Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik has told European Council President Charles Michel that Bosnia needs to maintain neutrality and will not join EU sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
“I think it is of utmost importance for Bosnia to remain neutral,” Dodik said at a joint news conference with Michel and presidency Bosniak Chairman Sefik Dzaferovic.
“In conditions in which we exist, it would be a problem for us to impose any kind of sanctions or join EU or global sanctions.”
Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, has disclosed that the UK has begun discussions with its international allies about sending modern weaponry to Moldova to protect it from Russia.
She said that she wants to see the country, which is to the south-west of Ukraine, “equipped to Nato standard.”
Moldova is not currently a Nato member and there are concerns that it could be a future target for Vladimir Putin after the Ukraine conflict.
In an interview with the Telegraph, Truss said: “I would want to see Moldova equipped to Nato standard. This is a discussion we’re having with our allies.
“Putin has been absolutely clear about his ambitions to create a greater Russia – and just because his attempts to take Kyiv weren’t successful it doesn’t mean he’s abandoned those ambitions.”
The UK, US, France and Germany have held talks about whether to sign a form of security guarantee for Ukraine to continue providing weaponry and support in the long term.
Read Shaun Walker’s moving report about children in the village of Novyi Bykiv in east Ukraine who are returning to school after the departure of Russian troops who were forced out.
The school, which now has no windows, electricity or textbooks, was the main Russian base in the village. Over the month the Russians occupied Novyi Bykiv, the residents lived in terror, with summary executions and widespread looting part of life
The fighting continues to be fiercest in the eastern region of Donbas, a Russian-speaking area that has been partially controlled by pro-Kremlin separatists since 2014.
“Attempts to attack Donbas continue. They completely ruined Rubizhne, Vonokvakha, just as Mariupol,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address late Friday, adding the Russians were “trying to do the same with Severodonetsk and many other cities”.
In the eastern city of Severodonetsk, 12 people were killed and another 40 wounded by Russian shelling.
Zelensky described the bombardment of Severodonetsk as “brutal and absolutely pointless”, as residents cowering in basements described an unending ordeal of terror.
The city forms part of the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in Lugansk, which along with the neighbouring region of Donetsk comprises the Donbas war zone.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy proposed a formal deal with the country’s allies to secure Russian compensation for the damage its forces have caused during the war.
Zelenskiy, who says Russia is trying to destroy as much of Ukraine’s infrastructure as it can, said such a deal would show nations planning aggressive acts that they would have to pay for their actions.
“We invite partner countries to sign a multilateral agreement and create a mechanism ensuring that everybody who suffered from Russian actions can receive compensation for all losses incurred,” he said in a video address.
Zelenskiy said that under such a deal, Russian funds and property in signatory nations would be confiscated. They would then be directed to a special compensation fund.
“That would be fair. And Russia will feel the weight of every missile, every bomb, every shell which it has fired at us,” he said.
Russia has declared victory in its months-long operation to capture Mariupol after Ukraine ordered the last of its troops holed up in the city’s Azovstal steelworks to lay down their arms.
In what would be its biggest victory yet in the war with Ukraine, Russia claimed to have captured the strategic port after a nearly three-month siege that reduced much of the city to a smoking ruin, with over 20,000 civilians feared dead.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin the “complete liberation” of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance and the city as a whole, spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Friday.
Mariupol endured some of the worst suffering of the war and became a worldwide symbol of defiance. There was no immediate confirmation from Ukraine.
Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti quoted the ministry as saying a total of 2,439 Ukrainian fighters who had been holed up at the steelworks had surrendered since Monday, including over 500 on Friday.
As they surrendered, the troops were taken prisoner by the Russians, and at least some were taken to a former penal colony. Others were said to be hospitalised. Russian authorities have threatened to investigate some of the steel mill’s defenders for war crimes and put them on trial, branding them “Nazis” and criminals.
The Kremlin had sought control of Mariupol to complete a land corridor between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014, and free up troops to join the larger battle for the Donbas. The city’s loss also deprives Ukraine of a vital seaport.
Read more in our report from last night:
The Financial Times has reported that former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder has stepped down as chair of the board of Rosneft, the state-owned Russian oil giant, after weeks of controversy over his refusal to distance himself from the Kremlin over the Ukraine invasion.
