Russia-Ukraine war live: Sunak tells Zelenskiy UK will train pilots but supplying fighter jets to Kyiv is not ‘straightforward’

Jennifer Rankin reports from Brussels

The EU is ready to sanction foreign companies helping Russia evade trade restrictions, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen has reiterated.

The EU’s 27 member states are discussing plans to blacklist several Chinese companies for their role in supplying Russia with goods banned under western sanctions. The proposal is part of a wider set of measures to clamp down on countries in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Middle East believed to be helping Russia dodge western sanctions.

Some EU member states, led by Germany, the EU’s export powerhouse, fear that targeting China and other non-EU countries could drive them closer into an alliance with Russia.

Asked about this at a press conference, Von der Leyen did not respond directly, or name specific countries, but doubled down on the commission’s approach.

She said:

[The EU proposal was] basically a warning that we’re serious about our sanctions, that we could ban these goods from going to a third country, if there is clear evidence that this is a circumvention of time of sanctions and [there are] deliveries to Russia”.

Von der Leyen, with EU council president Charles Michel, will represent the European Union at an upcoming Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik and G7 gathering in Hiroshima.

Ahead of these events, she said countries had a duty to show “the same level of stamina, perseverance” that she had witnessed from Ukrainians on a visit to Kyiv last week.

Leaders should rally behind two main principles, Von der Leyen said:

One is that we will keep supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes and the second principle is nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. As long as it takes must translate basically into stable financial support, of course also beyond 2023, and accelerated military support focused on the now and here. And nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine means very strong support for President Zelenskiy’s peace formula.

Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Monday lauded “important and powerful” military aid from Britain, France and Germany, and said he was pleased with agreements reached during a tour of Europe, Reuters reports.

Zelenskiy said:

The priority [during our talks] was our counteroffensive actions, I am very pleased with the achievements and agreements.

Nato’s secretary general has said he expects the alliance to agree a “multi-year programme” to assist Ukraine in its desire to join the organisation, and that there was no “meaning in discussing when and how Ukraine can become a member of the alliance” unless it prevails in the war “as a sovereign independent nation in Europe”.

At the Copenhagen democracy summit, Jens Stoltenberg was being interviewed by one of his predecessor at the helm of Nato, Anders Fogh Rasmussen. He said

Nato allies will, when they meet in July, the heads of state and government, they will send a very clear message of support to Ukraine, and this will be manifested in many different ways.

When it comes to membership. I expect that Nato allies will say that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance. This has been stated several times.

Ukraine has the right to choose his own path. It is not for Moscow to decide what Ukraine can do, it is for Ukraine. And it is for Nato allies to decide on the issue of membership … and of course those the Nato’s door remains open.

I also expect that we will agree a multi-year programme for Ukraine where we will work on how to help Ukraine transition from Soviet-era standards, doctrines and equipment to Nato standard doctrines and equipment, and to become fully interoperable with Nato. And of course, to do that also helps them to move towards Nato membership.

I also strongly believe that all allies will state that of course, the most urgent task now, is to ensure that Ukraine prevails. That President Putin do not does not win this war.

Because it is only if Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent nation in Europe, that there is any meaning in discussing when and how Ukraine can become a member of the alliance.

Britain has no plans to send fighter jets to Ukraine after the Ukrainian military indicated it would prefer to use F-16 fighter jets, the UK’s prime minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson said on Monday, Reuters reports.

Asked if Britain would send fighter jets to Ukraine, the spokesperson said:

There are no plans to do that. The Ukrainians made the decision to train their pilots on F-16s and you will know the RAF don’t use those.

On Twitter, the head of the Ukrainan president’s office, Andriy Yermak, said he is with Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the UK, working on “strengthening defence support”.

In a tweet, he said:

Today in 🇬🇧 together with the president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Our team is working on strengthening defence support and Euro-Atlantic integration.

And we understand that we don’t have time for certain issues to “ride” – they must “fly”.

The UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has said the UK will be ready to help train Ukrainian pilots to use western fighter jets “relatively soon” but says it is “not a straightforward thing”, PA reports.

Speaking after his talk with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, at Chequers, Sunak said:

We are going to be a key part of the coalition of countries that provides that support to Volodymyr and Ukraine.

It is not a straightforward thing as Volodymyr and I have been discussing to build up that fighter combat aircraft capability.

