Ukraine-Russia live news: War to dominate G20 meeting | Russia-Ukraine war News
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has flown into Indonesia’s resort island of Bali for a meeting of G20 foreign ministers, which is set to be overshadowed by tensions triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
- Ukraine’s military says it has so far staved off any significant Russian advance into the north of its Donetsk region, but pressure is intensifying with heavy shelling on the city of Sloviansk and nearby populated areas.
- The mayor of the port city of Mykolaiv stresses there are “no safe areas” left in the city and urges residents to leave.
- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Western artillery is “finally” helping his forces “inflict very noticeable strikes” on Russian weapons’ storage depots and logistics routes.
- Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong asks China to exert its influence on Russia to halt the war in Ukraine.
Here are the latest updates:
G20 meeting cannot be business as usual due to Russia’s invasion: US official
This week’s G20 meeting of foreign ministers in Bali cannot be business as usual due to the situation with Russia, a senior US State Department official has said.
The United States wants to make sure nothing from the G20 lends legitimacy to what Russia is doing in Ukraine, the official said, adding the meeting would be a good opportunity to drive the food security agenda forward.
The official said Antony Blinken would hold a trilateral meeting with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts and that his meeting with China’s foreign minister was about managing their relationship responsibly.
Russian forces made little progress in Donetsk Wednesday: UK
Heavy shelling occurred along the front line in the Donetsk region on Wednesday, but Russian forces made few advances, the United Kingdom’s defence ministry has said.
The defence ministry said this was likely due to the fact the Russian units, involved in last week’s gains in the Luhansk region, were “reconstituting”.
The ministry also said legislation that passed the first reading in Russia’s lower house on Tuesday was likely Kremlin’s attempt to put in place economic measures to support its Ukraine offensive without formally announcing state mobilisation, “which remains politically sensitive”.
“The legislation would give the authorities special powers over labour relations; the reactivation of mobilisation facilities; and to release assets from state reserves,” the ministry said.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 7 July 2022
Find out more about the UK government’s response: https://t.co/FtMdCLSydg
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/mYgmeiFQEX
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) July 7, 2022
Russian grain ship leaves Turkish port: Data
A Russian-flagged cargo ship, the Zhibek Zholy, which was suspected of carrying stolen Ukrainian grain, left the Turkish northwest port of Karasu late on Wednesday, Refinitiv ship tracking data has shown.
On Sunday, Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkey said Turkish authorities had detained the ship. Ukraine had previously asked Turkey to arrest the ship.
On Wednesday, Russia’s foreign ministry dismissed as false reports of the ship’s detention by authorities.
Kyiv has accused Moscow of stealing grain from territories seized by Russian forces since their invasion began in late February. The Kremlin, has previously denied that Russia has stolen any Ukrainian grain.
Australia’s foreign minister calls Russia’s war ‘immoral’
Australia’s foreign minister has called Russia’s war in Ukraine “immoral” ahead of the G20 meeting in Indonesia.
“…these themes of strengthening multilateralism and addressing food and energy security, which the foreign ministers meeting will be addressing tomorrow, really do bring into highlight the implications and the impacts of Russia’s illegal, unjust, and immoral war on Ukraine,” Penny Wong said in Bali.
“If you ever wanted an example of a nation which has chosen to denigrate and weaken multilateralism, if you ever wanted an example of a nation which has demonstrated its willingness, its disregard for the need for food security, for a world recovering from a pandemic, it is Russia,” she said.
“And it is Russia in its persistent, persistent refusal to comply with the UN Charter and international law and its illegal, immoral invasion of Ukraine.”
Russia cannot be allowed to use G20 meeting as a platform: Germany’s FM
Germany’s foreign minister has said Russia must not be allowed to use the G20 meeting as a platform given its war in Ukraine.
“It is in the interest of us all to ensure that international law is respected and adhered to. That is the common denominator,” Annalena Baerbock said in a statement ahead of her arrival in Bali.
“And it is also the reason why we will not simply stand aside and allow Russia to use the meeting as a platform.”
