Ukraine Russia latest news: Putin’s growing ties with Iran a ‘profound threat’, US warns

Germany is expecting more open and direct discussions with Russia at the upcoming meeting of finance ministers from the Group of 20 nations, government sources said on Wednesday, after a G20 meeting in April was disrupted by walkouts.

“Most will want to adopt a different approach on the day after April,” one of the sources added, referring to a walkout staged by top officials from Britain, the United States and Canada.

Efforts by Indonesia, which is hosting the meeting in Bali on Friday and Saturday, to reach agreement on a joint communique will be very difficult, the source said, adding that Russia and China were banding together more closely amid a crisis with the West over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Lego has made the decision to close its shops in Russia “indefinitely” following Vladmir Putin’s launch of war on Ukraine.

The Danish toy company had already ended its sales into Russia in February, shortly after the invasion began.

But on 12 July, Lego cut off its partnership with Inventive Retail Group- a local company which runs many of the toy giant’s stores.

Find out all the details here:

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba was quoted by Spanish newspaper El Pais as saying that Kyiv was “two steps away” from hammering out a deal with Moscow regarding grain exports.

“The security concerns, linked to Russia‘s position, need to be addressed. We are in the final phase and now everything depends on Russia,” he said, adding that Moscow could still drag out the talks.

Russia‘s invasion and sea blockade of Ukraine has stalled exports, leaving dozens of ships stranded and more than 20 million tonnes of grain stuck in silos at Odesa.

Farmers of both countries are currently harvesting the 2022 wheat crop. July-November is usually the busiest time for traders to ship the new crop from both countries.

The coming harvest is also at risk as Ukraine is now short of storage space due to the halt in exports

The Kremlin said on Wednesday it was expecting progress over a possible European Union deal to allow Russia to transit some sanctioned goods to its Kaliningrad exclave via the EU, but the problem had not been resolved.

Lithuania blocked Russia from sending goods which have fallen under EU sanctions across its territory in June, triggering outrage in Moscow and promises of a response.

Around two-thirds of refugees from Ukraine expect to stay in their host countries until hostilities subside and the security situation improves after Russia‘s invasion, a survey by the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR has found.

Most of the refugees from Ukraine, mainly women and children, hope to return home eventually, according to the survey of around 4,900 people from Ukraine now living in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The survey was conducted between mid-May and mid-June.

UNHCR says more than 5.6 million refugees are now recorded across Europe, with nearly 8.8 million people crossing out of Ukraine and nearly 3.3 million crossing back in since the Russian invasion on Feb. 24.

“They are anxious to reunite with friends and family and worry about those who stayed behind. Most want to wait until hostilities have subsided,” the report released on Wednesday said.

Of those seeking to return, 40% planned to do so in the next month, said UNHCR, adding that a higher proportion of refugees from the capital Kyiv and areas in the west were planning to return than those who arrived from the east and north.

Russia‘s defence ministry said on Wednesday that Russian forces shot down four Ukrainian military jets over eastern Ukraine.

Russian fighter jets destroyed an Su-25 and Su-24 – both Soviet-era jets used by the Ukrainian air force – over the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine and a Mig-29, another Soviet-designed fighter aircraft, in the Mykolaiv region of southern Ukraine, the defence ministry said in a daily briefing.

Reuters was not able to verify the reports.

Economic boycotts have been implemented worldwide by countries and institutions to restrict Vladimir Putin and place financial pressure on the Kremlin to end their invasion.

Here is an ever-growing list of sanctions that have been imposed by countries, businesses and the sporting, arts and music world to date:

European power grid network ENTSO-E will connect to the Baltic states’ grids within 24 hours if the countries were to be disconnected by Russia, Lithuanian power grid operator Litgrid said.

“If Russia disconnects us, even today, we would be ready. Our analysis shows that power supply would not be rationed, no serious disruptions expected,” Litgrid CEO Rokas Masiulis told a news conference on Wednesday.

“Our agreement with European operators is that we get synchronised within 24 hours,” he said.

In June, sources told Reuters European grid operators were ready to implement immediately a long-term plan to bring the Baltic states, which rely on the Russian grid for electricity, into the European Union system in the event Moscow cuts them off.

Masiulis said Lithuania was aiming to decouple the Baltic States from the Russian power grid in early 2024, compared to a previous plan for end-2025. He said discussions with Estonia and Latvia on the matter had started, and that the European Commission was also involved.

Lithuania is pushing to decouple the Baltic States from the Russian power grid already in early 2024 compared to a previous plan for end-2025, Lithuanian power grid operator Litgrid’s CEO Rokas Masiulis said on Wednesday.

He said discussions with Estonia and Latvia on the matter had started, and that the European Commission was also involved.

Ukraine relies on large numbers of overseas fighters in its battle with Russia.

Bel Trew, in Kharkiv, spoke to some of those who have volunteered to fight thousands of miles from home in the country’s foreign legion