It’s not just the provision of planes, it is also the training of pilots and all the logistics that go alongside that, and the UK can play a big part in that.

One thing we will be doing starting actually relatively soon is training of Ukrainian pilots and that’s something we’ve discussed today and we’re ready to implement those plans in relatively short order.

UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has said he discussed “long-term” security arrangements from allied countries for Ukraine to protect itself against “future Russian aggression” in his meeting with the country’s leader, PA reports.

Speaking to broadcasters after his talk with Volodymyr Zelenskiy at Chequers, the prime minister said:

Another topic of conversation we’ve had today is about the security arrangements we should put in place among allied countries for Ukraine for the long term to ensure it can defend itself and provide effective deterrence against future Russian aggression.

Russia takes an “extremely negative” view of Britain’s decision to supply Ukraine with more military hardware such as long-range attack drones, but does not believe it will change the course of the conflict, Reuters reports.

Asked about Britain’s military aid, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said:

We take an extremely negative view of this. Britain is trying to be one of the leading countries which keeps pumping weapons into Ukraine.

It cannot have any significant or major impact on the course of the special military operation,” he said, using the phrase the Kremlin uses to describe Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.

“But it all leads to more destruction, to further military action and so on. So for Ukraine, it makes things much more complex.”

Earlier, Rishi Sunak noted that today’s meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the prime minister’s country estate of Chequers was taking place in the buildup to a Council of Europe leaders’ meeting in Iceland and a G7 summit in Japan later this week.

“The frontlines of Putin’s war of aggression may be in Ukraine but the fault lines stretch all over the world,” Sunak said.

Zelenskiy told broadcasters after the meeting that the supply of jets was crucial to Ukraine.

“Today we spoke about the jets. Very important topic for us because we can’t control the sky,” he said, adding that Ukraine and the UK were “real partners,” with Sunak being informed of details of developments on the battlefield.

© Provided by The Guardian
Britain’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak (L), walks with Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, after greeting him on his arrival. Photograph: Reuters

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has left Chequers by helicopter.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that he discussed “a coalition of jets” in discussions with the British prime minister at Chequers today.

“I see that in the closest time, you will hear some, I think, very important decisions but we have to work a little bit more on it,” he said after a meeting with Sunak.

Earlier the UK government said “This summer we will commence an elementary flying phase for cohorts of Ukrainian pilots to learn basic training. This will adapt the programme used by UK pilots to provide Ukrainians with piloting skills they can apply a different kind of aircraft. This training goes hand in hand with UK efforts to work with other countries on providing F16 jets – Ukraine’s fighter jets of choice.”

However, so far London has been reluctant to directly supply modern jet fighters, arguing that it is logistically difficult to put them into operation in Ukraine.

The UK has issued another picture of Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Rishi Sunak together at Chequers earlier today.

© Provided by The Guardian
Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak (R), shakes hands with Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, as he greets him on his arrival at Chequers. Photograph: Reuters

Ukraine cannot rule out that a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain will end on 18 May, when it is due to expire, and no additional talks are planned this week, a foreign ministry official said on Monday, Reuters reports.

Olha Trofimtseva, a foreign ministry ambassador at large, told a briefing that Ukraine was receiving conflicting signals about the future of the deal, the extension of which was discussed at talks in Turkey last week.

She said:

The situation overall (after talks) has not changed much, and we receive quite conflicting information about the grain deal and the possibility of its continuation.

Moscow has threatened to quit the agreement on 18 May unless a list of demands is met to remove obstacles to Russia’s own grain and fertiliser exports. These include lifting western sanctions on the Russian Agricultural bank.

Trofimtseva added:

Such a termination, [Russia’s] exit from the grain initiative is possible, but for everyone and primarily for the Russian side that will mean an escalation of the situation and they will complicate their future negotiation position for themselves.”

She said Ukraine had exported 2.5m tonnes of agricultural goods in April despite a slowdown in the use of the grain corridor, caused by halts in the inspection regime which Ukraine has blamed on Moscow.

Rishi Sunak has compared Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s wartime leadership to that of Winston Churchill.

Welcoming the Ukrainian leader to Chequers, Sunak said: “You are actually the first foreign leader I have had the privilege of welcoming here as prime minister, and there’s a lot of great history here.

