Ukraine and Russia will sign a deal on Friday to lift a blockade of Black Sea grain exports that has escalated a global food crisis, Ankara said on Thursday after hosting talks between the warring sides. Earlier, Russia reopened its biggest gas pipeline to Germany at less than half normal capacity after a maintenance shutdown, amid worries of European energy shortages to come. Read our blog below to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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10:25pm: Russia's Lavrov to address Arab League on Sunday
Russia's top diplomat will address the Arab League at its Cairo headquarters Sunday, the organisation has said, days after Russia took part in a summit hosted by Iran, a regional rival of some Arab states.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet Arab League head Ahmed Aboul Gheit and representatives of the 22 nations that make up the pan-Arab bloc.
The United States and its allies have sought to isolate Russia on the global stage over its invasion of Ukraine, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken refusing to meet Lavrov earlier in July at a Group of 20 meeting in Bali.
Asked about Lavrov's trip, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States was "less concerned with whom Foreign Minister Lavrov and his colleagues are communicating and more focused on the messages they're hearing".
"We understand that countries around the world have individual unique relations with Russia. But there are basic principles," he said, including "the idea that might in a 21st century can't make right."
9:10pm: Deal to resume Black Sea grain exports to be signed on Friday, says Turkey
Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will sign a deal on Friday to lift Russia's blockade of Black Sea grain exports that has exacerbated a global food crisis, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office said on Thursday.
Guterres is due to arrive later today for the signing ceremony at Istanbul's lavish Dolmabahce Palace on the Bosphorus Strait.
The United States has hailed news of the Turkish-brokered deal and urged Russia to implement it.
"We welcome the announcement of this agreement in principle, but what we're focusing on now is holding Russia accountable for implementing this agreement and for enabling Ukrainian grain to get to world markets," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
7:25pm: UN chief Guterres due in Turkey for Ukraine grain talks
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is due to arrive in Turkey later today to help Russia and Ukraine agree on an elusive deal to allow grain to start flowing across the Black Sea.
Up to 25 million tonnes of wheat and other grain have been blocked in Ukrainian ports by Russian warships and landmines Kyiv has laid to avert a feared amphibious assault.
The crisis has sent global food prices soaring and pushed millions of people in the world's poorest countries to the edge of starvation.
A UN spokesman refused to say whether a final agreement would be signed during talks with the warring sides' delegations in Istanbul on Friday.
NTV television said Guterres could meet on Friday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
7:05pm: Volunteers evacuate Ukrainians from Donbas front lines
Despite repeated appeals from Ukrainian authorities to evacuate frontline cities, many residents stay in their homes until the last moment. By then, escape routes may already be under intense shelling. But some locals have made it their mission to rescue their neighbours from the toughest spots.
FRANCE 24’s team reports from Sloviansk, in Ukraine’s Donbas region.
6:25pm: Russia's military 'to run out of steam' in coming weeks, UK spy chief says
Russia's military is likely to start an operational pause of some kind in Ukraine in the coming weeks, giving Kyiv a key opportunity to strike back, Britain's spy chief has said, addressing the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.
"I think they're about to run out of steam. I think our assessment is that the Russians will increasingly find it difficult to supply manpower material over the next few weeks," said Richard Moore, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) known as MI6.
"They will have to pause in some way, and that will give the Ukrainians opportunities to strike back," he added.
4:40pm: Ukraine war must end to prevent nuclear 'abyss', says Lukashenko
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has urged Ukraine to accept Moscow's demands and avoid the "abyss of nuclear war" in an interview with AFP.
"We must stop, reach an agreement, end this mess, operation and war in Ukraine," Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin's top ally, said in Minsk.
"There's no need to go further. Further lies the abyss of nuclear war. There's no need to go there," he said, speaking on the 148th day of Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.
Lukashenko, whose country has served as a staging ground for the Russian invasion, has accused the West of seeking a conflict with Russia and of provoking the Ukraine war.
2:35pm: Hungary's foreign minister heads to Moscow to discuss buying more gas
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto will travel to Moscow on Thursday to discuss purchasing more Russian gas on behalf of his country, Hungary's ruling Fidesz party said.
"In order to ensure the security of Hungary's energy supply, the government has decided to purchase an additional 700 million cubic metres of natural gas in addition to the quantities stipulated in the long-term contracts," Fidesz said in a statement on Facebook.
Szijjarto would "negotiate" the issue in Moscow, the statement added.
