Closing summary
The Russian defence ministry said that Russian forces had taken control of the settlement of Lozuvatske in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, Interfax news agency reported.
The Ukrainian maritime corridor transported 60 million tonnes of cargo, mainly from the Greater Odesa ports, in the last 11 months, the Ukrainian sea ports authority said, despite attacks on port infrastructure. 40.6 million tonnes of this total amount were grain exports delivered to 46 countries.
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, is scheduled to travel to Kyiv in August, marking his first visit to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion two years ago.
The air force of the armed forces of Ukraine said Russia has increased the number of “ballistic” strikes over the past few months, forcing Ukrainian forces to think more about “passive defence” tactics such as camouflage and using “false positions”.
The governor of the Bryansk region in southern Russia, Alexander Bogomaz, reported a “massive” drone attack on the region yesterday evening and overnight. No casualties were reported. “22 unmanned aircraft-type aerial vehicles have been intercepted and destroyed,” Bogomaz wrote on Telegram.
Thank you for following today’s latest news. This blog is closing now but you can read all our Ukraine coverage here.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said he “does not listen” to what he called Ukraine’s contradictory statements on peace talks.
He was referring to comments made by Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, who said on Friday that Kyiv could not be forced to negotiate and that China, which has sought to paint itself as a mediator in the conflict, respected Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Kuleba “is saying this not for the first time and has sometimes said completely opposite things,” Lavrov said.
“Not long ago they were talking about negotiations. Zelenskiy talked of readiness to finally sit at a table with Russian representatives. I don’t listen to them, to be honest,” he added.
Lavrov said that during talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Laos, they discussed what was said during Kuleba’s visit to China last week.
Kuleba said last week that Kyiv was prepared for talks on the war, provided Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity were fully respected. Kuleba was the highest ranking Ukrainian official to travel to China since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. He reportedly held talks with Wang Yi for more than three hours.
Vladimir Putin said in June that Moscow would end the war if Kyiv retreated from and handed over the rest of four partially-occupied Ukrainian provinces, and dropped its Nato ambitions, ideas rejected by Kyiv.
Kyiv plans a second summit later this year to advance its vision for peace after an initial gathering in Switzerland in June drew dozens of delegations, but not from Russia or China.