“In fact this room that we are standing in, Winston Churchill made many of his famous speeches in the second world war from this room. And the same way today, your leadership, your country’s bravery and fortitude are an inspiration to us all. I look forward to us discussing what more we can do to support you and your country.”

PA report Zelenskiy thanked the UK for the support shown to Ukraine since the invasion.

As he met Sunak at Chequers, Zelenskiy said: “Your support is already a lot for us, you did a lot – you, your government and his majesty the king and of course your people, your society. We are thankful from all our hearts, from Ukrainians, from our soldiers, we are thankful.”

Zelenskiy said his discussions with Sunak would cover “very important issues, urgent support for Ukraine”.

The crisis was a matter of “security not only for Ukraine, it is important for all of Europe” he added.

Here is some video of the arrival.

The Kremlin said on Monday that it categorically disagreed with French President Emmanuel Macron, who said that Russia had “entered a form of subservience with regards to China” since being shunned by the west over the conflict in Ukraine, Reuters reports.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s ties with China were those of a strategic partner and had nothing to do with dependence.

• Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived at Chequers in Buckinghamshire for talks with the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak. The prime minister published an image of the pair of them embracing.

• Zelenskiy’s visit comes off the back of trips to Berlin and Paris, and with the UK last week having pledged to send longer ranger cruise missiles to support Ukraine’s efforts to oust Russian forces from its territory.

• Ahead of the trip Zelenskiy tweeted: “The UK is a leader when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air. This cooperation will continue today. I will meet my friend Rishi. We will conduct substantive negotiations face-to-face and in delegations.”

• Sunak said in a statement:“This is a crucial moment in Ukraine’s resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke. They need the sustained support of the international community to defend against the barrage of unrelenting and indiscriminate attacks that have been their daily reality for over a year. We must not let them down.”

• Zelenskiy issued a new appeal to Nato on Monday to make a “positive political decision” on Kyiv’s membership at its July summit. Zelenskiy made his remarks in a video address to the Copenhagen democracy summit. He said that Finland joining Nato showed the strength of security guarantees, and thanked Denmark and other allies for their resolve in assisting Ukraine against Russia.

• The defence of Bakhmut continues and recent days have shown that Ukraine can move forward and counter the Russian forces there, the commander of Ukrainian ground forces, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Monday.

• Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, is reporting that four people have been killed in a Russian strike on a hospital in Avdiivka, in Donetsk oblast.

• Leonid Pasechnik, the Russian-installed head of Ukraine’s occupied Luhansk region, has posted to Telegram to say that there are no casualties reported from the earlier reported Ukrainian shelling of Luhansk.

• Ukraine’s foreign ministry has said no additional negotiations on the Black Sea grain initiative are planned for this week.

• Russia’s air defences continue to be compromised after a core airbase in the western part of the country was struck by several uncrewed aerial vehicles on 3 May, the latest UK intelligence briefing has said. Russia’s Seshcha airbase, located 150km north of the Ukrainian border, has played a major role in enabling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is also used to launch uncrewed aerial vehicles towards Kyiv.

• South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday the country’s non-aligned position did not favour Russia over other states and reiterated its call for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.

• A top Chinese envoy will begin a tour of Ukraine, Russia and other European cities on Monday in a trip Beijing says is aimed at discussing a “political settlement” to the Ukraine crisis. Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, will also visit Poland, France, Germany on the multi-day trip.

• Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary force, allegedly offered to reveal the position of Russian troops to the Ukranian government, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing leaked US intelligence documents.

Our defence and security editor Dan Sabbagh has some further thoughts on what those long-range drones the UK has promised Ukraine might be, after earlier the Ministry of Defence was unable to specify them.

Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, is reporting that four people have been killed in Avdiivka, in Donetsk oblast. It writes:

On the morning of 15 May, Russian troops launched an air missile attack on Avdiivka. Rockets hit the hospital where people were hiding. According to preliminary data, four civilians were killed

The claims have not been independently verified.

Here is a screengrab of Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Rishi Sunak together at Chequers earlier this morning.

© Provided by The Guardian
Rishi Sunak (right) with President Zelenskiy at Chequers this morning Photograph: BBC News

Reuters has a quick snap that Ukraine’s foreign ministry has said no additional negotiations on the Black Sea grain initiative are planned for this week.

