Live blog: Zelenskyy urges EU to end 'internal quarrels', adopt sanctions

Monday, May 30, 2022

Ukraine urges EU to end divisons, impose more sanctions on Russia

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the EU to end internal "quarrels" saying they only helped Moscow and asked the bloc to adopt more sanctions against Russia.

"All quarrels in Europe must end, internal disputes that only encourage Russia to put more and more pressure on you," Zelensky told an EU summit in Brussels via video-link.

"It is time for you to be not separate, not fragments, but one whole," he said, calling for a new set of sanctions against Russia, including a ban on Russian oil. 

Russia's Gazprom cutting gas supplies - Dutch firm

Russia's Gazprom will halt gas supplies to the Netherlands' partly state-owned energy firm GasTerra starting tomorrow after it refused to pay in roubles, the Dutch company has said.

The Russian energy giant's move means that two billion cubic metres of gas will not be supplied to the Netherlands between now and October, GasTerra said, adding that it "has anticipated this by purchasing gas elsewhere."

Following Russia's February 24 offensive in Ukraine, Moscow asked clients from "unfriendly countries", including EU member states, to pay for gas in roubles as a way to sidestep Western financial sanctions against its central bank.

Ukraine fed up with separate models for its EU integration: Kuleba

Ukraine has been fed up with "special solutions" and separate models for its integration into the European Union, the country's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.

"We need a clear legal affirmation that Ukraine is a part of the European integration project, and such an affirmation would be the granting of candidate status," he said speaking after a meeting with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna in Kiev.

Biden rules out sending rocket systems 'that can strike into Russia' to Ukraine

The United States will not send Ukraine rocket systems that can reach into Russia, President Joe Biden has said.

The comments followed reports that the Biden administration was preparing to send advanced long-range rocket systems to Kiev for its fight against Russia.

"We're not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems” that can reach into Russia, Biden told reporters after arriving back at the White House after a weekend in Delaware.

Ukrainian officials have sought a longer-range system called the Multiple Launch Rocket System, or MLRS, that can fire a barrage of rockets hundreds of miles away.

Russia's Medvedev calls Biden announcement on Ukraine rocket systems 'rational'

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has said that Washington's decision not to send Ukraine rocket systems that could reach into Russia was 'rational'.

Orban warns 'no compromise' yet on EU Russia oil ban

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned as he arrives at a summit of EU leaders that the bloc has yet to come up with a compromise that could see him back an embargo on Russian oil.

European diplomats have drafted a statement proposing that Hungary receive a temporary exemption from the ban, and hope it will be adopted at the two-day Brussels meeting.

But Orban told reporters: "There is no agreement at all."

French journalist killed in Ukraine: Macron

A French journalist has been killed while working in Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron has said on Twitter, the latest of several reporters killed or wounded during Russia's offensive in the country.

"Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff was in Ukraine to show the reality of war. On board a humanitarian bus with civilians forced to flee to escape Russian bombings, he was mortally wounded," Macron wrote. 

Leclerc-Imhoff's employer French TV channel BFM-TV also confirmed he had been killed.

Ukraine's ex-leader Poroshenko allowed to leave country

Ukraine's former president Petro Poroshenko, a rival of current leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said he is authorised to leave the country after being "deliberately" blocked at the border this weekend.

He accused the government of breaking a so-called political ceasefire in place since Russian offensive by not letting him leave.

Poroshenko had received official permission to travel for a NATO parliamentary assembly meeting in Lithuania but could not attend.

Russian forces regrouping to resume attack towards Sloviansk: Ukraine ministry

Russian forces are regrouping to resume their offensive in the direction of the Sloviansk region of eastern Ukraine, while also continuing efforts to encircle the city of Sievierodonetsk, Ukraine's defence ministry spokesman has said.

Spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk added that Ukrainian forces had had some success in advancing towards coastal areas where Russian forces have taken defensive positions.

"In Sloviansk (axis), the enemy is regrouping to resume attacks in the direction of Izyum-Barvinkove and Izyum-Sloviansk," Motuzyanyk told a briefing.

