATO leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday.
9:22pm: Biden tells Erdogan that Sweden should be welcomed into NATO 'as soon as possible'
US President Joe Biden conveyed his desire to welcome Sweden into NATO as soon as possible in a call on Sunday with Turkey's president, Tayyip Erdogan, the White House said in a statement.
The two leaders also discussed a range of issues that NATO leaders will consider at an upcoming summit, including support for Ukraine amid Russia's ongoing invasion, the White House added.
8:29pm: Erdogan and Biden discuss Sweden's NATO bid, says presidency
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan held a phone call with US President Joe Biden in which they discussed Sweden's NATO bid, the Turkish presidency's communications directorate said on Sunday.
Erdogan told Biden that Stockholm has taken steps in the right direction for Ankara to ratify its bid, referring to an anti-terrorism law, but that these steps were not useful as Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) supporters continued to hold demonstrations in Sweden.
"The leaders agreed to meet face-to-face in Vilnius and discuss bilateral relations and regional issues in detail," the presidency also said.
On Thursday, Sweden failed to convince Turkey to lift its block on Stockholm's path to NATO membership in a foreign minister-level meeting, as Ankara requested more action in the fight against terrorism.
6:25pm: Germany shouldn't 'block' US from sending cluster munitions to Ukraine, says president
Germany's president on Sunday said the country should not "block" the United States from sending cluster bombs to Ukraine, while defending its opposition to the use of the controversial weapon.
"Germany's position against the use of cluster munitions is as justified as ever. But we cannot, in the current situation, block the United States," said President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF.
If Ukraine no longer has the means to defend itself or if those supporting the war-stricken country back down, "it would be the end of Ukraine", said the president, whose powers are largely ceremonial.
The United States announced Friday new military aid to support the Ukrainian army to counter the Russian invasion, which include cluster munitions, crossing a new threshold in the type of weaponry supplied to Kyiv.
4:08pm: Turkish foreign minister discusses Black Sea grain deal with Russia's Lavrov
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed the Black Sea grain deal and Ukraine with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during a phone call, state broadcaster TRT Haber reported on Sunday.
1:39pm: Dynamo Kyiv criticise Fenerbahce for pre-season games in Russia
Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv said Saturday that Turkish club Fenerbahce were "without honour and conscience” in a strongly-worded statement after the side travelled to Russia to play in a pre-season tournament.
Fenerbahce are playing Zenit St Petersburg, Red Star Belgrade and Azerbaijan side Neftci in the Pari Premier Cup from Sunday, with matches being held at the Gazprom Arena in St Petersburg.
Russian teams were suspended from participation in FIFA and UEFA competitions after the country’s invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow describes as a “special military operation”.
“The bloody money of (Russian energy giant) Gazprom has eclipsed everything for you, left you without honour and conscience,” the statement read.
Fenerbahce is yet to respond.
1:22pm: Russia shoots down missiles over Crimea and Rostov region, officials say
Russian air defence systems shot down two missiles on Sunday, Russian officials said, one over the annexed Crimean peninsula and another over Russia’s southern Rostov region that also borders Ukraine.
A cruise missile was shot down near the city of Kerch on the Crimean peninsula, without inflicting any damage or casualties, Russia-installed Governor Sergei Aksyonov wrote on the Telegram messaging app. He did not specify where the missile had been launched from.
Local officials said traffic movement on the Crimean Bridge that links the peninsula to the Russian mainland was restored after an apparent suspension. No reason for the traffic halt was given.
In another incident, air defence shot down a Ukrainian missile in Russia’s Rostov region, Governor Vasily Golubev said on Telegram.
“There were no casualties. The debris partially damaged the roofs of several buildings,” Golubev wrote.
12:25pm: 'Stronger together,' says Poland's Duda on Ukraine visit ahead of NATO summit
Poland's president emphasised the need for unity with Ukraine on Sunday as he visited the country ahead of a NATO summit where Kyiv is hoping to get a clear signal that it could one day join the alliance.
"We are stronger together," President Andrzej Duda said on social media, as he visited the western city of Lutsk with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
Poland is one of Ukraine's biggest supporters within NATO and has said it wants "security guarantees" for the country from other NATO members.
10:01am: Zelensky and Poland's Duda pay tribute to victims of WW2 massacre
The Ukrainian and Polish presidents marked the anniversary of massacres of Poles by Ukrainian nationalists during WWII on Sunday, killings that have been a source of tension between the allies.
Warsaw has positioned itself as one of Kyiv's staunchest supporters since Russia invaded the country in 2022.
However, the Volhynia massacre, in which historians say tens of thousands of Poles perished, has continued to hang over ties between the two nations and become more prominent ahead of the July 11 anniversary of one of the bloodiest days of a series of killings that took place from 1943 to 1945.
Television footage showed Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda in a church in the western Ukrainian city of Lutsk on Sunday during a service held in memory of the victims.
Polish historians say that up to 12,000 Ukrainians were also killed in Polish retaliatory operations.
"Together we pay tribute to all the innocent victims of Volhynia! Memory unites us!," Duda's office and Zelensky both wrote on Twitter. "Together we are stronger."
8:45am: Russia calls on NATO to discuss Ukraine nuclear plant at summit
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday that the leaders of the NATO defence alliance should discuss Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant at their summit this week.
NATO leaders will meet in Vilnius on July 11-12 to tackle a wide range of topics, from divisions over Ukraine’s membership bid and Sweden’s accession to boosting ammunitions stockpiles and reviewing the first defence plans in decades.
Accusing Ukraine of “systematic infliction of damage” to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Zakharova said that “the NATO summit’s key attention should be devoted to it".
“After all, the vast majority of the alliance members will be in the direct impact zone” (if something were to happen at the plant), Zakharova said on the Telegram messaging app.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has also accused Russia of threatening the nuclear plant. Kyiv's military chief said the Russians have mined the site.
8:21am: 'This is a major morale boost': Zelensky brings home five soldiers from Turkey
The return of five former commanders of Ukraine’s garrison in Mariupol is "a major morale boost" to Ukrainian forces, said FRANCE 24's Emmanuelle Chaze, reporting from the streets of Kyiv.
"This is a success far from the battlefield but a success nonetheless for Ukraine," said Chaze.
1:08am: Zelensky brings home Azovstal commanders from Turkey, enrages Russia
President Volodymyr Zelensky brought home from Turkey on Saturday five former commanders of Ukraine’s garrison in Mariupol, a highly symbolic achievement that Russia said violated a prisoner exchange deal engineered last year.
Russia immediately denounced the release. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ankara had promised under the exchange agreement to keep the men in Turkey and complained Moscow had not been informed.
The five commanders have been lionised in Ukraine after leading a fierce three-month defence of Mariupol from the Azovstal steel plant last year, the biggest city Russia has captured.
"We are returning home from Turkey and bringing our heroes home," said Zelenskiy, who met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan for talks in Istanbul on Friday.
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Key developments from Saturday, July 8:
Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov welcomed a US decision to send cluster bombs to Kyiv Saturday, saying it would help to liberate Ukrainian territory but promised the munitions would not be used in Russia.
Mercenary fighters of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner group were preparing to move to Belarus Saturday under the terms of a deal that defused their mutiny against Russia’s military leadership, a senior commander of the group was quoted as saying.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday visited a tiny Black Sea island whose few defenders famously defied a Russian warship at the beginning of the invasion, as the conflict reaches its 500th day.
Read yesterday's live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