As Ukraine’s president visits the UK, the Guardian’s Berlin bureau chief Philip Oltermann recaps how his weekend trip to Germany went:

On Sunday Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed Germany’s “powerful support” in the form of an aid package worth nearly $3bn, as he was awarded the prestigious Charlemagne prize.

Over the weekend Berlin announced Germany’s largest pledge in military aid since the start of the war. In a statement, the German defence ministry said the package would include 30 Leopard and 20 Marder tanks from industrial reserves, as well as armoured personnel carriers, reconnaissance drones and ammunition.

At the Charlmagne ceremony in the western German city of Aachen, Zelenskiy thanked chancellor Olaf Scholz for his “fantastic solidarity”, saying “everything in this security package will significantly strengthen our defence”. The Charlemagne Prize, named after the Frankish founder of what became the Holy Roman empire, is the oldest prize to be awarded for services to European unification.

© Provided by The Guardian
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (C) speaks on Sunday next to (L-R) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Poland’s prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European parliament president Roberta Metsola after he was awarded the International Charlemagne prize. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Scholz said Europe had to thank the Ukrainian people for standing up for European values in the face of Russian aggression. “We stand together!”, the Social Democrat politician said. “We belong together! And: our joint history will continue.”

The German head of government was more reserved in response to Zelenskiy’s bid for German support for a “fighter jet coalition”, which the Ukrainian president described as the main concern behind his tour of European capitals.

Our defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh, suggests there is some confusion over what the promise of long-range drones from the UK to Ukraine actually means.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived at Chequers in Buckinghamshire for talks with the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak. The prime minister published an image of the pair of them embracing.

Zelenskiy’s visit comes off the back of trips to Berlin and Paris, and with the UK last week having pledged to send longer ranger cruise missiles to support Ukraine’s efforts to oust Russian forces from its territory.

Ahead of the trip Zelenskiy tweeted: “The UK is a leader when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air. This cooperation will continue today. I will meet my friend Rishi. We will conduct substantive negotiations face-to-face and in delegations.”

Sunak said in a statement “This is a crucial moment in Ukraine’s resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke. They need the sustained support of the international community to defend against the barrage of unrelenting and indiscriminate attacks that have been their daily reality for over a year. We must not let them down.”

Britain announced on Monday that it will send hundreds of new long-range attack drones with a range of over 200km to Ukraine. “Today the prime minister will confirm the further UK provision of hundreds of air defence missiles and further unmanned aerial systems including hundreds of new long-range attack drones with a range of over 200km.”

UK trade minister Nigel Huddleston said he expects President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to ask for more support from the UK, saying “To be honest we’re continually providing more, whether that’s military aid and support, and of course that does come at considerable cost to UK taxpayers, but we believe it’s worth it because we support our friends and allies in need. I’m not at all surprised that Zelenskiy will be coming here asking for more.”

Andriy Yermak from Zelenskiy’s office said that Ukraine’s potential future membership of Nato would be on the agenda. Earlier on Monday, in a video address in Denmark, Zelenskiy said it would be a “timely signal” to “approve a positive political decision on membership in Nato” at July’s Nato summit, which he is due to attend in person.

Former head of the British army Sir Richard Dannatt has said Ukraine must defeat Russia this year or risk waning western support.

PA report that speaking on Times Radio on Monday, the former chief of the general staff said the Russian military “might crumble” in an anticipated Ukrainian counter-offensive later this year.

He said: “The major counter-offensive which we are all expecting and which the Ukrainians are preparing for has not begun yet but probably is not that far away. If Ukraine is going to succeed in its stated objective of freeing its territory from Russian occupation this is the year they’ve got to do it.

“There is a danger that western support will wane. There is also a danger that Putin will see that time is on his side, so it is really important that the Ukrainians do mount this offensive effectively at the right time.

“If there are decisive blows struck against the Russians there is a chance that Russian military morale might crack and the Russian army might crumble in the way that we saw around Kharkiv last September.”

The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has tweeted a picture of Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s arrival at Chequers.

He is the first foreign leader to be invited to the grace and favour residence of the UK prime minister since Sunak took up the role.

Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, is reporting that explosions have been heard in Yevpatoriya, on the west coast of Crimea, which Russia unilaterally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The claims have not been independently verified.

