Ukrainian President arrives in Japan for G7 summit

Chiến sự đến tối 20.5: Tổng thống Ukraine đến Nhật dự hội nghị G7 - Ảnh 1. — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky steps off a plane in Hiroshima, Japan on May 20.

Ukrainian President attends G7 summit

According to Reuters, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 20 to attend the G7 summit. This is a rare opportunity for Mr. Zelensky to call for support from the world's wealthy democracies.

Mr Zelensky arrived in Japan on a French government plane. Footage from Japanese television stations showed the Ukrainian president, dressed in his usual olive green suit, walking down the tarmac and quickly moving to a waiting car.

Moments later, Mr Zelensky tweeted: "Japan. G7. Important meetings with partners and friends of Ukraine."

In a summit statement, the G7 countries condemned Russia's "brutal" actions against neighboring Ukraine "in the strongest possible terms", calling it a "serious violation of international law".

G7 leaders also called for "just and lasting peace " and reaffirmed their intention to provide Ukraine with military, financial and humanitarian support.

In Japan, Mr. Zelensky will have bilateral meetings with G7 leaders. The Ukrainian president began his G7 summit engagements with a bilateral meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Mr. Zelensky then went on to meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Russia strengthens Bakhmut

A British defense intelligence report released on May 20 said Russia may have redeployed battalions to bolster its forces in Bakhmut. Russia also sees control of the city as key to “achieving some success” in the conflict.

In an update, Britain said Russia had redeployed “several battalions” of troops to the region over the past four days after Ukraine made a tactical advance on the flanks of Bakhmut. The Ministry of Defence also said Russia’s latest move openly cast doubt on the resolve of the Wagner mercenary group, the main fighting force in the area.

Russia airstrikes Kyiv for 11th time this month

The Ukrainian military said on May 20 that air defenses in the capital Kyiv successfully repelled a Russian drone attack overnight, but that falling debris caused some damage.

"Tonight, Russia carried out another massive attack with UAVs. All targets were destroyed by our forces and air defense means. None of the attacks on Kyiv were successful!", the head of the Kyiv city military agency Serhiy Popko said on Telegram.

Falling debris caused a fire in a residential building in Kyiv’s Darnytsky district, but the fire was extinguished, Popko said. There were no casualties in the fire.

According to Mr. Popko, this is the 11th airstrike on Kyiv that Russia has carried out since the beginning of May.

Authorities in Kyiv and the city of Chernihiv, northeast of the Ukrainian capital, both reported explosions on May 20. Authorities in Mariupol also reported explosions in the city. The Ukrainian military said air defense systems had been activated in Kyiv and Chernihiv.

Russia responds to US sanctions

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on May 19 that it had banned 500 Americans from entering Russia in response to the embargo imposed by the administration of US President Joe Biden. Those sanctioned include not only dignitaries such as former President Barack Obama, but also current and former senior officials and heads of defense companies supplying weapons to Ukraine, the TASS news agency reported.

Members of parliament, experts, staff of policy research organizations... were also included in Russia's sanctions list.

In total, there are 1,844 Americans on Russia's sanctions list.

See also: Russia bans former US President Barack Obama

Source link