NATO leaders at a summit in Lithuania next week will "reaffirm" an earlier commitment that Ukraine will join the alliance in the future, its chief Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference on Friday. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky was due to visit Turkey later in the day to hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, hoping to push Kyiv's bid to join NATO and secure more weapons from allies. Follow our live blog for the latest updates on the war in Ukraine. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
4:16pm: NATO indecision on Sweden, Ukraine is a 'threat' to global security, says Zelensky
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday NATO indecision on Sweden and Ukraine is a 'threat' to global security Zelensky.
4:06pm: 'Turkey has been pretty staunchly in support of Ukraine'
“It’s easy to bash Turkey as trying to have it both ways”, said FRANCE 24’s International affairs commentator Douglas Herbert, and for, “trying to balance a [. . .] transactional, mostly business-heavy, economic relationship with Russia with its status as a NATO member with EU aspirations as well, and a putative ally of the West”. Yet geopolitical necessity probably requires Turkey to play this kind of delicate balancing act. Click on the video below for more.
3:22pm: Slovak president expects clear view on Ukraine's NATO membership at summit
NATO's summit next week should give Ukraine a clear view on future membership in the military alliance, Slovak President Zuzana Caputova said on Friday after hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Bratislava.
She told a broadcast news conference alongside Zelenskiy that Ukraine's membership was a question of "when", not "if".
3:13pm: Ukraine's Zelensky expects unity during NATO summit in Vilnius
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday he expected to see unity among NATO member states at the military alliance's summit in Vilnius next week and that he wanted to see concrete steps on Ukraine's movement to join the alliance.
Speaking at a joint news conference with the Slovak president, Zelensky said he also expected the NATO summit to discuss more defence packages for Kyiv and security guarantees for Ukraine.
3:10pm: Belarus shows off a military camp to host Russia's Wagner mercenaries after a failed mutiny
The Belarusian military on Friday showed off a field camp it has offered to Russia’s Wagner military contractor if it relocates to Belarus under a deal that ended its mutiny.
Maj. Gen. Leonid Kosinsky, an assistant to Belarus’ defence minister, told international reporters that Wagner troops could use the former Belarusian army camp near Tsel, about 90 kilometers (about 55 miles) southeast of Minsk.
Journalists were shown rows of empty tents that Kosinsky said could accommodate up to 5,000 troops at the camp in the Asipovichy district that was used by the Belarusian army before it was handed over to the territorial defence forces.
2:36pm: NATO to grapple with Ukraine membership push at summit
NATO leaders at a summit next week will underscore a vow that Ukraine will join the alliance in the future, its chief Jens Stoltenberg said at a news conference in Brussels.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to attend the two-day gathering in Lithuania to make the case that his country should join when Russia's war ends.
"I expect allied leaders will reaffirm that Ukraine will become a member of NATO and unite on how to bring Ukraine closer to its goal," Stoltenberg said.
NATO's 31 members are still haggling over the final wording for a communique on how to address Ukraine's membership.
2:11pm: US to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, say AP sources
President Joe Biden's administration has decided to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine and is expected to announce later today that the Pentagon will send thousands of them as part of a new military aid package worth up to $800 million for the war effort against Russia, according to people familiar with the decision.
The decision comes despite widespread concerns that the bombs can cause civilian casualties and sparked a call from the United Nations to both Russia and Ukraine to avoid using them. The Pentagon will provide munitions that have a reduced “dud rate,” meaning there will be far fewer unexploded rounds that can result in unintended civilian deaths.
1:45pm: Zelensky arrives in Slovakia ahead of Turkey visit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Slovakia, in the latest leg of a tour to push Ukraine's bid to join NATO and secure more weapons from allies.
"Zelensky arrived this afternoon at the invitation of Slovak President Zuzana Caputova," spokesman Martin Strizinec told AFP.
1:19pm: 'Russia's agression will not pay', says NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg
NATO leaders will reaffirm that Ukraine will become a member of the military alliance and also unite on how to bring Kyiv closer to this goal when they meet in Vilnius on Tuesday and Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday.
"For 500 days, Moscow has brought death and destruction to the heart of Europe," Stoltenberg told reporters in a news conference in Brussels previewing the gathering.
"Our summit will send a clear message: NATO stands united, and Russia's aggression will not pay."
11:58am: Germany will not supply cluster ammunition to Ukraine
Germany will not supply cluster ammunition to Ukraine as it is a signatory to a convention banning the production and use of that type of weapon, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Friday in Bern.
"Germany has signed the convention, so it is no option for us," Pistorius told reporters after meeting his Austrian and Swiss counterparts.
"As for those countries that have not signed the convention – China, Russia, Ukraine and the US – it is not up to me to comment on their actions."
