Closing summary
Ukraine hopes to have enough ammunition for its troops to repel Russian aggression starting from April, amid a Czech-led initiative to source shells for supply, Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said on Tuesday.
Estonia’s prime minister, Kaja Kallas, called on Nato allies to increase their defence spending to over 3% of gross domestic product (GDP), saying her country is already investing more than 3% of its GDP in defence and that all Nato allies should follow suit.
Russia has launched 130 missiles of various types, more than 320 Shahed attack drones and almost 900 guided bombs in attacks on Ukraine so far this month, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said.
A Russian energy ministry official earlier revealed plans to defend oil and gas facilities with missile systems. “We are jointly working, including with colleagues from the Russian National Guard, to cover objects, on installing, accordingly, protection systems such as Pantsir,” Artyom Verkhov, director of energy ministry’s department for gas industry development, told a parliament meeting.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said he will propose that the EU uses 90% of the revenues from Russian assets frozen in Europe to buy arms for Ukraine via the European Peace Facility fund. Borrell told reporters in Brussels he would propose that the remaining 10% be transferred to the EU budget to be used to boost the capacity of the Ukrainian defence industry. He said he would submit the proposal to EU member states on Wednesday, ahead of a summit of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday.
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, said that Vladimir Putin was not the legitimate president of Russia and that the official results of the election had no meaning. “We proved to ourselves and others that Putin is not our president. We did not elect him,” Navalnaya said of the “noon against Putin” protests held on the last day of the presidential election on Sunday.
Russia appointed Adm Alexander Moiseyev as acting navy chief, replacing Nikolai Yevmenov, according to the state RIA news agency, which confirmed earlier reports of the reshuffle.
About 9,000 children will be evacuated from the Russian border city of Belgorod and from several districts in the wider region of the same name due to Ukrainian shelling, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor, said earlier today. The first group of 1,200 children will be evacuated on 22 March, Gladkov said.
Vladimir Putin will travel to China in May for talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in what could be the Russian president’s first overseas trip of his new presidential term, sources told Reuters. “Putin will visit China,” one of the sources, said. The details were independently confirmed to Reuters by four other sources, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. Putin’s trip to China is thought likely to take place in the second half of May, according to one source.
This blog is closing now but you can read all our Ukraine coverage here.
Updated
The UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, will host European leaders at Blenheim Palace in July.
Sunak said the European Political Community summit on 18 July would offer the chance to discuss issues including support for Ukraine and “stopping the scourge of people smuggling”.
He said:
I am delighted that the UK will host the next European Political Community meeting at the historic Blenheim Palace.
It is an important forum for cooperation across the whole of Europe on the issues that are affecting us all, threatening our security and prosperity.
From putting our full support behind Ukraine to stopping the scourge of people smuggling and illegal migration, under the UK’s leadership the meeting will bring together our European friends, partners, and neighbours to address our shared challenges.
A date is finally announced. UK PM will host leaders from across Europe at the European Political Community meeting on 18 July. Gathering to bring together around 50 leaders from across the region to discuss shared challenges such as Ukraine and illegal migration.
— Patrick Wintour (@patrickwintour) March 19, 2024
The…
Updated
Ukraine is working to secure “a strong and far-reaching step” towards membership of Nato at the military alliance’s Washington summit in July, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has said.
“We think that Ukraine meets the main criteria of membership, which is the capacity to defend Nato borders. That’s what we are doing by defending Ukraine,” he told reporters.
“ … Let me say this, we are working hard to make a strong and far-reaching step towards Ukrainian membership in Nato at the Washington summit.”
Ukraine’s leadership was left bitterly disappointed when, under US and German pressure, Nato at its summit last year issued a statement saying Ukraine would be offered an invitation when conditions allowed, effectively rejecting Ukraine’s request to be given a specific date.
Kyiv hopes to have enough battlefield ammunition for its soldiers by April - PM
Ukraine hopes to have enough ammunition for its soldiers, who face shell shortages, to repel Russian forces from April, Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, has said.
Prague located 800,000 artillery rounds in third countries earlier this year to supply to Ukraine and says it raised funds from allies to buy a first batch of 300,000.
