Russian forces shelled more than 40 towns in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, Ukraine’s military said, threatening to shut off the last main escape route for civilians trapped in the path of their invasion, now in its fourth month.
DIPLOMACY
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy savaged suggestions that Kyiv gives up territory and make concessions to end the war with Russia, saying the idea smacked of attempts to appease Nazi Germany in 1938.
* The European Union hopes to be able to agree on sanctions on Russian oil before the next meeting of its leaders, PresidentCharles Michel said.
* The European Commission proposed on Wednesday to make breaking EU sanctions against Russia a crime, a move that would allow EU governments to confiscate assets.
No agreement in EU on the implementation of the latest sanctions against Russia:
FIGHTING
* Russian forces were close to encircling two key towns in Ukraine’s industrial Donbas region, with constant mortar bombardment destroying houses and killing civilians, Ukrainian officials said.
* Some 150 people had been buried in a mass grave in one of the towns, Lysychansk, and police were collecting more bodies, said the regional governor.
* Shelling also killed one civilian and damaged buildings in the south, officials said. Reuters could not immediately verify battlefield reports.
ECONOMY
* The United States pushed Russia closer to the brink of a historic debt default by not extending its licence to pay bondholders.
* President Vladimir Putin ordered 10% rises in pensions and the minimum wage, but said not all of Russia’s economic problems were linked to the war in Ukraine.
* Russia is ready to allow vessels carrying food to leave Ukraine in return for the lifting of some sanctions, its deputy foreign minister was quoted as saying. Ukraine’s foreign minister called the proposal “blackmail.”
COMING UP
* An EU summit on May 30-31 could see divisions between member states who want to take a hard line against Moscow and those calling for a ceasefire.
* A UN trade official is set to visit Moscow in coming days to discuss resumptions of Russian fertilizer exports.