11:36am: Kremlin to closely follow Zelensky-Erdogan meeting
The Kremlin says it will closely follow the results of today's meeting in Turkey between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan, at which the potential extension of the Black Sea grain deal will be discussed.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin may talk with Erdogan soon, but no date has yet been set.
10:43am: Fighting Russia 'difficult' without long-range weapons, says Zelensky
Speaking at a press conference in Prague, Czech Republic, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has told reporters it is "difficult" to fight Russia without long-range weapons.
"Without long-range weapons, it is difficult not only to carry out an offensive mission, it is difficult to conduct a defensive operation, to be honest. Very difficult," Zelensky said.
The decision to supply Kyiv with such weapons "depends only" on the US, he added.
Meanwhile the Czech prime minister Petr Fiala said his country would send combat helicopters to Ukraine and train its pilots on US-made F-16 jet fighters to help it battle the Russian invasion.
10:31am: Ukraine's bid to join NATO as Zelensky heads to Turkey
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is heading to Ankara to meet with his turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, part of his bid for Ukraine to join NATO.
Grain exports are also at the heart of the agenda as the Black Sea grain deal that Turkey helped to broker last year is set to expire on July 17, said FRANCE 24's Liza Kaminov and Nicolas Chamontin.
Please click on the video player below to watch the report.
9:32am: Ukraine halts rescue operations in Lviv as death toll rises to 10
Ukraine has halted rescue operations in the western city of Lviv, where the death toll from Thursday's Russian missile strike on a residential building has risen to 10.
Regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi said rescuers had worked through the night to clear debris despite heavy rain after a missile hit the building in what he called the biggest attack of the war on civilian infrastructure in Lviv.
The city is only 70 km (43 miles) from the border with Poland, a NATO and European Union member state, and is far for front lines.
"As a result of yesterday's rocket attack on an apartment building in Lviv, 10 people were killed. One person was found at night and one more this morning," Kozytskyi said on the Telegram messaging app.
City officials declared two days of mourning in honour of the victims.
9:10am: Turkish support critical to Ukraine's NATO hopes
Ukraine's partnership with Turkey is of critical importance to Kyiv, says FRANCE 24's Kyiv correspondent Emmanuelle Chaze, reporting on President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Turkey later today.
"Turkey is the only country to have achieved some sort of diplomatic success when it brokered the Black Sea grain deal between Russia and Ukraine," Chaze explains.
8:45am: EU strikes deal to bolster ammunition production for Ukraine
The EU will devote €500 million to boosting the production of ammunition for Ukraine and to replenish the stocks of EU member countries, the block has announced.
The European Council and European Parliament representatives struck a provisional agreement overnight and it is expected to enter into force before the end of this month.
Under the deal, subsidies will be given to European arms firms to increase their production capacities and tackle identified bottlenecks.
The scheme is the third part of a broader EU effort to get more ammunition and arms to Ukraine, particularly 155-millimetre artillery shells, which Kyiv is pleading for as the fight against Russia's invasion has become a war of attrition.
7:42am: IAEA is 'making progress' inspecting Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, says Grossi
The UN nuclear watchdog is "making progress" inspecting several areas of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, after claims it had been mined, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said.
"I think we are making progress," he said in Tokyo, explaining that officials had visited sites including cooling pools but had not yet been given access to the roof, where Ukraine claims possible explosive devices have been placed.
7:11am: Ukraine requests to join Pacific free trade block, says Japanese minister
Ukraine has submitted its request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to the trade pact's depositary country New Zealand, Japan's economy minister Shigeyuki Goto has said.
The CPTPP includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, with the United Kingdom becoming the 12th member state.
Japan, as a CPTPP member, "must carefully assess whether Ukraine fully meets the high level of the agreement" in terms of market access and rules, Goto told a regular press conference.
4:26am: Ukraine's Zelensky travelling to Istanbul to meet Erdogan
President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to hold talks with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday on the latest leg of a tour to push Ukraine's bid to join NATO and secure more weapons from allies.
The talks in Istanbul come on the eve of the 500th day since Russian's invasion, with Zelensky admitting a widely anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive was progressing slowly.
"But nevertheless, we are advancing, not retreating, like Russians," Zelensky told reporters. "We now have the initiative."
The talks with Erdogan – an important broker in the conflict – are due to focus on an expiring deal to ship Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea as well as next week's NATO summit.
Analysts expect Zelensky to push Erdogan to give a green light for Sweden's NATO membership ahead of the July 11-12 meet in Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
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Key developments from Thursday, July 6:
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed a "tangible response" after a Russian strike on the western city of Lviv in the early hours of Thursday left several people dead. Zelensky later travelled to both Bulgaria and the Czech Republic to meet with leaders of the two countries.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said the head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was back in Russia after reportedly arriving in Belarus as part of a deal brokered to end the mercenary group's short-lived mutiny.
Read yesterday's live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
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