Russia’s Lavrov lands in Bali for G20 set to be dominated by Ukraine
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has flown into Indonesia’s resort island of Bali for a meeting of G20 foreign ministers, which is set to be overshadowed by tensions triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The G20 gathering runs until Friday in host country Indonesia, which this year has grappled with the balancing act of running a global summit buffeted by geopolitical pressures and a global food crisis blamed on the war.
Lavrov plans to meet some G20 counterparts on the sidelines of the summit, Russian news agency TASS reported, but ministers including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock have ruled out meeting Lavrov.
Discussion of energy and food security are on the agenda in the two-day meeting, with Russia accused of stoking a global food crisis and worsening inflation by blockading shipments of Ukrainian grain. Russia has said it is ready to facilitate unhindered exports of grain.
Ukrainian forces advancing in Russian-occupied areas: Zelenskyy
Zelenskyy has told Ukrainians his troops are advancing in areas of the country occupied by Russian forces, particularly in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhia.
“Today, the general public became aware that in the south of our country, in the occupied areas, access to social networks, messengers and YouTube was closed. Russian forces have blocked any possibility for people to know the truth about what is happening and about our potential, which we are gradually increasing,” he said in his nighttime address.
The president urged everyone who could, to let people in the occupied areas know Ukraine’s army was working on recovering its territories.
“Use every opportunity to tell the people in the occupied areas that we remember them and we are fighting for them. We are fighting for our entire south, for the entire Ukrainian Donbas – the most brutal confrontation is currently there, near Sloviansk and Bakhmut. We are fighting for the Kharkiv region. The occupiers should not think that their time on this land is long-lasting and that the superiority of their artillery is eternal,” he said.
Drone bought by Lithuanians on its way to Ukraine
Lithuania’s defence minister has shared a photograph of the Turkish Bayraktar drone that was bought from funds raised by Lithuanians for Ukraine.
“Last hours of Bayraktar ‘Vanagas’ in Lithuania,” Arvydas Anusauskas said on Twitter. “Very soon it will be delivered to Ukraine”.
Hundreds of Lithuanians contributed to the fundraiser, and the target of 5 million euros ($5.1m) for the Bayraktar TB2 uncrewed aerial vehicle was raised in just three and a half days.
Ukraine has bought more than 20 Bayraktar TB2 armed drones from Turkish company Baykar in recent years and ordered another 16 on January 27. That batch was delivered in early March.
Last hours of Bayraktar “Vanagas” in Lithuania. Very soon it will be delivered to 🇺🇦! pic.twitter.com/mBXkWFzCV3
— Arvydas Anušauskas (@a_anusauskas) July 6, 2022
Australia urges China to help end war
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong has urged China to exert its influence on Russia to halt the war in Ukraine.
In a speech in Singapore on Wednesday night, Wong said it was vital that powerful countries should “exert their influence” on Putin to end the conflict.
“This includes China, as a great power, a permanent member of the [United Nations] Security Council, and with its ‘no-limits partnership’ with Russia,” Wong said. “Exerting such influence would do a great deal to build confidence in our own region.
“The region and the world is now looking at Beijing’s actions in relation to Ukraine,” she added.
I’m delighted to be back in Singapore – a place I have visited often.
I thank Prime Minister @leehsienloong for a valuable discussion today.
Australia’s relationship with Singapore is one of our closest and most comprehensive, anchored in shared strategic and economic interests. pic.twitter.com/5piEOXL0CP— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) July 6, 2022
Russia logs weekly inflation for first time since May
Prices rose across the Russian economy in the week to July 1 for the first time since late May, when a surging rouble and a drop in consumer demand led Russia to record weekly deflation, data published on Wednesday showed.
Russia’s consumer price index rose 0.23 percent during the seven-day period, the Rosstat state statistics service said – an increase from its flat reading a week earlier and three consecutive weeks of falling prices in late May and early June.
So far this year, prices have jumped 11.77 percent, Rosstat said, far above the central bank’s inflation target of 4 percent.
