Live blog: UK urges NATO remove MAP hurdle to Ukraine's membership

Thursday, June 29, 2023

NATO should look at skipping the requirement for Ukraine's Membership Action Plan (MAP) as part of its pathway to joining the alliance, British Defence Minister Ben Wallace has said.

Any move to ditch or circumvent the MAP requirement for Ukraine, which is designed to help candidates meet certain political, economic and military criteria, could speed up its accession.

"I think we should absolutely look at skipping the Membership Action Plan," Wallace said at a joint press conference alongside his Canadian counterpart in London.

"But of course, we have to put some realism in this space that there are 31 members of NATO now and, you know, we have to all move together."

Wallace said he could not guarantee agreement on that step ahead of next month's NATO summit in Lithuania, but said it could be possible to remove other barriers to their membership.

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1646 GMT — Russian general is believed to be detained in aftermath of Wagner mutiny: AP sources

Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of the Russian group of forces fighting in Ukraine, is believed to have been detained days after mercenaries staged a revolt inside Russia, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press, citing US and Ukrainian intelligence assessments.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.

It’s not clear whether Surovikin faces any charges or where he is being held but his reported detention comes days after Wagner Group mercenaries took over the military headquarters in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and were heading toward Moscow in what appears to have been an aborted insurrection.

1639 GMT — Pope envoy in Moscow meets official wanted by ICC, Patriarch Kirill

Pope Francis's peace envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi has met with a Russian official wanted by the ICC over allegations of illegally transferring Ukrainian children to Russia and Moscow's spiritual leader Patriarch Kirill on a visit to the Russian capital.

"Met with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi," Moscow's ombudswoman for children's rights Maria Lvova-Belova said in a statement. "We discussed humanitarian issues related to military operations and the protection of children's rights.

The International Criminal Court, which is based in The Hague, released arrest warrants for Lvova-Belova as well as Putin in March.

Zuppi also met with the leader of the Russian Orthodox church, Patriarch Kirill, in a rare meeting for a high-ranking Catholic official.

1526 GMT — NATO members closer to compromise on Ukraine's membership hopes: US envoy

The US ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, has said she was confident North Atlantic Treaty Organization would agree on a text that went beyond a declaration in Bucharest from 2008, which said Ukraine would join the alliance but did not say when or how.

"Most of us feel confident that we are going to be able to come to an agreement that will reflect where we are and that the Ukrainians will believe and feel is something above and beyond restating Bucharest," Smith told reporters.

1520 GMT — Ukraine conducts disaster response drills near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Ukraine has conducted nuclear disaster response drills in the vicinity of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, regional officials said.

Kiev accused Russia this month of planning a "terrorist" attack at the southern plant involving the release of radiation. Moscow denied the accusation.

Yuriy Malashko, governor of the Zaporizhzhia region that includes the plant, said the drills in Zaporizhzhia city and the district around it were intended to coordinate the response of all services to an "emergency situation" at the plant.

1509 GMT — Moscow critic and former publisher sentenced to 8 years for defaming Russian forces in Ukraine conflict

A Moscow court on Thursday sentenced former publisher and chief editor Ilya Krasilshchik to eight years in prison in absentia for defaming Russia’s armed forces involved in the conflict in Ukraine.

Krasilshchik, who has left Russia, is a former publisher of the Riga-based exiled Russian news outlet Meduza and former editor-in-chief of Russian entertainment and lifestyle magazine Afisha. He is also the former head of the delivery service Yandex.Lavka.

Krasilshchik now runs the “Help Desk” project, a media platform and service to help those affected by the fighting in Ukraine.

1455 GMT — Mike Pence, former US VP and presidential hopeful, visits Ukraine

Former US Vice President Mike Pence, who is running for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, made a surprise visit to Ukraine to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"Freedom is winning in Ukraine, and now more than ever, we need to keep faith with the courageous fighters here in Ukraine who are standing for freedom and pushing back on Russian aggression," Pence told reporters after meeting with Zelenskyy.

Pence is the first Republican presidential candidate to meet Zelenskyy during the campaign.

1002 GMT — Russia trusts reports about US' non-involvement in attempted Wagner rebellion

Russia has said reports claiming the US has nothing to do with the attempted rebellion of the Wagner paramilitary group are "quite reliable and plausible."

"We have reason to believe reports alleging that when it all started, or even the day before that, the Department of State rushed to instruct its foreign missions to refrain from commenting on this situation so that no one could argue that the US was somehow involved," Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Russian TV channel Pervy Kanal late on Wednesday evening.

He said that according to information at his disposal, Washington also asked Kiev to refrain from using the opportunity to stage any acts of sabotage in Russia amid the Wagner mutiny.

"I cannot guarantee 100 percent the accuracy of these reports, but they were quite reliable and plausible," he said.

0959 GMT — Ukraine pushes for NATO membership clarification

Kiev has said the time had come for NATO to clarify its stance on war-torn Ukraine's membership, ahead of a key alliance summit next month.

"Ukraine continues to work actively with all NATO allies to convince them that the time for clarity on Ukraine's membership in the Alliance has come," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted after speaking by phone with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

The future relationship between Ukraine and NATO is expected to be a key question on the agenda of a NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11-12.

Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Zelenskyy argued that Kiev's battle-hardened troops would help strengthen NATO — not weaken it — when Ukraine will be "victorious."