A senior Czech official said the first deliveries were expected by June at the latest.
“We hope that this Czech initiative, which Luxembourg joined, will help us, and beginning since (from) April we will have enough ammunition to deter our frontline,” Shmyhal told a news conference on a visit to Luxembourg.
“We also count on the supplying of long-range and middle-range missiles to cut Russian logistics on the occupied territories. It is also crucially important, (just) as the artillery shells are for us,” Shmyhal added.
Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said earlier this month that Ukraine was running out of ammunition in its war against Russia’s invasion and that the allies were not doing enough to help Kyiv. It comes as a bill in the US Congress to send further aid to Ukraine stalls amid partisan debate.
Updated
Estonian PM urges Nato allies to increase defence spending to over 3% of GDP
Estonia’s prime minister, Kaja Kallas, has called on Nato allies to increase their defence spending to over 3% of gross domestic product (GDP).
Estonia is already investing more than 3% of its GDP in defence and all Nato allies should follow suit, she was quoted by Reuters as having said at a media event in Berlin, adding that she understands it is difficult to do so.
Nato members have been steadily increasing their defence spending since Russia annexed the southern Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and entered Donbas in eastern Ukraine in 2014, though defence spending by governments across the bloc is uneven.
All Nato members in Europe have spent 32% more on defence since 2014, although only 10 of them spend more than 2% of GDP, according to alliance data.
German prosecutors have charged an officer in the country’s military procurement agency with attempting to pass secret information to Russian intelligence, Reuters reported.
The German national is accused of repeatedly approaching Russia’s consulate in Bonn and embassy in Berlin to offer his cooperation.
Ahead of a summit of EU leaders later this week, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said that he spoke with the European Council president, Charles Michel.
“We focused on further steps toward the actual start of Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations, as well as further comprehensive EU support for Ukraine,” he said.
He added:
We also identified potential ways to increase the supply of artillery ammunition to Ukraine. We discussed the importance of extending autonomous trade benefits for Ukraine for another year. I emphasized that maintaining the trade liberalization regime with the EU is critical to supporting Ukraine’s economy during the war.
On the eve of the European Council meeting, I spoke with the European Council President, @CharlesMichel.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 19, 2024
We focused on further steps toward the actual start of Ukraine's EU accession negotiations, as well as further comprehensive EU support for Ukraine.
I thanked @eucopresident… pic.twitter.com/DsmiTKK4Hn
Finland will provide funds to procure artillery shells for Ukraine, under a Czech-led initiative, the Ukrainian defence ministry said.
Finland will provide €30 million to procure artillery shells for Ukraine within the Czech initiative.
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 19, 2024
We are grateful to our Finnish partners for this important decision and unwavering support. Together, we will win!
🇺🇦🤝🇫🇮@anttihakkanen @DefenceFinland pic.twitter.com/ZxyTVnwsHh
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has approved a transaction for the acquisition of 100% of the shares in gold mining company Highland Gold, according to an order published on a government website.
Highland Gold has been under US sanctions since December 2023. Putin’s order did not name the buyer.
The latest episode from the Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast explores the reasons why hundreds of young Indian and Nepali men are ending up on the frontlines of the war in Ukraine.
You can listen to it here:
Updated
Zelenskiy: Russia has launched almost 900 guided bombs in attacks on Ukraine in March
Russia has launched 130 missiles of various types, more than 320 Shahed attack drones and almost 900 guided bombs in attacks on Ukraine so far this month, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Tuesday.
Russia and Ukraine have increased aerial attacks as Moscow’s troops advance on the frontlines and Kyiv faces a shortage of manpower and weapons.
In March, Russia concentrated airstrikes on Odesa, targeting the Black Sea port city and region almost every day, according to Reuters. Two ballistic missiles reportedly killed 2 people and injured over 70 others in one attack last week.
Updated
In a video message, Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, praised the participation of thousands of people across Russia and abroad in a noon protest on Sunday against Vladimir Putin’s rule.
“We proved to ourselves and to others that Putin is not our president. We do not elect him and we won’t be silent” Navalnaya said in the clip posted to her late husband’s YouTube channel.