Russia saw weekly inflation hit a two-decade high of 2.22 percent in early March after it sent troops into Ukraine – a move that triggered unprecedented economic sanctions from the West, putting pressure on Russian households struggling after almost a decade of stagnant or falling wages.
Biden speaks with wife of basketball star jailed in Russia
US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have spoken with the wife of US basketball player Brittney Griner, who is jailed in Russia.
“The President called Cherelle [Griner] to reassure her that he is working to secure Brittney’s release as soon as possible, as well as the release of Paul Whelan and other US nationals who are wrongfully detained or held hostage in Russia and around the world,” the White House said in a statement after the call.
Read more here.
Western artillery ‘working very powerfully’: Zelenskyy
Ukraine’s president has said that his troops have been able to inflict “noticeable” damage on Russian targets using Western artillery.
The Western weapons have “finally … started working very powerfully”, Zelenskyy said in his nighttime address.
“Its accuracy is exactly as needed. Our defenders inflict very noticeable strikes on depots and other spots that are important for the logistics of the occupiers,” he added.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he had spoken Wednesday with his German and US counterparts, where he noted the importance of continuing military aid was discussed.
Mykolaiv mayor urges residents to evacuate
The mayor of Mykolaiv has reported heavy shelling in the southern port city on Wednesday and said air alarms were also activated several times on Thursday morning.
The city has already shed about half of its pre-war population of 500,000.
“There are no safe areas in Mykolaiv,” Oleksandr Senkevych told a briefing. “I am telling the people … that they need to leave.”
‘No hiding places’ for culprits of war crimes: Irish PM
Ireland’s prime minister has labelled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a gross violation of international law and said there will be “no hiding places” for those committing war crimes.
“The use of terror against and the deliberate targeting of civilian populations are war crimes. Those responsible, those carrying out these actions, and those directing them will be held fully accountable,” Martin said during his visit with Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
Martin also visited several cities in the Kyiv region, such as Bucha and Borodyanka, that were affected by the Russian invasion. He said that Irish people have been enormously moved by the suffering of the Ukrainian people, adding that “every Irish town and city is a sea of yellow and blue”.
Zelenskyy said he discussed with Martin the preparation of the seventh package of sanctions against Russia, as well as a common response to the issues created by war.
Russia pounds Kharkiv city, Dnipropetrovsk region: Officials
Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, is being subjected to “constant” longer-range Russian shelling, its mayor has said.
“Russia is trying to demoralise Kharkiv but it won’t get anywhere,” Ihor Terekhov said on Ukrainian TV. Ukrainian defenders pushed Russian armoured forces well back from Kharkiv early in the war, and Terekhov said about 1 million residents remained there.
Zelenskyy said the National Pedagogical University in Kharkiv was destroyed by a Russian missile raid on Wednesday, “the main building, lecture halls, university museum, scientific library”.
South of Kharkiv, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk said that the region had been battered by missiles and shelling.
Deadly shelling reported in Sloviansk
The city of Sloviansk has been shelled for the last two weeks, its mayor has said.
“The situation is tense,” Vadym Lyakh told a video briefing, adding that 17 residents had been killed there since President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces into Ukraine on February 24.
Ukraine holding Russian forces back from northern Donetsk: Military
The Ukrainian military says it has so far staved off any significant Russian advance into the north of its Donetsk region, but pressure is intensifying with heavy shelling on the city of Sloviansk and nearby populated areas
In its evening note on Wednesday, Ukraine’s military suggested Russian forces were intensifying pressure on Ukrainian defenders along the northern flanks of Donetsk province. It said Russian forces were bombarding several Ukrainian towns with heavy weaponry to enable ground forces to advance southward into the region and close in on Sloviansk.
“The enemy is trying to improve its tactical position … [They] advanced … before being repulsed by our soldiers and retreating with losses,” the military update said.
Other Russian forces, it said, aimed to seize two towns en route to the city of Kramatorsk, south of Sloviansk, and were also trying to take control of the main highway linking Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.
Read all updates from July 6 here.