Finance
In an 80-minute call with France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz, Russia’s Vladimir Putin emphasised Moscow’s “openness to resume” the stalled dialogue with Ukraine, according to a Kremlin handout. However, the 69-year-old Russian leader is said to have criticised the countries providing military aid to Kyiv in the midst of growing sanctions against Moscow. The German Chancellor and French President urged Putin to hold direct and serious talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russia has blamed Kiev for the breakdown of peace talks. In three months of war, the two sides have held numerous rounds of negotiations.
Ukraine War:
1. Moscow has been attempting to broaden its Ukraine offensive, with smaller cities now being targeted. The Kremlin declared Lyman “completely liberated” on Saturday, making it the second small city to fall this week. According to AFP, the forces have been closing in on Severodonetsk and nearby Lysychansk in Lugansk province.
2. “The situation is very difficult, especially in those areas in Donbas and Kharkiv region where the Russian army is trying to squeeze at least some result for itself,” Zelensky said in his nightly address, as Russia presses eastern Ukraine, according to news agency AFP.
3. “Ukraine will definitely win this war,” Zelensky told Dutch television station NOS. “The question is at what cost.”
4. Amid an escalating food crisis, Putin assured France and Germany on Saturday that “Russia is ready to help find options for the unhindered export of grain, including the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports.” Putin blamed the escalating situation on anti-Russian sanctions.
5. The three leaders have agreed to stay in touch after not communicating during the spring, according to the statement.
6. Amid rapid advances in Ukraine, Russia’s defence ministry announced on Saturday that it had launched a new hypersonic missile from the Barents Sea to strike a target 600 miles away (1,000 kilometers). The Zircon is said to be the fastest non-ballistic missile in the world.
7. According to Moscow, Russian missile strikes destroyed Ukrainian command posts in Bakhmut and Soledar.
8. Ukrainian presidential adviser and peace talks negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak has stated that any peace talks with Russia cannot be trusted.
9. Russia has been progressive in the midst of an offensive in the Donbas provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk.
10. “If Russia were to successfully take over these areas, it would almost certainly be viewed as a substantive political achievement by the Kremlin and portrayed to the Russian people as justifying the invasion,” the British Ministry of Defense said in a Saturday assessment.
Source:HT