“We will make sure that no one in the world recognises Putin as a legitimate president. That no one sits down at the negotiating table with him” she said.
Navalnaya, 47, who has vowed to continue Navalny’s work, took part in Sunday’s protest action from Berlin.
Shortly before his death in an Arctic penal colony on 16 February, Navalny had endorsed the idea of Russians coming out at noon on 17 March to vote against Putin, spoil their ballots or simply register their solidarity with the opposition.
Updated
Slovakia risks moving further away from the west, government critics have warned, as a report alleged that a presidential candidate aligned with the country’s populist prime minister, Robert Fico, had previously sought an invitation to Russia to boost his position at home.
Slovaks will vote in a presidential election on 23 March, in what many consider to be a test for the country’s democracy and future within Europe.
Since returning to power after winning the election last autumn, Fico has shifted foreign policy in a more Russia-friendly direction and taken aim at independent institutions at home, including the special prosecutor’s office and the public broadcaster.
“Given the attempt to concentrate as much power as possible within the executive, the fight for the presidency has become all the more important,” said Tomáš Valášek, a member of parliament from the opposition party Progressive Slovakia. “[The presidency is] one of the last remaining sort of levers of power that can be a check on the power of the executive”, he said on Friday.
You can read the full story by my colleagues, Lili Bayer and Shaun Walker, here:
Russia plans to defend oil and gas facilities with missile systems
A Russian energy ministry official has revealed plans to defend oil and gas facilities with missile systems after Kyiv concentrated fire on Russian refineries and energy facilities in recent months.
“We are jointly working, including with colleagues from the Russian National Guard, to cover objects, on installing, accordingly, protection systems such as Pantsir,” Artyom Verkhov, director of energy ministry’s department for gas industry development, told a parliament meeting on Tuesday.
Ukraine has increased attacks on Russian oil infrastructure since January, hitting numerous large oil refineries in an attempt to cripple Russia’s military and halt its army’s advances.
Russian oil refining capacity shut down in the wake of Ukrainian drone attacks in the first quarter amounts to about 4.6m tonnes (370,500 barrels a day), or 7% of the total, Reuters calculations show.
Updated
Summary of the day so far...
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said he will propose that the EU uses 90% of the revenues from Russian assets frozen in Europe to buy arms for Ukraine via the European Peace Facility fund. Borrell told reporters in Brussels he would propose that the remaining 10% be transferred to the EU budget to be used to boost the capacity of the Ukrainian defence industry. He said he would submit the proposal to EU member states on Wednesday, ahead of a summit of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday.
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, said that Vladimir Putin was not the legitimate president of Russia and that the official results of the election had no meaning. “We proved to ourselves and others that Putin is not our president. We did not elect him,” Navalnaya said of the “noon against Putin” protests held on the last day of the presidential election on Sunday.
Russia appointed Adm Alexander Moiseyev as acting navy chief, replacing Nikolai Yevmenov, according to the state RIA news agency, which confirmed earlier reports of the reshuffle.
About 9,000 children will be evacuated from the Russian border city of Belgorod and from several districts in the wider region of the same name due to Ukrainian shelling, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor, said earlier today. The first group of 1,200 children will be evacuated on 22 March, Gladkov said.
Vladimir Putin will travel to China in May for talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in what could be the Russian president’s first overseas trip of his new presidential term, sources told Reuters. “Putin will visit China,” one of the sources, said. The details were independently confirmed to Reuters by four other sources, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. Putin’s trip to China is thought likely to take place in the second half of May, according to one source.
Russian attacks against Ukraine have killed four people and injured six others over the past day, damaging homes and civilian infrastructure, regional officials reported on Tuesday. Russia reportedly targeted nine Ukrainian regions – Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Donetsk, with the casualties being killed in the latter three areas.
Here are some of the latest images coming out from the newswires:
A group of EU countries, including Germany, has pushed for a green light to start membership negotiations with Bosnia, AFP reports.
The EU’s 27 leaders will debate at a summit on Thursday a proposal from the bloc’s executive to launch the talks with the Balkan country. All member states will have to agree to the move before negotiations can begin.