Here is the quote from Volodymyr Zelenskiy about Ukraine joining Nato which he gave in a video address shown at the Copenhagen deomcracy summit.

“It is time to remove the biggest security uncertainty in Europe – that is, to approve a positive political decision on membership in Nato,” Reuters report he said, adding “This is worth doing at the July summit already. This will be a timely signal.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a new appeal to Nato on Monday to make a “positive political decision” on Kyiv’s membership at its July summit.

Reuters reports Zelenskiy made his remarks in a video address to the Copenhagen democracy summit. He said that Finland joining Nato showed the strength of security guarantees, and thanked Denmark and other allies for their resolve in assisting Ukraine against Russia.

Here is a little more from the UK government’s statement about Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to the UK. It says:

In their talks, the prime minister will reiterate the importance the UK places on providing a total package of support to Ukraine to put them in the strongest possible position to secure a lasting peace for their country.

This means the military equipment we provide must be bolstered by training, by economic support, by biting sanctions against Putin’s regime and by long-term security assurances to ensure Ukraine’s sovereignty can never be breached in this way again.

To that end, in the last year the UK has trained 15,000 Ukrainian troops to battlefield readiness. In February the prime minister announced the UK would develop a new training programme for Ukrainian pilots to support their efforts to build a new Ukrainian air force with Nato-standard, F16 jets.

This summer we will commence an elementary flying phase for cohorts of Ukrainian pilots to learn basic training. This will adapt the programme used by UK pilots to provide Ukrainians with piloting skills they can apply a different kind of aircraft. This training goes hand in hand with UK efforts to work with other countries on providing F16 jets – Ukraine’s fighter jets of choice.

Leonid Pasechnik, the Russian-installed head of Ukraine’s occupied Luhansk region, has posted to Telegram to say that there are no casualties reported from the earlier shelling of Luhansk. [See 7.47 BST]

UK trade minister Nigel Huddleston said he expects President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to ask for more support from the UK when he meets the prime minister later on Monday.

Asked about the visit to Chequers, PA reports Huddleston told LBC: “We’ve got a strong partnership with Ukraine and President Zelenskiy in particular, and this is all part of building that continuing relationship.

“I do think our Ukrainian friends appreciate the support we’ve given them to date and I expect they’re coming here, as we all respect, with Zelenskiy to ask for more.”

Asked whether the UK was prepared to give more support, the minister replied: “To be honest we’re continually providing more, whether that’s military aid and support, and of course that does come at considerable cost to UK taxpayers, but we believe it’s worth it because we support our friends and allies in need.

“I’m not at all surprised that Zelenskiy will be coming here asking for more, but one thing I’ve always seen with him and any of his colleagues coming over is that they’re also very grateful for what we’ve given already.”

Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster reports that in the last 24 hours, six people were killed and three others were injured due to shelling in the Kherson region. It cited the local authority. The claims have not been independently verified.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday the country’s non-aligned position did not favour Russia over other states and reiterated its call for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.

His comments in a weekly presidential newsletter came on the heels of US allegations last week that weapons were loaded on to a Russian ship from a naval base in Cape Town late last year, which sparked a diplomatic row. South African officials swiftly rejected claims made by the US ambassador to South Africa.

“We do not accept that our non-aligned position favours Russia above other countries. Nor do we accept that it should imperil our relations with other countries,” Reuters reports Ramaphosa said.

South Africa would continue to honour international agreements and treaties it is a signatory to and its approach to US allegations of arms shipment would abide by them, he added.

US ambassador Reuben Brigety was summoned on Friday to meet South African foreign minister Naledi Pandor and he apologised “unreservedly” to the government and the people of South Africa, a foreign ministry statement said.

“I was grateful for the opportunity to speak with Foreign Minister Pandor … and correct any misimpressions left by my public remarks,” Brigety said in a tweet that did not confirm whether he had apologised.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy will meet Rishi Sunak for talks at Chequers in Buckinghamshire, rather than at Downing Street, during his UK visit, PA reports.

Suspilne is also carrying reports of explosions in occupied Luhansk this morning. On its Telegram channel for the Donbas region, it writes:

On the morning of 15 May, explosions rang out in occupied Luhansk. This information was confirmed to Suspilne by residents of the occupied city. According to them, the smoke is visible from the side of the former Luhansk military aviation school of navigators.