"We are now a recipient of security assistance," Zelenskyy said.

0846 GMT — Ukraine claims slow gains in 'fierce' Bakhmut battles

Kiev has said that its forces were making slow gains around Bakhmut and were engaging in "fierce" fighting with Russian forces around the embattled east Ukraine town.

"We have advances near Bakhmut and are continuing. We are moving," the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in a post on social media.

Russian forces, aided by fighters from the Wagner mercenary group, announced their capture of Bakhmut in May after months of gruelling warfare for the now-destroyed town that once was home to some 80,000 people.

Ukrainian forces have since been posting painstaking grains around the flanks of the city after announcing a highly-anticipated counter-offensive earlier this month.

Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar separately said that Ukrainian forces had seized the "operational advantage" around Bakhmut and were on the offensive.

0708 GMT — Wagner head cannot trust Lukashenko: Belarus opposition chief

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko could betray Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, despite offering him refuge after his aborted mutiny, exiled Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said.

"They're not allies. They cannot trust each other," Tikhanovskaya told AFP in an interview in Brussels on Wednesday.

"At any moment Lukashenko can betray Prigozhin, Prigozhin can betray Lukashenko."

Lukashenko on Tuesday said Prigozhin had jetted into Belarus under a deal he mediated to end an armed rebellion by the Wagner mercenary group that posed the greatest challenge yet to Russian President Vladimir Putin's rule.

0817 GMT — Ukraine accuses man of treason over deadly Russian missile attack

Ukraine has arrested a man suspected of committing treason by helping Russia carry out a missile strike on a busy restaurant that killed 12 people in the eastern city of Kramatorsk.

The prosecutor general's office said an employee at a local gas transportation company helped Moscow target the restaurant by filming cars with military licence plates in its parking lot and sending the footage to Russian special services.

Local officials said 12 people were killed and 60 hurt when a Russian missile slammed into the restaurant on Tuesday evening, reducing it to rubble.

"Anyone who helps Russian terrorists destroy lives deserves the maximum punishment," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video message on Wednesday.

0630 GMT — Czech Republic bans all Russian athletes from local competitions

The Czech government has said it had banned all athletes representing Russia from taking part in local competitions.

The government said it banned "the participation of individual athletes and sports teams representing the Russian Federation in sports competitions and games organised on Czech soil".

At the same time, athletes and teams representing the Czech Republic must not take part in competitions held in Russia, it added in a statement.

The decision was taken at the request of Czech sports associations.

0610 GMT — Death toll rises to 12 after Russian missile hit restaurant

The death toll from a Russian missile strike on a restaurant in eastern Ukraine rose to 12 and at least 60 wounded, including children, as the Kremlin insisted Russian forces only hit military-linked targets.

The latest tragedy came as US President Joe Biden denounced Vladimir Putin as a "pariah" while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the Russian president had been weakened by mercenary group Wagner's aborted rebellion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meanwhile called the Kramatorsk strike a "terrorist attack" and in his Wednesday evening address announced the arrest of an individual who had coordinated Russian fire.

In the Ukrainian-controlled town, where Russian strikes also hit homes, shops, a post office and other buildings, "rescue workers removed another body" on Thursday morning, bringing the death toll to 12, according to Ukraine's Interior Minister Igor Klymenko.

0300 GMT — EU leaders to debate Russia mutiny, pledge support for Ukraine

European Union leaders to debate the repercussions of the aborted mutiny in Russia as they pledge further support for Ukraine in its war against Moscow.

At a summit in Brussels, the leaders will also talk with NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg and discuss what role the EU could play in Western commitments to bolster Ukraine's security.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said the leaders were certain to discuss Saturday's dramatic abandoned mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group, even though it is not on the agenda of the summit or mentioned in drafts of its written conclusions.

"It will definitely come up," she told reporters in Brussels on the eve of the two-day summit, a regular gathering that will also discuss migration, relations with China and other issues.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has said that his government would send a note of diplomatic protest to Russia after three Colombian citizens were wounded in a Russian missile attack on the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine that left 11 dead and at least 56 wounded.

Sergio Jaramillo, who served as chief peace negotiator for the Colombian government, writer Hector Abad Faciolince and journalist Catalina Gomez Angel had travelled to Ukraine for a book fair in Kiev and were inside a restaurant in Kramatorsk when the missile landed on Tuesday.

"Russia has attacked three defenceless Colombian civilians. It thus violates the protocols of war. The Foreign Ministry must deliver a diplomatic note of protest," said Petro on Twitter.

"We await the safe and sound return to their homes of Sergio, Hector and Catalina." The three Colombians were in the company of Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina, who, according to a statement from Jaramillo and Faciolince, "is in critical condition due to a skull injury."

Jaramillo, Faciolince and Gomez suffered minor injuries and were treated at a local hospital.

0028 GMT — Stoltenberg: Ukraine's rightful place is in NATO

NATO members will agree on a new package of assistance for Ukraine and upgrade political ties with Kiev at the alliance’s summit next month in Vilnius, Lithuania, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said.

"This will bring Ukraine closer to our alliance. Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO," Stoltenberg told reporters at a joint news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

Saying that NATO members will further strengthen their deterrence and defence during the summit, which will take place on July 11-12, he added that "NATO-EU cooperation is more important than ever."

For our live updates from Wednesday (June 28), click here.