“We have seen clear progress towards reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina over the past few months and we should honour that as well,” Germany’s European affairs minister, Anna Luhrmann, said at a pre-summit meeting in Brussels.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has reinvigorated the EU’s drive to enlarge in eastern and central Europe, with its current member states agreeing in December to start talks on joining with Ukraine and Moldova.
Bosnia has been an official candidate for membership since 2022 but needed to implement a string of major reforms before getting the green light on negotiations to join the EU.
The European Commission last week recommended beginning talks with Bosnia, with the executive’s head Ursula von der Leyen saying the country had made “impressive steps”.
The push to move Bosnia closer to the bloc is backed by a string of countries including Austria, Italy, and Greece. But some – including France, the Netherlands and Denmark – appear more sceptical.
France’s Europe minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, said Paris viewed Bosnia’s efforts since becoming a candidate as “too limited”. “We must continue to encourage the Bosnian leaders to make efforts to achieve the objectives that have been set,” he said at the Brussels meeting.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had carried out pre-emptive strikes against two groups of Ukrainian saboteurs near the border with Belgorod and Kursk regions.
In both cases, the saboteur groups were destroyed, the defence ministry said. This claim has not yet been independently verified.
EU's foreign policy chief wants to use 90% of frozen Russian assets revenues to buy arms for Ukraine
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said he will propose that the EU uses 90% of the revenues from Russian assets frozen in Europe to buy arms for Ukraine via the European Peace Facility fund, Reuters reports.
Borrell told reporters in Brussels he would propose that the remaining 10% be transferred to the EU budget to be used to boost the capacity of the Ukrainian defence industry.
He said he would submit the proposal to EU member states on Wednesday, ahead of a summit of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday.
The European Peace Facility fund operates as a giant cashback scheme, giving EU members refunds for sending munitions to other countries.
Earlier this month, a top military commander said Ukrainian troops were forced to leave several settlements neighbouring Avdiivka due to Russia’s continued offensive amid its own depleting stockpiles of munitions.
About $300bn belonging to the Russian central bank has been frozen in the west, largely in foreign currency, gold and government bonds.
Updated
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, said on Tuesday that Vladimir Putin was not the legitimate president of Russia and that the official results of the election had no meaning.
“We proved to ourselves and others that Putin is not our president. We did not elect him,” Navalnaya said of the “noon against Putin” protests held on the last day of the presidential election on Sunday.
Pictures were posted on X on Sunday of Navalnaya standing in line in Berlin where Russians queued up to vote.
Спасибо огромное вам, прекрасные, лучшие люди, которые простояли со мной сегодня с 12 дня целых 6 часов бок о бок в очереди на избирательный участок. Спасибо, что подходили - плакали, смеялись. Спасибо, что бесконечно кричали «Юля, мы с тобой» и «Навальный» и говорили мне, что я… pic.twitter.com/PAqveQT61o
— Yulia Navalnaya (@yulia_navalnaya) March 17, 2024
In the run-up to the three-day presidential elections, Navalnaya urged her supporters to protest against Putin by appearing en masse at midday on Sunday in a legal show of strength against the longtime Russian leader.
Navalny’s team called on voters to spoil their ballot papers, write “Alexei Navalny” across the voting slip or vote for one of the three candidates standing against Putin, who ended up winning the election – widely condemned by the west as illegitimate – in a landslide.
Navalny, who was Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic for more than a decade, died last month in a prison colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence for “extremism” charges largely regarded as retribution for his opposition to the Kremlin.
Navalnaya has pledged to continue her husband’s work and said Putin “murdered” Navalny. The Kremlin and Putin have denied involvement in his death.
Updated
Russia reportedly appoints acting navy chief after Ukraine’s attacks on Black Sea fleet
Russia has appointed Adm Alexander Moiseyev as acting navy chief, replacing Nikolai Yevmenov, according to the state RIA news agency, which confirmed earlier reports of the reshuffle.
Moiseyev, who served on nuclear submarines for almost three decades and was made a ‘Hero of Russia’ in 2011, was appointed commander of the northern fleet five years ago.
Although Ukraine began the war with no navy, Kyiv has gradually pushed back against Moscow’s early dominance of the Black Sea through long-range missile attacks and the innovative use of sea drones.