The report is accompanied by a still image which appears to show smoke rising above the city. The claims have not been independently verified. Luhansk is one of four regions of Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex.

Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, has reported that “the air force shot down four Shahed attack drones and one Orlan reconnaissance drone in the east around midnight, the command said.”

The claims have not been independently verified.

Britain will send hundreds of new long-range attack drones with a range of over 200km to Ukraine, the government said on Monday after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in the country for talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

“Today the prime minister will confirm the further UK provision of hundreds of air defence missiles and further unmanned aerial systems including hundreds of new long-range attack drones with a range of over 200km,” Reuters reports the government said in a statement.

“These will all be delivered over the coming months as Ukraine prepares to intensify its resistance to the ongoing Russian invasion.”

London’s elected mayor Sadiq Khan has also commented on Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to the UK today. He told viewers of Sky News:

I think it is important we show our solidarity. We, of course, had a great time on Saturday [referring to hosting the Eurovision song contest on behalf of Ukraine], but the serious stuff is not to forget the plight of those in Ukraine.

Many women older Ukrainians and children are in London. And it’s really important we’ve opened our doors to Ukrainians

The men are fighting bravely against Putin’s forces, and it’s really important that not just our prime minister, but President Macron and European allies provide continued support to the brave people of Ukraine.

Rishi Sunak has said the UK will be “sustaining our support” for Ukraine as he prepares to meet the country’s leader, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for talks in London on Monday.

PA quotes the prime minister as saying: “This is a crucial moment in Ukraine’s resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke.

“They need the sustained support of the international community to defend against the barrage of unrelenting and indiscriminate attacks that have been their daily reality for over a year.

“We must not let them down.

“The frontlines of Putin’s war of aggression may be in Ukraine but the fault lines stretch all over the world. It is in all our interest to ensure Ukraine succeeds and Putin’s barbarism is not rewarded.

“That is why the UK is sustaining our support to Ukraine – from tanks to training, ammunition to armoured vehicles. And this message of solidarity will ring loud in all my meetings with fellow world leaders in the days ahead.”

The statement does not mention aircraft, which has been a repeated request from Ukraine which wants more modern air power to defend its cities.

A Liverpool man has spoken to the PA news agency, saying there were “so many extremely moving moments” during a trip made by a group of fellow aid workers to his home town for the Eurovision song contest.

Tim Johnson, a 37-year-old IT consultant, brought a group of volunteers: six Ukrainians and six Poles; who have worked with Ukrainians affected by war, to the UK to take part in Eurovision events.

Two of the group travelled from Ukraine via Warsaw, while the others joined Johnson from Poland, to watch two rehearsals for the Eurovision song contest and watch the grand final in Liverpool’s fan village.

One of the volunteers received a message during the show that her Ukrainian home of Ternopil had been attacked shortly before the Ukrainian band, Tvorchi, was to perform.

Johnson said the news of the missile strike on Ternopil – which is also the home town of the Ukrainian act – was a “moment of sheer fear and panic”.

“I had to get her very quickly out of a maintenance gate and try to make a call to check if everyone was alright and luckily her family were, but it’s just another example of what they’re going through.”

© Provided by The Guardian
Some of the visiting aid workers by the Beatles statue in Liverpool. Photograph: Tim Johnson/PA

In the run-up to the final, the group draped Ukrainian flags on the statue of the Beatles on Liverpool’s waterfront. Johnson said the large flag attracted the attention of passersby, saying: “Literally hundreds of people gathered around taking photos and nobody said a word but you could just feel the huge outpouring of support there.”

He continued: “It was one of those lump-in-the-throat moments. It’s hard not to be moved by so many people gathering around like that and the silent support.”

On Telegram, Andriy Yermak from Zelenskiy’s office has added a little more detail about the Ukrainian president’s trip to London, saying:

Today there are important meetings in London. We are working on strengthening the defense of Ukraine and supporting our progress with Nato.

Zelenskiy will be attending the next major Nato summit in person, with Ukraine pushing for more concrete steps and a timetable for joining the alliance.

Ukraine’s president has announced that he will arrive in London on Monday for talks with UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak. In a tweet, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said:

Today – London. The UK is a leader when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air. This cooperation will continue today. I will meet my friend Rishi. We will conduct substantive negotiations face-to-face and in delegations.

