Evening summary
The time in Kyiv is just coming up to 9pm. Here is a roundup of the day’s news:
The death toll from a Russian missile attack in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro has risen to two, with 30 people wounded, according to media reports. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said: “Russian terrorists once again confirm their status of fighters against everything humane and honest.”
A deal allowing the safe export of grain and fertiliser from Ukrainian Black Sea ports has not yet resumed full operations, the United Nations said on Friday, having come to a halt before Russia’s decision last week to extend it, Reuters reports.
The UK’s former prime minister Boris Johnson, and US former President Donald Trump discussed Ukraine and “the vital importance of Ukrainian victory” on Thursday, a spokseperson for Johnson said.
The Russian security council deputy chairman Dmitry Medvedev has said the conflict in Ukraine could last for decades and that negotiations with Ukraine were impossible as long as Ukraine’s western-backed President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was in power.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told China’s special envoy Li Hui today that there were “serious obstacles” to resuming peace talks, blaming Ukraine and western countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a phone call with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, confirmed that Russia is open to dialogue over Ukraine. Lula tweeted that he had reiterated Brazil’s willingness to talk to both sides of the war in Ukraine but declined Putin’s invitation to visit.
Canadian trade minister Mary Ng said Canada backs Ukraine’s application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). In a tweet, Ng said “Following the UK’s accession, as more economies express interest in joining, Canada welcomes Ukraine’s application to join CPTPP.”
The cross-border incursion earlier this week into Belgorod is driving Russian governors in the region to demand a change in the law so that their volunteer border forces can be armed. At present local volunteer self-defence units cannot be armed, but Reuters reports Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod, said he and others were working to try to change the law.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, plans to visit Sweden, Norway and Finland from 29 May to 2 June to deepen cooperation on top national security and economic issues, the US state department said on Friday. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Finland has joined Nato, with Sweden’s bid to join awaiting ratification from Hungary and Turkey.
The Russian arms company Kalashnikov, the maker of the world’s most widely used assault rifle, is launching a division for the production of kamikaze drones – one of the key weapons used in the Ukraine war
Canada will donate 43 AIM-9 missiles to Ukraine to help the country “secure its skies”, the national defence has said. Canada’s defence minister, Anita Anand, said “Canada’s support for Ukraine is unwavering.”
Moscow’s city court will hold a preliminary hearing on 31 May in a new criminal case against the jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on charges including incitement to extremism.
A blast that damaged a residential and office building in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, east of Crimea, on Friday was caused by two drones. Krasnodar’s governor, Veniamin Kondratyev, wrote on Telegram: “There is some damage to buildings, but critical infrastructure was not damaged. And most importantly, there were no casualties.
Ukraine claims to have shot down 10 missiles and 25 drones launched by Russia in overnight attacks on the capital Kyiv, the city of Dnipro and eastern regions, Ukrainian officials said on Friday. The Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 10 missiles fired from the Caspian Sea, and 23 Iranian-made Shahed drones and two reconnaissance drones. It said a total of 17 missiles and 31 drones had been launched during the attacks, which started at about 10pm local time on Thursday and continued until 5am on Friday. Several drones and several missiles hit targets in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, officials said. There was no immediate word of any deaths.
Denis Pushilin, the Russian-imposed leader of the occupied Donetsk region, has said the city of Donetsk has come under fire from Ukrainian forces. As a result, he said, a young woman died and another was injured.
Ukraine struck two regions in southern Russia with a rocket and a drone, though the missile was shot down by air defences, according to Russian officials and media reports. In the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, a blast damaged a residential and office building, officials said. In the neighbouring Rostov region, the local governor said a Ukrainian missile had been shot down by air defences on Thursday near Morozovsk, where there is a Russian airbase.
Russia’s deputy security council chair, Dmitry Medvedev, said on Friday that negotiations with Ukraine were “impossible” as long as Zelenskiy was in power. Ukraine has previously ruled out negotiating with Russia while Vladimir Putin remained in power.
China hopes the Black Sea grain initiative deal can be implemented in a balanced and comprehensive manner, and wants to cooperate on global food security, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday.
Japan will place additional sanctions on Russia after the Group of Seven (G7) summit the country hosted last week agreed to step up measures to punish Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, said on Friday.
That’s all from the Ukraine live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
The German chancellor Olaf Scholz said the Ukraine war must not end in a frozen conflict, Reuters reports.
Speaking in English at a joint news conference with Baltic leaders in Tallinn, Estonia, he said:
If Russia is thinking it can succeed with the robbery of land in Ukraine, it will not.
Russia must withdraw its troops and this is the basis for peace.
