Closing summary
Cuba is not against the legal participation of its citizens in Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Russian state-run RIA news agency reported on Thursday, citing the Cuban envoy to Moscow.
Britain’s most senior military officer, Sir Tony Radakin, said that Ukraine “continues to hold the initiative, it is pushing Russia back” in a short assessment of the current state of the fighting.
Russia said it is expelling two US diplomats accused of working with a Russian national who is accused of collaborating with a foreign state. Slovakia has expelled a diplomat based in Russia’s embassy, the Slovak foreign ministry said on its website on Thursday. The ministry said: “The reason is his activities, which were in direct violation of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.”
South Korea has expressed “deep concern and regret” over a meeting between the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, which apparently focused on expanding military cooperation.
Alexander Lukashenko left Belarus on Thursday for an official visit to Russia, according to his press service. Talks with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, are scheduled for Friday.
Bulgaria decided on Thursday not to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports in five eastern EU nations that is set to expire this week, AFP reported. Ukraine’s foreign ministry reportedly said that any decision by European states to extend import restrictions on Ukrainian food from 15 September would be illegal and harm common economic interests.
Ukraine earlier claimed to have destroyed a Russian air defence system near the town of Yevpatoriya in occupied Crimea in an overnight drone and missile attack which was conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine and the navy on Thursday morning.
Suspilne reported that a six-year-old boy was killed and other people injured by Russian shelling in the village of Novodmytrivka, which is located in Kherson region.
Boris Johnson, the UK’s former prime minister, has attacked the government over its policy on Ukraine, saying it should urgently provide more weaponry requested by Kyiv and asking the west: “What the hell are we waiting for?”
Ukraine’s president, Volodymr Zelenskiy, is planning to attend the UN general assembly next week and is expected to meet with US president Joe Biden, NBC reported on Thursday, citing a senior Ukrainian official.
