The Ukrainian MP Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, a former head of the security services in the country, has been interviewed on Sky News in the UK from Kyiv. He said that yesterday “we saw again the Victory Day madness in Moscow”. He told viewers:
The same day in Ukraine, in the city of Odesa, the city of Mykolaiv, Russians shelled our cities, our civilians. In Putin’s speech we did not hear any news, any good news for anybody, for us, for the whole world. It’s still the same Soviet kind propaganda. Conducting a war on our soil because of this “Russia’s motherland”. It sounds really like madness, especially on Victory Day.
On the accusations in some quarters of Russia that Ukrainians had been deliberately using civilians as human shields he said:
How can we use civilians as a shield when the Russian Black Sea fleet, the Russian Caspian Sea fleet are shelling missiles, Kalibr and others, against civilians? There is no protection.
On the prospects for peace, he said
The war will continue until Vladimir Putin wants to stop it. We understand any night in any city we can expect shelling at any minute, any hour. That is Putin’s responsibility and his decision.
Russia-Ukraine war: planning failures causing Russian military struggles, says UK; Ukraine issues food supply warning - live
The White House accuses Putin of perverting history in disinformation campaign; new US aid could be passed as soon as Tuesday
www.theguardian.com
The president of the European commission, Ursula von der Leyen, earlier hailed the “progress” made during talks with Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, who has so far resisted Brussels’ plans for a Russian oil embargo.
Landlocked Hungary relies on Russian oil from a single pipeline and Orban has warned he cannot approve the European Commission’s proposed sixth package of EU sanctions against Moscow.
“This evening’s discussion with PM Viktor Orbán was helpful to clarify issues related to sanctions and energy security,” Von der Leyen tweeted.
The two leaders discussed the issue during a meeting in Budapest.
“We made progress, but further work is needed,” she said, adding she would organise a videoconference call “with regional players to strengthen regional cooperation on oil infrastructure”.