What happened in the last few hours?
This is the main news at 20:00 on the 562nd day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine:
Zelenskyi reiterated that “due to the absence of new sanctions and arms deliveries, the war is slowing down”.. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a press conference this Friday that “the war is slowing down” because Ukraine’s western allies are not imposing new sanctions and not supplying arms. “All processes are becoming slower and more difficult,” he hinted. “If we’re not in heaven and Russia is, then they stop us in heaven. They are stopping our counter-offensive,” the President said, referring to the delivery of Western fighters. Allies have promised F-16 fighter jets, but first deliveries are not expected until the end of the year.
Denmark announces that another 10 Leopard tanks are already in Ukraine. The first 10 Leopard 1 tanks promised by Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands in February have arrived in Ukraine, the Danish army said on Friday, indicating “more are on the way”. In early February, the three European countries announced the delivery of 100 heavy tanks “in the coming months” to support Kiev in its fight against the Russian army. “The first ten tanks were sent to Ukraine. More are on the way,” the statement said. “Another ten were delivered from the factory.”
One dead and 72 injured in an attack on a police station in Krivoy Rog. One person was killed and 72 others injured in a bomb attack on a police station in Krivoy Rog in Dnipropetrovsk province, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In addition to the destruction of the police station, ten other buildings (three administrative buildings and seven residential buildings) were damaged to varying degrees.
Zelenskyy said he was ready to organize elections in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared on Friday that he was “ready” to organize elections “if the people need it”. “We are ready,” he said at a conference in Kiev. Parliamentary elections were scheduled for October, but the Ukrainian constitution prohibits the holding of elections under martial law.
A Ukrainian adviser claims that the Pope’s comments about the Russian Empire belittle him as a mediator in the war. Mikhail Podoliak, an adviser in the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in a message to young Russians on Friday that Pope Francis can no longer play a mediating role in the war between Ukraine and Russia after claiming inheritance from the Russian Empire. Ukraine’s presidential aide has stated in a televised interview that Francis’ words “seriously damage the reputation of the Holy See” and “nullify” the possibility of “any mediation mission” the Vatican might undertake.
The UN has offered Russia to mediate in easing sanctions to bring Moscow back into the Black Sea grain deal. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has proposed four lines of mediation in which the UN could intervene to help Russia circumvent international sanctions in the agricultural sector and thus persuade the Kremlin to return to the Black Sea Grain Export Agreement. which left it last July. In a letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov published on Friday, Guterres said the United Nations was ready immediately to take all of these measures “on the basis of the clear understanding that their implementation would return the Russian Federation to the black.” Meer will lead.” Initiative and full resumption of operations.”
The EU is striving for an agreement on the use of Russian funds for the reconstruction of Ukraine. The European Union is seeking an agreement on using the Central Bank of Russia’s frozen assets to finance Ukraine’s recovery and rebuilding after the damage caused by Russia’s war of aggression, the EU announced on Friday in Vilnius, capital of Lithuania -Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis. During a joint press conference with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Dombrovskis said that the European Commission had been drafting a “concept paper” in recent days on how Ukraine could use the “immobilized” assets of the Russian central bank.