Former East German intelligence officer Matthias Warnig, a close friend of Putin’s who has worked for Russia for years, also stepped down from the board this week
Rosneft, which is responsible for 40% of Russia’s crude output, said on Friday that the two men had informed it of “their inability to continue their roles at the company’s board of directors”.
It followed a vote in the German parliament this week to strip Schröder, the former Social Democrat leader, of his parliamentary privileges including his office and staff after he defended his ties to Russia and said he did not think Putin was to blame for alleged war crimes committed by Moscow’s troops.
Russia halts gas exports to Finland
Russia’s Gazprom on Saturday halted gas exports to neighbouring Finland, the Finnish gas system operator said, the latest escalation of an energy payments dispute with Western nations.
Gazprom Export has demanded that European countries pay for Russian gas supplies in roubles because of sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but Finland refuses to do so.
“Gas imports through Imatra entry point have been stopped,” Gasgrid Finland said in a statement.
Imatra is the entry point for Russian gas into Finland.
Finnish state-owned gas wholesaler Gasum on Friday said Gazprom had warned that flows would be halted from 4am on Saturday morning.
Gasum also confirmed on Saturday that the flows has stopped.
“Natural gas supplies to Finland under Gasum’s supply contract have been cut off,” it said in a statement.
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s rolling coverage of the war in Ukraine. I am Hannah Ellis-Petersen joining you from Delhi and I will be live-blogging the key developments over the next few hours. Here is a summary of the situation this morning.
- Russia has declared victory in its months-long operation to capture the strategic port of Mariupol after Ukraine ordered the last of its troops holed up in the city’s Azovstal steelworks to lay down their arms. In Russia’s biggest victory in the war yet, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin the “complete liberation” of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, which had been the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance — and the city as a whole. Over 20,000 civilians are feared dead
- In a video statement, commander of Ukraine’s Azov regiment, Denys Prokopenko said civilians and heavily wounded Ukrainian fighters have been evacuated from the plant. The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said the Ukrainian combatants would be treated in line with international norms for prisoners of war.
- Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenko said 2,439 Ukrainian personnel had surrendered at the steelworks since May 16, the final 500 on Friday. Ukraine hopes to exchange the surrendering Azovstal soldiers for Russian prisoners though several senior Russian politicians demanded this week they be put on trial and one even called for their execution.
- The fighting continues to be fiercest in the eastern, Russian-speaking region of Donbas. In the eastern city of Severodonetsk, 12 people were killed and another 40 wounded by Russian shelling. President Zelensky described the bombardment of Severodonetsk as “brutal and absolutely pointless”.
- Zelenskiy said Russia should be made to pay for every home, school, hospital and business it destroys. He called on Ukraine’s partners to seize Russian funds and property under their jurisdiction and use them to create a fund to compensate those who suffered
- In the town of Lozova, at least eight people, including a child, were wounded by shrapnel on Friday when a powerful Russian missile strike gutted a newly repaired cultural centre, the largest in the region.
- The G7 major economies and global financial institutions agreed to provide more money to bolster Ukraine’s finances, bringing the total to $19.8bn. In the U.S., President Joe Biden was expected to sign a $40bn package of military and economic aid to Ukraine and its allies.
- Russia has cut off the supply of natural gas to Finland. It followed Finland’s refusal to pay for Russian gas supplies in roubles, following sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The cut-off also came after the country’s application to join Nato which Moscow has opposed and warned would be “a grave mistake with far-reaching consequences.” The cutoff, which happened at 4am on Saturday morning, is not expected to have any major immediate effect. Natural gas accounted for just 6% of Finland’s total energy consumption in 2020
- Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he will speak to Finland’s president today to discuss his opposition to its bid to join Nato. Erdoğan told reporters that he would also be speaking to Britain on Saturday about the issue
- A captured Russian soldier accused of killing a civilian awaited his fate in Ukraine’s first war crimes trial held in Kyiv. Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin, 21, could get life in prison after he admitted to killing an unarmed civilian early in the offensive. The verdict is likely on Monday.
- Russian lawmakers proposed a bill to lift the age limit of 40 for Russians volunteering for military service. Currently, all Russian men 18 to 27 must undergo a year of service, though many get college deferments and other exemptions.