One person was killed in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, and another six were injured after Russian attacks on a residential building and a kindergarten in the city’s center – the first target since early June. The Russian Defense Ministry claims it used precision weapons to hit Ukrainian military training centers in the Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, and Lviv regions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country needs a more modern air defense system. G7 leaders have had their first meeting where four countries supported a ban on Russian gold, but it’s unclear if there is any consensus yet. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will attend a round of talks with the leaders of Sweden and Finland, as well as NATO, ahead of the summit in Madrid on Tuesday, his spokesman said. Indonesian President Joko Widodo says he will call for a ceasefire during a peace-building visit to Russia and Ukraine.
These are the latest updates:
14 minutes ago (00:03 GMT)
Leaders at G7 mock bare-chested rider Putin
G7 leaders on Sunday mocked the macho image of their absent opponent Vladimir Putin.
As the suitable leaders sat down for their first meeting of the three-day G7 summit in the sweltering Bavarian Alps, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked if they should take off their jackets – or undress even further.
“We all have to show that we are stronger than Putin,” Johnson said, laughing at some of his colleagues.
‘Bare-chested horseback riding,’ Canadian Justin Trudeau retorted.
“Oh yes,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Horse riding is the best.”
24 minutes ago (23:53 GMT)
Erdogan meets with leaders of Sweden, and Finland for the NATO summit in the four-sided summit.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will attend a round of talks with the leaders of Sweden and Finland, as well as NATO, ahead of the summit in Madrid on Tuesday, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin has said.
Speaking to broadcaster Haberturk, Kalin said he and Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal would also attend a round of talks with the Swedish and Finnish delegations in Brussels on Monday.
“A leadership-level summit will be held in Madrid at the request of the Secretary-General of NATO, in the presence of our President,” he said. He also said Erdogan’s attendance at talks with Sweden, Finland, and NATO on Tuesday “does not mean we will step back from our position.”
Finland and Sweden have applied for NATO membership in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the bids have met opposition from Turkey, which is angry at what it says is Helsinki and Stockholm’s support for Kurdish militants and arms embargoes against Ankara.
30 minutes ago (23:47 GMT)
Four G7 countries to ban Russian gold
Four of the Group of Seven Rich Nations have banned imports of Russian gold from tightening sanctions against Moscow and cutting funding for the invasion of Ukraine.
But it was unclear whether there was a G7 consensus on the plan, with European Council President Charles Michel saying the issue should be carefully considered and discussed further.
The British government said on Sunday that Britain, the United States, Japan, and Canada have agreed to ban new Russian gold imports.
Britain said the ban targeted wealthy Russians who have bought precious metals in safe havens to mitigate the financial impact of Western sanctions. Russian gold exports were worth $15.5 billion last year.
45 minutes ago (23:32 GMT)
EU ministers seek agreements on climate laws; Russian gas supply threatens
Ministers of European Union countries will meet this week to make joint plans to combat climate change. The previously scheduled meeting of EU energy ministers will also allow them to discuss contingency plans to reduce gas demand, which Brussels is expected to draft in the coming weeks in case of further supply restrictions from Russia.
Energy ministers meeting Monday, and environment ministers meeting the following day, are expected to agree on common positions on proposed laws to meet a 2030 target of reducing net emissions by 55 percent from 1990 levels. The rules would expand renewable energy, renew the EU’s carbon market and ban the sale of new fossil fuel cars from 2035.
Brussels says this year’s energy supply crisis, triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, means the EU’s 27 must move even faster to phase out fossil fuels. But the threat of economic collapse from rising energy prices has also made some countries more cautious about rapid changes that they fear will cause more disruption.
55 minutes ago (23:23 GMT)
Ukraine needs a more modern air defense system: Zelenskyy
Ukraine needs a current air defense system to deter Russian missiles, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, after a weekend in which Moscow attacked Ukraine.
In his late-night speech, Zelenskyy denounced Sunday’s attack on Kyiv, which killed a 37-year-old man and injured at least six people, saying that “the world’s second army triumphantly ‘defeats’ a kindergarten and an apartment building.
“Rockets also hit the Mykolaiv region, the Chernihiv region, Odesa, and Cherkasy. Artillery and mortar shelling did not stop in the Kharkiv region, in the Sumy region, in Donbas, in the south of our state,” he said in his overnight speech, adding that Russia had fired 62 rockets at Ukraine within 24 hours.
“Some of the missiles were shot down. But only part. We need a powerful air defense – modern, fully effective. That could provide full protection against these missiles… And partners must act faster if they’re partners, not observers.”
Firefighters work at the site of a residential building after explosions in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, June 26, 2022 [Nariman El-Mofty/AP]
