Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed a formal deal with the country’s allies to secure Russian compensation for the damage its forces have caused during the war.
The Ukrainian President 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.
Mr Zelensky 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.”
Canada has already said it would change its sanctions law to allow for seized and sanctioned foreign assets to be redistributed as compensation to victims or to help in rebuilding a foreign state from war.
Follow the latest updates below.
08:23 AM
US and others walk out of APEC talks over Russian invasion
Representatives of the United States and several other nations walked out of an Asia-Pacific trade ministers meeting in Bangkok on Saturday to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials said.
The walkout was “an expression of disapproval at Russia’s illegal war of aggression in Ukraine and its economic impact in the APEC region,” one diplomat said.
Representatives from Canada, New Zealand, Japan and Australia joined the Americans, led by Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in walking out of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, two Thai officials and two international diplomats told Reuters.
Another diplomat said the five countries that staged the protest wanted “stronger language on Russia’s war” in the group’s final statement to be issued on Sunday.
08:07 AM
Zelensky: Ukraine war will ‘only end through diplomacy’
The war in Ukraine can only be resolved through “diplomacy”, Volodymyr Zelensky said today, amid a deadlock in negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow.
“The end will be through diplomacy,” he told a Ukrainian television channel. The war “will be bloody, there will be fighting but will only definitively end through diplomacy”.
07:55 AM
Russia could rename McDonald’s ZBurger or Rusburger amid rush for last Big Macs
Instead of biting into a Big Mac from McDonald’s, Russians may soon be queuing up to enjoy the taste of a patriotic ZBurger.
The American chain pulled out of Russia in March following the invasion of Ukraine and its 850 restaurants are now poised to undergo a rebrand after being bought by Russian businessman Alexander Govor this week.
Many Russians don’t seem too enthusiastic about losing their Big Macs and apple pies – video footage showed hundreds of people in Moscow queuing up for a final taste, echoing images of huge crowds when the first McDonald’s opened there at the end of the Cold War.
Read the full story from James Kilner here
07:47 AM
Russia likely facing Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles shortage, UK says
Russia is likely experiencing a shortage of appropriate reconnaissance Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), which it has attempted to use to identify targets to be struck by combat jets or artillery, the British Defence ministry said on Saturday.
Russia is likely experiencing a shortage of appropriate reconnaissance UAVs, which is exacerbated by limitations in its domestic manufacturing capacity resulting from sanctions, the report said.
If Russia continues to lose UAVs at current rate, Russian Forces intelligence, surveillance reconnaissance capability will be further degraded negatively impacting operational effectiveness, Britain said in a regular bulletin.
07:39 AM
Russia-Ukraine conflict in pictures
07:33 AM
‘It warms my heart to see Russian tanks blown up – it means our NLAW was a success’
On May 21, 2002, Baron Bach, the UK’s then Minister for Defence Procurement, gave a speech in which he announced the Swedish defence company, Saab Bofors, had won the £400 million British contract for the Next Generation Light Anti Armour Weapon, or NLAW.
“NLAW is an extremely potent man-portable, short-range, fire-and-forget, anti-armour weapon,” Bach told reporters. “It can destroy the most advanced tanks now envisaged, and is highly effective against other military targets such as armoured vehicles and buildings.”
Read the full story from Ed Cumming here
07:32 AM
Russia halts gas supplies to Finland
Russia has stopped providing natural gas to Finland, which has angered Moscow by applying for Nato membership, after the Nordic country refused to pay supplier Gazprom in rubles.
Following Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has asked clients from “unfriendly countries” – including EU member states – to pay for gas in rubles, a way to sidestep Western financial sanctions against its central bank.
Gazprom said in a statement Saturday that it had “completely stopped gas deliveries” as it had not received ruble payments from Finland’s state-owned energy company Gasum “by the end of the working day on May 20”.
Gazprom said it had supplied 1.49 billion cubic metres of natural gas to Finland in 2021, equal to about two thirds of the country’s gas consumption.
07:30 AM
Liz Truss: We’ll give Moldova weapons to stop an invasion by Vladimir Putin
Liz Truss has revealed that she wants to send modern weaponry to Moldova to protect it from the threat of invasion by Russia.
In an interview with The Telegraph, the Foreign Secretary said Vladimir Putin was determined to create a “greater Russia” despite defeat in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.
Moldova, to the south-west of Ukraine, is not a Nato member and there are fears it could be Putin’s next target after Ukraine as he seeks territorial expansion.
Read the full story from Ben Riley-Smith, Roland Oliphant, and James Kilner here