Moscow has consequently been forced to withdraw most of its Black Sea fleet from its main base in Crimea to Novorossiysk on the Russian mainland, while Ukraine has been able to restart grain exports from Odesa and other nearby ports, bringing them back to prewar levels.
Russia has officially replaced the commander-in-chief of the Navy after the loss of almost a third of its fleet in the Black Sea
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 19, 2024
Admiral Alexander Moiseev was officially introduced as acting commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy. pic.twitter.com/MT3e1fpeKU
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Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, said he welcomed what he called Armenia’s solidarity with Ukraine while speaking at a news conference in Yerevan with Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan (you can watch the press conference from 45:07 here).
The Kremlin, commenting on the visit by Stoltenberg to the South Caucasus region, said that the bloc’s efforts to expand there were unlikely to help bring stability.
Armenia is a treaty ally of Russia, but its relations with Moscow have soured in recent years. Since coming to power in a 2018 revolution, Pashinyan has deepened Armenia’s ties with Europe and the US, repeatedly drawing the ire of Moscow.
He said in an interview last year that Armenia was not a Russian ally in the Ukraine war.
“We are not Russia’s ally in the war with Ukraine. And our feeling from that war, from that conflict, is anxiety because it directly affects all our relationships,” Pashinyan told CNN Prima News.
“In the west, they notice that we are Russia’s ally … in Russia they see that we are not their ally in the Ukraine war, and it turns out that we are not anyone’s ally in this situation, which means that we are vulnerable,” he said.
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Belgorod: Thousands of children to be evacuated from Russian border city due to Ukrainian shelling - governor
About 9,000 children will be evacuated from the Russian border city of Belgorod and from several districts in the wider region of the same name due to Ukrainian shelling, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor, said on Tuesday.
The first group of 1,200 children will be evacuated on 22 March, Gladkov said.
Belgorod, a city and a region more than 600km from Moscow, is just over half an hour’s drive from the border with Ukraine, making it a vital stop for Russian supply lines, but also uniquely vulnerable to attack.
About 2,000 Nepali men have been recruited by Russia to fight in its war against Ukraine, Sky News reports.
The figure, which was cross-referenced with estimates compiled by campaigners supporting the soldier’s families, was based on testimony of returning soldiers and Russian immigration data.
One of the Nepalise recruits who made it home, Ganesh, 35, said he and the other men did not have enough food and were “treated like dogs”.
“Once we were sent to Ukraine we didn’t have enough food and were beaten by the Russians,” he said.
Moldova expelled a Russian diplomat over the opening of polling stations for Russia’s presidential election in its breakaway region of Transnistria, the foreign ministry said after summoning the Russian ambassador on Tuesday.
The ministry protested over the opening of the polling stations in Transnistria, a pro-Russian enclave that split from Moldova as the Soviet Union was collapsing.
Earlier government statements called Russia’s move disrespectful to Moldova’s sovereignty, according to Reuters.
The Russian Ambassador, Oleg Vasnețov, has been summoned to the #MFA. The Moldovan side expressed its protest against the presidential elections held by Russia in the Transnistrian region, against Moldovan authorities’ stance.
— Mihai Popșoi (@MihaiPopsoi) March 19, 2024
A diplomat was declared persona non grata.
Transnistria, which borders Ukraine to the east, has maintained autonomy from Moldova for three decades with support from Russia.
Since Moscow began its full-scale assault on Ukraine, officials in Chișinău, the Moldovan capital, have been concerned the Kremlin could use Transnistria to open a new front in the south-west, in the direction of Odesa.
You can read more about Transnistria’s relationship with Russia and its geopolitical positioning here:
Updated
Three people were killed by overnight shelling in the Kherson region, Gyunduz Mamedov, a former deputy prosecutor general of Ukraine, wrote on X.
He said that Russian forces attacked the Donetsk town of Selydove with 2 S-300 missiles, leaving four people injured and 24 private houses damaged.