Zelenskiy last visited London in February, when he also met King Charles III, and addressed parliament in Westminster Hall.

The defence of Bakhmut continues and recent days have shown that Ukraine can move forward and counter the Russian forces there, the commander of Ukrainian ground forces, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Monday.

“The advance of our troops along the Bakhmut direction – that is the first successful offensive operation in the city’s defence,” Reuters quotes Syrskyi as saying on Ukraine’s media military centre Telegram channek.

“The last few days have shown that we can move forward and destroy the enemy even in such extremely difficult conditions. The operation to defend Bakhmut continues. All necessary decisions for the defence have been made.”

It has been impossible for journalists to independently verify the battlefield situation in fiercely contested Bakhmut for months, with both sides engaged in the war issuing claims and counter-claims about progress.

Russia’s air defences compromised, says UK MoD

Russia’s air defences continue to be compromised after a core airbase in the western part of the country was struck by several uncrewed aerial vehicles on 3 May, the latest UK intelligence briefing has said.

Russia’s Seshcha Airbase, located 150km north of the Ukrainian border, has played a major role in enabling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is also used to launch uncrewed aerial vehicles towards Kyiv.

The briefing said:

The VTA [Russia’s Military Transport Aviation] is a well-resourced element of the Russian Air Force, essential for transport across the vast country. Russian leaders will be concerned that Russia’s air defences continue to be compromised, holding at risk key strategic assets such as VTA bases.

Top Chinese envoy to visit Ukraine, Russia on ‘peace’ mission

A top Chinese envoy will begin a tour of Ukraine, Russia and other European cities on Monday in a trip Beijing says is aimed at discussing a “political settlement” to the Ukraine crisis, Reuters reports.

Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, will also visit Poland, France, Germany on the multi-day trip, the foreign ministry announced Friday without providing a detailed schedule.

He is the most senior Chinese official to visit Ukraine since Russia invaded in February last year, and his trip could coincide with the beginnings of a long anticipated counteroffensive by Ukraine to recapture territory seized by Russia.

Increasingly regular series of Russian drone and missile strikes are likely part of a new campaign focussed on Kyiv aimed at degrading Ukrainian abilities to conduct counteroffensive operations, according to US a thinktank.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in its daily update on Monday said Russian forces conducted another series of drone and missile strikes over Saturday and Sunday night. It comes after the forces have conducted at least 10 series of strikes throughout Ukraine since 19 April.

It reported the new air campaign has been more regular than previous Russian campaigns against critical infrastructure, however the forces are using fewer high precision missiles.

Here are the latest images coming across the wires from Ukraine:

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Children watch the performance of the group 4.5.0. at the festival in honor of Mother’s Day at the City Garden in Odessa, Ukraine. Photograph: Viacheslav Onyshchenko, SOPA Images/Shutterstock. Photograph: Viacheslav Onyshchenko/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

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General Director Ryzhenko Serhii shows soldier who was wounded defending city of Bakhmut. Photopgrah: Lev Radin, Pacific Press/Shutterstock Photograph: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Shutterstock

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Fresh graves of Ukrainian soldiers, Chervonohryhorivka, Ukraine. Photograph: Lev Radin, Pacific Press/Shutterstock Photograph: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Shutterstock

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A volunteer FRIDA Ukraine doctor examines her patient in an outpatient centre in Dream Berry in Kyiv. Photograph: Dominika Zarzycka, SOPA Images/Shutterstock Photograph: Dominika Zarzycka/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

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Residential building in Dnipro that was destroyed by a Russian missile. Dozens of people, including children, were killed. Photograph: Lev Radin, Pacific Press/Shutterstock Photograph: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Shutterstock

G7 leaders to target Russian energy, trade in new sanctions steps

Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations plan to tighten sanctions on Russia at their summit in Japan this week, with steps aimed at energy and exports aiding Moscow’s war effort, said officials with direct knowledge of the discussions, Reuters reports.

New measures announced by the leaders during the May 19-21 meetings will target sanctions evasion involving third countries, and seek to undermine Russia’s future energy production and curb trade that supports Russia’s military, the people said.

Separately, U.S. officials also expect G7 members will agree to adjust their approach to sanctions so that, at least for certain categories of goods, all exports are automatically banned unless they are on a list of approved items.