Surrendered Azovstal defenders may face death penalty: separatists

Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered to Russian forces at the Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol may face the death penalty, a pro-Moscow separatist official has said.

"The court will make a decision about them," Yuri Sirovatko, the justice minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine, was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.

"For such crimes we have the highest form of punishment in the DNR -- the death penalty. All the prisoners of war are on the territory of the DNR," he said, adding that there were around 2,300 soldiers from Azovstal among them.

Mayor: Fierce street fighting in Sievierodonetsk

The mayor of a Ukrainian city at the epicenter of the Russian offensive has said that fierce street battles are going on there.

Sievierodonetsk Mayor Oleksandr Striuk said in a telephone interview that “Russian troops have entered the city and street fighting is going on.” He added that Ukrainian defenders were fighting to push the Russians out.

Striuk added that “the Russian troops have advanced a few blocks toward the city center.”

Eurovision trophy auctioned for Ukraine army

Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra, which won the Eurovision song contest this year, has auctioned off its trophy on Facebook to raise funds for the Ukrainian army.

The trophy - a large crystal microphone with the song contest's logo - nets $900 ,000 (836,000 euros) after a bidding war won by Ukrainian bitcoin company WhiteBIT.

Lavrov denies Putin is ill 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has denied speculation that President Vladimir Putin is ill, saying there are no signs pointing to any ailment.

Putin's health and private life are taboo subjects in Russia and are almost never discussed in public.

Answering a question from France's broadcaster TF1, Russia's top diplomat says, "I don't think that sane people can see in this person signs of some kind of illness or ailment," adding that Putin appears in public "every day".

Germany OKs fund to modernise military

Germany's government and conservative opposition have agreed on an amendment to the constitution to allow the creation of a special 100-billion-euro fund to modernise the army in the face of the Russian threat.

The deal will allow Berlin to achieve NATO's target of spending two percent of GDP on defence "on average over several years", according to the text of the agreement.

Civilians killed in Ukrainian shelling

Authorities in a Russia-backed separatist region in eastern Ukraine have said that at least five civilians have been killed in new Ukrainian shelling.

The separatist authorities said those killed during the shelling of the city of Donetsk included a 13-year old boy. They said another 13 civilians have been wounded in shelling that damaged three schools in the city.

Donetsk Mayor Alexei Kulemzin said that the Ukrainian forces apparently used US-supplied artillery systems in the attack.

Russian military strikes a shipbuilding factory in Ukraine

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov has said that a Russian artillery strike on the shipyard in the port of Mykolaiv destroyed Ukrainian armoured vehicles parked on its territory.

Konashenkov said that Russian artillery hit 593 areas of concentration of Ukrainian troops and equipment and 55 artillery batteries over the last 24 hours.

He added that the Russian air force hit three command posts and 67 troop locations.

NATO's support for Ukraine is unbreakable: Spain's PM Sanchez

NATO's support for Ukraine is unbreakable and Russian President Vladimir Putin will not reach his objectives in the country that Russia invaded on February 24, Spanish Primer Minister Pedro Sanchez has said.

"Supporting Ukraine with determination is the only way to ensure that the Europe and the world we have built has a certain future," he told an event marking Spain's 40th anniversary as part of the alliance.

Russian forces advancing on centre of Sievierodonetsk

Russian forces are edging closer to the centre of the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk despite fierce resistance, Kiev's regional governor in the region has said.

"The Russians are advancing into the middle of Sievierodonetsk. The fighting continues. The situation is very difficult," the Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said in a statement on social media.

After failing to capture Ukraine's capital Kiev in the early stages of the invasion, Russia has shifted its focus to the eastern Donbass region and is attempting to consolidate areas under its control.

Two civilians killed as Russian troops enter Sievierodonetsk

Two civilians have been killed and five wounded by shelling as Russian troops entered the outskirts of the Ukrainian city Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk region governor Serhiy Gaidai has said.

Gaidai said Russian troops were attacking the city with all weapons and air support and have entered its southeastern and northeastern areas. 