3 people were killed after night shelling in Kherson region. Also, at night Selydove in Donetsk region was attacked with 2 S-300 missiles – 4 people were wounded, 24 private houses and 4 cars were damaged.#StopRussianAggression pic.twitter.com/EDIWdcAHIM
— Гюндуз Мамедов/Gyunduz Mamedov (@MamedovGyunduz) March 19, 2024
Updated
Putin to visit China in May for talks with Xi Jinping - report
Vladimir Putin will travel to China in May for talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in what could be the Russian president’s first overseas trip of his new presidential term, sources have told Reuters.
“Putin will visit China,” one of the sources, said. The details were independently confirmed to Reuters by four other sources, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.
Putin’s trip to China is thought likely to take place in the second half of May, according to one source.
China, which congratulated Putin on his election victory, has bolstered its military ties with Russia over recent years.
The two countries declaring a “no limits” partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing just days before the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
China and Russia are also members of the Brics group of emerging economies, which aim to challenge US domination of the global economy by uniting emerging economies including Brazil, South Africa and India.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
The development of drones is key to give Kyiv an advantage over “a numerically superior” Russian forces, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, has said.
“The development of the use of unmanned systems is my priority,” Syrskyi wrote on Telegram after meeting his deputy, Vadym Sukharevskyi. “We are looking for asymmetric solutions to gain a qualitative advantage over a numerically superior opponent.”
Military analysts say drones could give Ukraine a technological edge over Moscow, given its shortages in artillery shells and other more traditional weapons, though Russia’s drone industry is also developing rapidly.
In other key developments:
Following his landslide presidential election win – condemned as illegitimate by western leaders – Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, addressed a crowd at a Red Square pop concert on Monday to mark 10 years since Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. Putin, who was basking in his election victory, told the crowd that Crimea was the “pride of Russia” and that the Black Sea peninsula had “come back to its native harbour” when Moscow annexed the region. “Through decades, they carried faith in their fatherland. They never separated themselves from Russia and that’s what allowed Crimea to return to our common family,” he said. The official tally from the three-day election was a 87.28% share of the vote for Putin, which the Kremlin on Monday portrayed as a dominant victory, saying the results showed that the people had consolidated around the Russian president.
Ukrainian troops are strengthening fortifications in the Sumy region, in the north-east of the country, an official has been quoted as telling the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform. “The defence forces in the Sumy region perform combat tasks to protect the state border and prevent Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups and the Russian military from crossing the border,” Vadym Mysnyk said.
The EU is preparing to levy tariffs on grain imports from Russia and Belarus to placate farmers and some member states, the Financial Times reported. The European Commission is in the coming days expected to impose a duty of €95 (£81) per tonne on cereals from Russia and Belarus, the FT said, adding that tariffs of 50% would also be placed on oil seeds and derived products.
Russian attacks against Ukraine have killed four people and injured six others over the past day, damaging homes and civilian infrastructure, regional officials reported on Tuesday. Russia reportedly targeted nine Ukrainian regions – Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Donetsk, with the casualties being killed in the latter three areas.
During a visit to Kyiv, the Republican US senator, Lindsey Graham, said he was confident an aid package stalled by Republican opposition in the US Congress would soon be approved, but called for aid to take the form of a low-interest, waivable loan. He and other Republicans have backed the notion of loans rather than grants for US allies to make the expenditure more sustainable and popular, a plan espoused by former president Donald Trump, the likely Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has congratulated Putin on his re-election and offered to mediate between Moscow and Ukraine, the Turkish presidency announced. Turkey’s top diplomat, Hakan Fidan, also hit out at “dangerous” rhetoric coming from both Europe and Moscow. “This war must end,” Fidan said in an interview with CNN Turk aired on Monday evening. “On both sides, tens of thousands of mothers are burying their children and it’s continuing. Both sides have only too much to lose and nothing to gain,” he said.
EU foreign ministers strongly support taking the revenues from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said. “I am not saying there was unanimity but [there was] a strong consensus to take this decision,” Borrell told reporters on Monday after a meeting with the ministers held in Brussels.
The Council of the European Union ratified an agreement to increase the EU’s support for the Ukrainian military by €5bn (£4.3bn) through a dedicated assistance fund. The EU said the money would fund training and both lethal and non-lethal military gear.
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