That change could make it harder for Moscow to find gaps in the sanctions regime.

The exact areas where these new rules would apply are still being discussed.

Wagner head offered to reveal Russian troop locations to Ukraine

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary force, offered to reveal the position of Russian troops to the Ukranian government, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing leaked U.S. intelligence documents.

Wagner’s soldiers have been at the forefront of a bloody Russian offensive to take the city of Bakhmut. In exchange for Ukraine withdrawing its soldiers from the area, Prigozhin in January offered to tell its intelligence service the positions of Russian forces, the Post reported.

The paper said Ukraine rejected the offer.

Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has publicly threatened to withdraw his mercenaries from the area around Bakhmut, where they are at the vanguard of the Russian offensive, unless they receive much-needed ammunition.

He said Tuesday in an audio message that he and his men would be regarded as traitors if they abandoned the area.

The Post reported Prigozhin’s offer came through his contacts with Ukraine’s intelligence service.

France to send dozens of armoured vehicles, light tanks to Ukraine

France will send to Ukraine in the coming weeks dozens of armoured vehicles and light tanks, including the AMX-10RCs fighting vehicles, according to a joint statement issued after President Emmanuel Macron’s talks with Ukraine’s president, Reuters reports.

After a working dinner that lasted more than three hours between Macron and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the French presidency indicated that Paris was also concentrating its efforts on supporting Kyiv’s air defence capabilities against Russian strikes.

After securing a bumper $3 billion new military package from Germany over the weekend, Zelenskiy said in Berlin on Sunday that Kyiv and its allies could make a Russian defeat “irreversible” as early as this year.

A source at the French presidency told reporters that additional, more modern defence systems would be made available to Ukraine.

Hello and welcome back to our coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine, now in its 446th day. I’m Jordyn Beazley and here’s a look at the latest.

Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries plan to tighten sanctions on Russia at their summit in Japan this week, with steps aimed at energy and exports aiding Moscow’s war effort, officials with direct knowledge of the discussions told the Reuters news agency.

Meanwhile, France has announced dozens more light tanks and armoured vehicles for Ukraine’s army, together with training for the soldiers using them, after talks between the Ukrainian and French presidents in Paris. Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Emmanuel Macron also called for fresh sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. The leaders’ joint statement also said Paris would focus its efforts “in supporting Ukraine’s air defence capacities”.

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French president Emmanuel Macron, left, meets with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Paris. Photograph: Christian Hartmann/Reuters

More on both stories soon. In other developments:

• The two leaders’ comments came after Zelenskiy flew into France late on Sunday on a whistle-stop tour of Europe and joined Macron for a dinner at the Élysée Palace. Zelenskiy had tweeted earlier as he arrived in France at an airbase in Villacoublay, south-west of Paris: “With each visit, Ukraine’s defense and offensive capabilities are expanding.”

• Zelenskiy thanked Germany for its support and what he called the largest military aid package since the beginning of Russia’s invasion as he met with president Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in Berlin on Sunday. The trip came after the German government announced a new military package worth €2.7bn as Ukrainian forces prepare for a counteroffensive to reclaim territory captured by Russia.

• During Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to Germany, he was awarded the prestigious Charlemagne prize on behalf of the Ukrainian people in honour of services to Europe. The Ukrainian president received the award, which honours services to European unification, in the western city of Aachen with Olaf Scholz after their talks in Berlin.

• Russia has said two of its military commanders were killed in eastern Ukraine, as Kyiv’s forces renewed efforts to break through Russian defences in the embattled city of Bakhmut. The Russian defence ministry said on Sunday that commander Vyacheslav Makarov of the 4th motorised rifle brigade and deputy commander Yevgeny Brovko from a separate unit were killed trying to repel Ukrainian attacks.

• Russia has “already lost geopolitically” its war in Ukraine and is transforming into a vassal state of China, Emmanuel Macron has said. “De facto, it has entered a form of subservience with regards to China and has lost its access to the Baltic, which was critical, because it prompted the decision by Sweden and Finland to join Nato,” the French president said in an interview with Opinion newspaper published on Sunday.

• Russian forces are much diminished since the start of the war, the UK Ministry of Defence has said, with troops consisting of mostly poorly trained mobilised reservists and increasingly reliant on antiquated equipment. Many of its units were severely under strength, it said.