Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged NATO leaders to take concrete steps toward Ukraine’s accession at next week’s summit and received support during a visit to Prague from the Czech president, who supported Kyiv’s bid to join the alliance. The Ukrainian leader says that he needs much more than the general statement, which has been made for more than 10 years, that his country’s door to NATO is simply “open”.

Highlights of the war in Ukraine, day 499, LIVETEXT:

01:30 “It turned him to dust.” According to the press, a heated exchange of words between Zelenskyi and his Bulgarian colleague: “Mr. Radev, this is not a conflict, but a war!”

00:40Biden did not approve of “secret peace talks” with Lavrov, the State Department says

Joe Biden did not approve of secret meetings between national security officials and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a government spokesman said, as quoted by Sky News.

00:19Thanks to the financial support of Western partners, Ukraine’s currency reserves have reached a record level – almost 39 billion dollars, the head of the National Bank announced on Thursday.

00:02Zelensky: Ukrainian offensive is “slow”, but “we are making progress”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that the Ukrainian counteroffensive was “slow”, but that Kyiv’s troops were advancing, AFP reports.

“The offensive is not fast, that’s a fact,” he admitted. “However, we are moving forward, not retreating like the Russians,” the Ukrainian president assured journalists in Prague

A brief summary of recent events:

• Zelenskyi: the Ukrainian offensive is “not fast,” but we are “advancing” and not “retreating like the Russians.” “The offensive is not fast, that’s a fact,” he admitted. “However, we are moving forward, not retreating like the Russians,” the Ukrainian president, together with his Czech counterpart Petr Pavel, assured journalists in Prague. “Now we have the initiative,” he said.
• Former US officials have held secret talks with Russian citizens close to the Kremlin, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, to discuss the future of Ukraine, the American television channel NBC reported on Thursday.
• Biden did not approve of “secret peace talks” with Lavrov, the State Department says. Joe Biden did not approve of secret meetings between national security officials and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a government spokesman said, as quoted by Sky News.
• The USA will supply cluster munitions to Ukraine. The US plans to announce on Friday that the Pentagon will send cluster munitions as part of a new military aid package worth about $800 million to Kiev, US officials said
• Analysts say the Kremlin is “concerned” about the risk of a new armed uprising
• Thanks to the financial support of Western partners, the currency reserves of Ukraine have reached a record level – almost 39 billion dollars, the head of the National Bank of Ukraine announced on Thursday.
• Lukashenko: If the West does not want Russia’s victory in Ukraine, sit down at the negotiating table. But if tomorrow the Russians see an opportunity to advance south to Transnistria… the situation will change.
• The Ukrainian military is demanding the legalization of medical cannabis to ease the suffering of the wounded.
• The head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, says the threat of a Russian attack on the huge Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has passed, but the danger could re-emerge as long as the plant remains under the occupation of Moscow forces.

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Thursday’s events related to Russian aggression were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro