Zelenskyy calls for modern air defence as attacks intensify
- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country needs a more modern air defence system.
- One person was killed in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and another six injured after Russian attacks hit a residential building and a kindergarten compound in the centre of the city – the first time it has been targeted since early June.
- Russia’s defence ministry claims it had used high-precision weapons to hit Ukrainian army training centres in the Chernihiv, Zhytomyr and Lviv regions.
- Leaders from the G7 have had their first day of meetings where four nations backed a ban on Russian gold, but it is unclear whether there is yet a consensus.
- Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will attend a round of talks with the leaders of Sweden and Finland, as well as NATO on Tuesday ahead of the summit in Madrid, his spokesman says.
- Indonesian President Joko Widodo states he will call for a ceasefire during a peace-building visit to Russia and Ukraine.
Here are the latest updates:
Leaders at G7 mock bare-chested horseback rider Putin
Leaders of the G7 mocked the macho image of their absent adversary Vladimir Putin on Sunday.
As the besuited leaders sat down for their first meeting of the three-day G7 summit in the sweltering Bavarian Alps, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked if their jackets should come off – or if they should even disrobe further.
“We all have to show that we’re tougher than Putin,” Johnson said, to laughter from some of his colleagues.
“Bare-chested horseback riding,” shot back Canada’s Justin Trudeau.
“Oh yes,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Horseback riding is the best.”
Erdogan to meet with leaders of Sweden, Finland before NATO summit in a four way summit
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will attend a round of talks with the leaders of Sweden and Finland, as well as NATO on Tuesday ahead of the summit in Madrid, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin has said.
Speaking to broadcaster Haberturk, Kalin said he and Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal would also attend a round of talks with Swedish and Finnish delegation in Brussels on Monday.
“There will be a four-way summit in Madrid at the leader level in Madrid upon the request of the NATO Secretary General with the attendance of our president,” he said. He also said that Erdogan attending the talks with Sweden, Finland and NATO on Tuesday “does not mean we will take a step back from our position.”
Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the bids have faced opposition from Turkey, which has been angered by what it says is Helsinki and Stockholm’s support for Kurdish militants and arms embargoes on Ankara.
Four G7 nations move to ban Russian gold
Four of the Group of Seven rich nations moved to ban imports of Russian gold to tighten the sanctions squeeze on Moscow and cut off its means of financing the invasion of Ukraine.
But it was not clear whether there was G7 consensus on the plan, with European Council President Charles Michel saying the issue would need to be handled carefully and discussed further.
Britain, the United States, Japan and Canada agreed the ban on new Russian gold imports, the British government said on Sunday.
Britain said the ban was aimed at wealthy Russians who have been buying safe-haven bullion to reduce the financial impact of Western sanctions. Russian gold exports were worth $15.5 billion last year.
EU ministers to seek deals on climate laws; Russia’s gas supply cuts loom
Ministers from European Union countries will meet this week to attempt joint plans to fight climate change. The previously scheduled meeting by EU energy ministers will also give them a chance to discuss emergency plans to reduce gas demand, which Brussels is expected to draw up in coming weeks in case of further cuts in supply from Russia.
The energy ministers meeting on Monday, and environment ministers meeting the following day, are expected to agree common positions on proposed laws to meet a 2030 target to cut net emissions by 55 percent percent from 1990 levels. The laws would expand renewable energy, revamp the EU carbon market and ban sales of new cars running on fossil fuels from 2035.
Brussels says the energy supply crisis this year caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means the 27 EU countries should move even faster to wean themselves off fossil fuels. But the threat of an economic slump from surging energy prices has also made some countries more cautious about swift change that they fear might bring more disruption.
Ukraine needs a more modern air defence system: Zelenskyy
Ukraine needs a modern air defence system to deter Russian missiles, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said, after a weekend that saw Moscow step up attacks across Ukraine.
In his nighttime address, Zelenskyy decried Sunday’s attack on Kyiv, which killed a 37-year-old man and wounded at least six people, saying that “the second army of the world triumphantly ‘defeated’ a kindergarten and an apartment building.
“Missiles also hit the Mykolaiv region, the Chernihiv region, Odesa, Cherkasy. Artillery and mortar shelling did not stop in the Kharkiv region, in the Sumy region, in Donbas, in the south of our state,” he said in his nightly address, adding that Russia had fired 62 missiles at Ukraine within 24 hours.
“Part of the missiles were shot down. But only part. We need a powerful air defence – modern, fully effective. Which can ensure complete protection against these missiles… And partners need to move faster if they are really partners, not observers.”
Read all updates from June 26 here.