Russia launched new missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Thursday morning. The mayor of the capital Vitaliy Klitschko asked citizens to stay in shelters, several explosions were heard in Kyiv, Reuters reports. Explosions also occurred in Lviv, a large city near Ukraine’s border with Poland. An air alert has been announced over Ukraine.

All information about the war in Ukraine – day 722 – LIVE on HotNews.ro:

07:37 The US, EU and other partners discussed sanctions against Russia at a meeting in Brussels this week ahead of the two-year anniversary of the start of the war, and a senior US official said Washington and its allies were prepared to impose “tough” sanctions. .

“Many of us are ready to offer fairly solid packages of anniversary events,” the official told Reuters, but declined to elaborate. The new sanctions come as the US and its allies seek to keep up the pressure on Russia, with US aid to Ukraine increasingly in question.

While the details of the sanctions packages to mark the two-year anniversary of the invasion were not the main topic of the meeting in Brussels, the official said the US and its partners had prepared such packages.

Washington reaffirmed its commitment to applying existing measures and coordinating new actions at a sanctions coordinators forum with representatives of the EU, Britain and Ukraine in Brussels, the official said.

If Trump is elected president, he will pressure Zelensky to negotiate with Putin

07:03The EU introduced sanctions against Chinese companies that support Russia’s military industry: “An unprecedented decision”

A long list of 91 pages, including a series of Chinese companies that allegedly supported and provided economic support to Russia, which is involved in the conflict against Ukraine, is in the hands of the member states of the European Union, which are now hypothesizing sanctions, serious measures against China to stop aid and mainly technological support of the Russian military industry.

06:58 Bloomberg: Trump is considering pressuring Zelenskyi to make peace with Putin if elected.

Donald Trump is considering pushing Ukraine to negotiate an end to the war with Russia if he returns to power next year, sources familiar with the matter said.

05:54 Vladimir Putin claims he was surprised by the lack of “sharp questions” in an interview with Tucker Carlson.

The Russian president said he was grateful to right-wing American TV host Tucker Carlson for his interview last week, but was surprised by the lack of “sharp questions.”

A brief retelling of the last events of the war:

• Ukrainians attacked a large Russian ship in the Black Sea. Ukrainian naval drones struck and seriously damaged the large Russian amphibious assault ship Caesar Kunikov near the Crimean Peninsula. The Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine released a video showing how the Russian amphibious assault ship “Cesar Kunikov” was sunk in the Black Sea.
• A US official has declared a “serious threat to national security” attributed to Russia: “Destabilizing military power.” ABC News says the Republican warning about a “threat to national security” refers to Russia’s desire to launch nuclear weapons into space. It is not about bombing a target on Earth, but about its possible use against satellites.
• The head of NATO warns Europe: “It cannot rely only on itself in defense. Allies outside the EU are vital.” 80% of NATO’s defense spending comes from NATO allies outside the EU,” Stoltenberg said.
• Vladimir Putin said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that he prefers Joe Biden to Donald Trump, but he is ready to work with any American president.
• Lavrov says that Russia is open to negotiations on the condition that the occupied Ukrainian territories are preserved: “But those who declared war on us do not have any meaningful proposal.”
• Russia is trying to convince us that its victory is inevitable, that Ukraine has already lost, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejournay said, warning the world not to be misled by Russia’s claims that it has taken control of Ukraine.
• Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed a law allowing the confiscation of property in Russia of persons guilty of spreading “false information” about the country’s armed forces and “crimes against state security”.
• Justice in Serbia released a former SBU employee. He fled Ukraine on “trucks loaded with money and jewels.” The Court of Appeal in the Serbian city of Nis overturned Andrii Naumov’s sentence of one year in prison.
• Ukraine claims that its export of agricultural products does not affect European markets. Ukrainian agricultural exports through Eastern Europe have not affected those markets, despite farmers’ protests, and the resumption of supplies through the Black Sea should help calm their fears, a Ukrainian official said on Wednesday.
• Retired General Ben Hodges, the former commander of US forces in Europe, says former President Donald Trump’s distaste for NATO is not because some member states are not meeting a voluntary commitment to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense.

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• Wednesday’s most important information about Russia’s aggression was live on HotNews.ro