Russia's Gazprom continues shipping gas to Europe via Ukraine

Russian gas producer Gazprom has said its supply of gas to Europe through Ukraine via the Sudzha entry point stood at 44.6 million cubic metres (mcm), up from 44.1 mcm on Sunday.

An application to supply gas via another major entry point, Sokhranovka, was rejected by Ukraine, Gazprom said.

Spain backs new sanctions against Russia, no EU agreement yet

Spain supports a new package of EU sanctions against Moscow but there is no agreement yet as some member states remain heavily dependent on Russian crude imports and are reluctant to block them, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has said.

"There are two goals we have when approving a sanction package. One is not allowing (Russian President) Vladimir Putin to finance his war effort with European capital and the other is not allowing Vladimir Putin's war to destabilise the European Union," Albares said in an interview with state broadcaster TVE.

EU summit to agree sanctions should include Russian oil embargo

European Union leaders are due to agree at a summit later in the day that the sanctions package under preparation should include an embargo on Russian oil imports as punishment for Moscow invading Ukraine, but exempt pipeline crude deliveries.

Unable to agree on all the details of the oil embargo, the leaders will leave the final agreement on the package for later.

"The European Council agrees that the sixth package of sanctions against Russia will cover crude oil, as well as petroleum products, delivered from Russia into Member States, with a temporary exception for crude oil delivered by pipeline," the latest draft conclusions said.

 UK says Russia suffers devastating losses among lower-ranked officers

Russia appears to have suffered devastating losses amongst mid- and junior-ranking officers in its conflict with Ukraine, raising the prospect of weaker military effectiveness in future, Britain's defence ministry has said.

Brigade and battalion commanders were probably deploying to the most dangerous positions while junior officers have had to lead low-level tactical actions, the ministry said on Twitter in its latest Defence Intelligence update.

"With multiple credible reports of localised mutinies amongst Russia's forces in Ukraine, a lack of experienced and credible platoon and company commanders is likely to result (in) a further decrease in morale and continued poor discipline," it said.

French foreign minister to meet Ukrainian president 

French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna is set to meet Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kiev to express France's solidarity with Ukraine and offer more support for the country, said the French foreign affairs ministry.

Colonna's trip to Ukraine comes amid criticism from some diplomats and political analysts that France is not doing enough to support Ukraine in its fight with Russia.

Russia to service foreign debt using gas-for-roubles type scheme

Russia plans to settle its Eurobond obligations using a mechanism similar to the scheme used to pay for Russian gas in roubles, the Vedomosti newspaper reported citing Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

In order to receive payments, Eurobond holders will have to open foreign currency and rouble accounts at a Russian bank, Siluanov told Vedomosti.

The United States pushed Russia closer to the brink of a historic debt default last Wednesday by not extending its license to pay bondholders, as Washington ramps up pressure following Russia' s military intervention in Ukraine.

Ukraine pushes back in Kherson

Ukrainian forces have counterattacked in the country's south, claiming to have pushed back Russian troops near three villages in the Kherson region.

On the weekend, Ukrainian forces pushed back Russian troops into "unfavourable positions" around the villages of Andriyivka, Lozovo and Bilohorka in Kherson, the country's military leadership said in a statement.

"Kherson, hold on. We're close!" Ukraine's general staff tweeted Sunday. Kherson, which borders Crimea, was taken by Russian forces in March and Moscow-backed officials in the region have recently pushed for annexation.

Russia damaged 1997 Founding Act by attacking Ukraine – NATO

NATO is no longer bound by past commitments to hold back from deploying its forces in eastern Europe, the US-led alliance's deputy secretary general has said.

Moscow itself has "voided of any content" the NATO-Russia Founding Act, by attacking Ukraine and halting dialogue with the alliance, Mircea Geoana told the AFP news agency.

"Now we have no restrictions to have robust posture in the eastern flank and to ensure that every square inch of NATO's territory is protected by Article 5 and our allies."

For live updates from Sunday (May 29), click here