Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky says invitation to join Nato is ‘only way’ to end Putin’s war
Zelensky says Putin ‘only understands power’ and a formal Nato invitation would boost Ukrainian morale
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A formal invitation for Ukraine to join Nato is “the only way” to end Russia’s war, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
“We cannot be very strong without having an invitation [which] strengthens our diplomatic ways to end the war,” he told the Financial Times. “This war will finish when Putin will be isolated, and pushed by other partners to diplomacy.”
Earlier, Mr Zelensky said his spy agency has information that 10,000 troops from North Korea are being readied to join Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
“From our intelligence we’ve got information that North Korea sent tactical personnel and officers to Ukraine,” he said during a visit to Nato’s headquarters. “They are preparing on their land 10,000 soldiers, but they didn’t move them already to Ukraine or to Russia.”
A third nation wading into the hostilities would be “the first step to a world war”, Mr Zelensky said.
On the frontline, Ukrainian forces repelled 36 of 45 ground attacks near the strategic city of Kurakhove over the past 24 hours and nine clashes were still going on, Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces said on Friday morning.
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Norway to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets ‘in near future’, Kyiv says
Norway will supply six F-16 jets to Ukraine “in the near future”, Ukrainian defence minister Rustem Umerov has said, following talks with his Norwegian counterpart Bjoern Arild Gram.
Video report: Ukrainian emergency workers search rubble after Russian airstrike on Zaporizhzhia
Full report: US imposes sanctions on Chinese companies accused of helping make Russian attack drones
US imposes sanctions on Chinese companies accused of helping make Russian attack drones
The U.S. Treasury has announced sanctions against two Chinese makers of drone engines and parts that the Biden administration says directly helped Russia build long-range attack drones used in the war in Ukraine
Labour MP says broadband better in Ukraine than London
A Labour MP has claimed she has experienced better internet connection in wartorn Ukraine than she does in central London.
Warning that broadband speeds “could be much better”, Labour MP Cat Eccles told the Commons: “In fact, when I was recently in Ukraine I experienced far better internet connectivity than I do in central London and Stourbridge town centre.
“So our European neighbours are enjoying much faster broadband while we languish behind, and Stourbridge residents have been left at the mercy of these third party companies.”
Technology minister Sir Chris Bryant said the government aspires to European levels of broadband, adding that some “cowboy” broadband companies should be told they’re “drinking in the last chance saloon”.
Moldova says its citizens were trained in Russia to stage riots
Moldovan police claim to have uncovered a programme in which hundreds of its citizens were brought to Russia to undergo training to stage riots and civil unrest, the latest in a slew of meddling allegations ahead of Sunday’s election.
The police said earlier this month that Russia-backed crime groups had bribed a swathe of voters and plotted to disrupt this weekend’s presidential election and referendum on the country’s European Union membership aspirations, going as far as a plan to seize state buildings .
Russia, which accuses the pro-Western government of fomenting “Russophobia”, has denied meddling in Moldova, which accelerated its push to leave Moscow’s orbit after Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
Moldovan police told a news conference that law enforcement agencies believed a group linked to fugitive pro-Kremlin businessman Ilan Shor had organised the training to stage unrest.
“The anti-corruption prosecutor’s office is currently conducting an investigation into several criminal cases related to the preparation of mass disturbance in the interests of the criminal community,” prosecutor Victor Furtuna said.
‘I think Trump heard me’: Zelensky says Ukraine must either join Nato or acquire nuclear weapons
Volodymr Zelensky has warned that Ukraine must either join Nato or acquire nuclear weapons – but has chosen the former option.
“We are not choosing nuclear weapons, we are choosing Nato, and I think that Donald Trump heard me,” The Guardian quoted him as saying.
Russians express concern over new move to ban content encouraging child-free lifestyle
Russian women are “being turned into vessels for bearing children”, a rights activist has warned, after Russia’s lower house of parliament unanimously passed a new bill aiming to outlaw content that is deemed to promote a child-free lifestyle.
“Women are being essentially turned into vessels for bearing children, not taking into account their circumstances, their motivations and whether they aspire to have a career or a family,” said Olga Suvorova, a rights activist who works with victims of domestic violence in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.
“The message is clear: give birth, and that’s it,” she told Reuters, adding that she feared the bill could pave the way for further encroachments on women’s rights including the ability to get an abortion.
Hungary’s Orban says Zelensky’s plan is ‘more than frightening'
Hungarian premier Viktor Orban has criticised Volodymr Zelensky’s “victory plan” – which calls for Ukraine to be granted Nato membership – as “more than frightening”.
Mr Orban said he would urge major EU powers France and Germany to “begin negotiations with the Russians as soon as possible, in order to find a way out of this situation”.
UK sanctions on ‘shadow fleet’ shows Russia’s energy prowess irks Britain, Moscow claims
Russia’s foreign ministry has claimed that new British sanctions on Russian oil and gas tankers showed Moscow’s status as “a reliable energy supplier” did not suit London, the state RIA news agency reported.
The UK announced it had imposed sanctions on 18 further Russian oil tankers and four liquefied natural gas vessels, the largest batch of sanctions to date against the country’s so-called “shadow fleet”.
RIA cited the foreign ministry as saying everything was being done to try to infringe Russia’s rights.
Ukraine aims to clear entire country of landmines by 2023
Prime minister Denys Shmyhal has announced that Ukraine’s National Mine Strategy will aim to clear his country – currently the most heavily mined on the planet – of landmines by 2033.
But he warned that Ukraine needs help, especially with training 10,000 deminers and building machines which can clear terrain around 100 times faster than people.
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