Russia has threatened Finland with a ‘military-technical’ response after its leaders announced their desire to join NATO ‘without delay’ under the influence of the war in Ukraine, while tension mounted around deliveries of Russian gas to Europe.
3:07 p.m.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Monday that a truce had been declared at the Azovstal steelworks, the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in the city of Mariupol, in order to evacuate the wounded Ukrainians.
2:08 p.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Finland’s and Sweden’s membership in NATO did not constitute a “threat” in itself, but that Russia would react to military deployments.
Such “enlargement of NATO does not constitute an immediate threat (…) but the deployment of military infrastructures on the territories of these countries will of course lead to a response”, he said at a summit of a regional military alliance in the Kremlin.
1:18 p.m.
The European foreign ministers will try on Monday in Brussels to move towards an unblocking of the embargo on Russian oil, refused as it is by Hungary, and discuss the French proposal, received with suspicion by kyiv, to create a “European political community” for countries awaiting accession. “The whole Union is unfortunately taken hostage by a Member State which cannot help us find a consensus”, protested the head of Lithuanian diplomacy, Gabrielius Landsbergis, on his arrival at the headquarters of the European Council.
“We are very good in Europe at always showing ourselves in disagreement, not to give an image of unity,” lamented his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg. “We are in a confrontational situation,” he acknowledged. The two ministers regretted the lack of unity shown by the EU to the Canadian minister Melanie Joly and the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba, invited to this meeting.
12:45 p.m.
Ukraine on Monday expected an intensification of the offensive by Russian forces in the east of the country, where they have made only slow progress so far, while Moscow warned of the “considerable” consequences of a membership of Sweden and Finland to NATO. “We are preparing for new attempts by Russia to attack in the Donbass”, to “intensify its movement towards southern Ukraine”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video Sunday evening.
Several Western officials, including British military intelligence, have pointed out in recent days that the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine has “lost momentum” and is failing to achieve substantial territorial gains. The Russians are transferring in particular to the Lugansk region, which with that of Donetsk makes up the Donbass, troops from the Kharkiv region, further north, according to the adviser to the Ukrainian presidency Oleksiï Arestovych.
After three weeks of unsuccessful attempts, they are trying to complete the encirclement of Severodonetsk, which has become the regional capital of Ukraine since separatist forces backed by Moscow took control of part of Donbass in 2014.
10:48
Ukrainian forces have repelled Russian troops and regained control of part of the border with Russia in the northeastern Kharkiv region, Ukrainian authorities announced on Monday. Four people have been killed in missile strikes in the past 24 hours, including two in the shelling of a hospital in Severodonetsk, Lugansk region (east), and two in Mykolaiv (south), according to Ukrainian authorities .
“The 227th Battalion of the 127th Territorial Defense Brigade of the Kharkiv Armed Forces expelled the Russians and settled on the border,” the ministry said on its Facebook page, posting a video of armed soldiers in front of a pole. – border painted in yellow and blue, colors of the Ukrainian flag, and with a trident, the coat of arms of Ukraine. “We are proud of our soldiers who have restored the border sign. We thank all those who, at the risk of their lives, liberate Ukraine from the Russian invaders”, for his part wrote on Telegram the governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Sinegoubov.
9:15 a.m.
The car manufacturer Renault has sold its assets in Russia to the Russian state, the two parties announced separately on Monday, the French group specifying that it retains the option to buy back its shares in Avtovaz, manufacturer of Lada, for six years. This sale follows the Russian offensive in Ukraine. “Agreements have been signed for a transfer of Russian assets from the Renault group to the Russian Federation and the government of Moscow,” the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade said in a statement.
Renault has confirmed for its part the sale of its nearly 68% stake in Avtovaz, the main car manufacturer in Russia. But the French group said it would keep the option to buy back its shares for six years. No financial details were provided on Monday, but Russia’s Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said in April that Renault planned to sell its Russian assets for “a symbolic rouble”.