10:32am: Russian shelling kills 2, wounds 19 in Kharkiv: governor
The latest barrage of Russian shelling on Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv killed at least two people and wounded 19 others on Thursday, the regional governor said.
"Nineteen people have been injured, including one child. Unfortunately, four people are in a serious condition. Two people died," Oleg Synegubov said on social media after the bombardment.
Russian artillery has pursued an almost constant shelling campaign on the northeastern city in recent days.
8:32am: Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is a focus of renewed concern
Reporting from the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg says its nuclear power plant is a focus of renewed concern due to Russian shelling in recent days.
“The Russians have been firing and causing significant damage and fear,” said Cragg. Ukrainian forces have great difficulty firing back since they do not want to damage the plant. But earlier this week, smoke was seen rising from near the power plant. ‘It’s believed that Russian positions were hit somewhere near the power plant,” said Cragg.
Ukraine's state nuclear company Energoatom, whose employees still run Europe’s largest nuclear power plant despite the area being under Russian control, issued a statement this week accusing Russian forces of demanding access to the machine halls of three reactors at the plant in order to store tanks and equipment there.
7:46am: UK says Russia closing in on Ukraine's second biggest power plant
Russian forces are likely closing in on Ukraine's second biggest power plant at Vuhlehirska, 50 kilometres north-east of Donetsk, according to British military intelligence.
"Russia is prioritising the capture of critical national infrastructure, such as power plants," Britain's defence ministry said in a regular bulletin.
The ministry also added that Russia is probably attempting to break through at Vuhlehirska, as part of its efforts to regain momentum on the southern pincer of its advance towards the key cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
6:49am: Russian Nord Stream gas pipeline restarted after maintenance: operator
The Nord Stream gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany has restarted after 10 days of maintenance work, according to the operator.
"It's working," a Nord Stream AG spokesman told AFP, without specifying the amount of gas being delivered. The German government had feared the pipeline would not be reopened by Moscow after the scheduled work.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline accounts for around a third of Germany’s gas supplies.
German news agency dpa reported the deliveries had restarted. However, Russia’s Gazprom notified deliveries Thursday of only about 30% of the pipeline's capacity, according to the head of Germany’s network regulator, Klaus Mueller.
In mid-June, Russia’s state-owned Gazprom had already cut the flow to 40% of capacity. It cited alleged technical problems involving equipment that partner Siemens Energy sent to Canada for overhaul and couldn’t be returned because of sanctions imposed over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. German officials have rejected that explanation.
6:12am: Europe anxiously awaits return of Russian gas to Germany
Europe anxiously awaits the return of Russian gas supplies on Thursday at the end of scheduled work on a crucial pipeline, as heavily dependent Germany accuses the Kremlin of using energy as a “weapon”.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline is due to reopen at 0400 GMT after 10 days of annual repairs, but Germany fears Russia will seize the opportunity to simply keep the taps entirely or nearly shut, plunging the continent into an energy crisis.
“Moscow is not shying away from using grain and energy deliveries as a weapon,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters this week, referring to allegations Moscow was also deliberately blocking food exports from Ukraine. “We have to be resolute in protecting ourselves.”
However, enduring German reliance on Russian gas looked set to ratchet up the pressure on Europe’s top economy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted this week that Gazprom would meet all its delivery obligations.
“Gazprom has fulfilled, is fulfilling and will fulfil its obligations in full,” Putin told reporters in Tehran after holding talks with the leaders of Iran and Turkey.
However, he warned that as a second gas turbine was due to be sent for maintenance at the end of this month, energy flows could fall to 20 percent of capacity from next week.
1:32am: Zelensky calls new EU sanctions ‘inadequate’
EU diplomats meeting in Brussels Wednesday agreed a new round of sanctions against Moscow, including a ban on importing gold from Russia and freezing the assets of top lender Sberbank. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the sanctions as inadequate.
“Russia must feel a much higher price for the war to force it to seek peace,” Zelensky said in a late-night video address.
12:43am: CIA estimates 15,000 Russian deaths in Ukraine
The United States estimates that Russian casualties in Ukraine so far have reached around 15,000 killed and perhaps 45,000 wounded, CIA Director William Burns said on Wednesday, cautioning that Kyiv has endured significant casualties as well.
“The latest estimates from the US intelligence community would be something in the vicinity of 15,000 (Russian forces) killed and maybe three times that wounded. So a quite significant set of losses,” Burns said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.
“And, the Ukrainians have suffered as well—probably a little less than that. But, you know, significant casualties.”
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and REUTERS)
