SVE NEWS & FRANCE24.COM Sharing Series — EU leaders to discuss Russia’s aborted rebellion, further Ukraine support in Brussels

European Union leaders will on Thursday discuss the repercussions of the Wagner Group’s aborted rebellion in Russia as they pledge further support for Ukraine in its war against Moscow’s invasion at a summit in Brussels. The leaders will also talk with NATO head Jens Stoltenberg and discuss what role the EU could play in Western commitments to bolster Ukraine’s security. Follow our live blog for all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine. All times are Paris time (GMT+2). 

File photo: European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, September 28, 2022. © Yves Herman, Reuters

1:18pm: Vatican envoy in Moscow meets Russian official wanted by ICC

A Russian official wanted by the ICC over allegations of illegally transferring Ukrainian children to Russia said Thursday she had met a visiting Vatican envoy.

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi began his visit to Russia earlier this week, in a first such trip since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022.

“Met with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi,” Moscow’s ombudswoman for children’s rights Maria Lvova-Belova said in a statement.

“We discussed humanitarian issues related to military operations and the protection of children’s rights. … I am sure that Christian love and mercy will help in dialogue and mutual understanding,” she added.

Read moreMother Russia: Maria Lvova-Belova, the Putin ally deporting Ukrainian children

The International Criminal Court, which is based in The Hague, released arrest warrants for Lvova-Belova as well as Putin in March.

The court said the orders were linked to the war crime accusation of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.

12:40pm: Estonian PM calls for ‘clear’ pathway for Ukraine NATO membership

NATO member states need to agree on a clear pathway for Ukraine’s membership at the NATO summit, Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said on Thursday.

“The only security guarantee that really works, and the cheapest security guarantee that really works is NATO membership”, she told reporters ahead of a summit with other EU government leaders in Brussels, adding this can’t happen while the war is going on.

12:23pm: Kremlin says Zaporizhzhia atomic plant under constant threat of ‘provocations’

The Kremlin said on Thursday there was a constant threat of “provocations” from the Ukrainian side regarding the nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, speaking at a regular news briefing, said that inspectors had recently been at the site to check on the safety of the plant, which is controlled by Russian forces but is near the frontline of fighting in southern Ukraine.

The UN atomic energy agency has frequently appealed to both sides to avoid shelling in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest.

12:09pm: Ukraine tells NATO ‘time for clarity’ on membership

Kyiv said Thursday the time had come for NATO to clarify its stance on war-torn Ukraine’s membership, ahead of a key alliance summit next month.

“Ukraine continues to work actively with all NATO allies to convince them that the time for clarity on Ukraine’s membership in the Alliance has come,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted after speaking by phone with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

12:05pm: Kremlin refers questions about General Surovikin’s fate to the defence ministry

The Kremlin on Thursday declined to answer questions about Russian General Sergei Surovikin, whose status and location have not been made public since an abortive armed mercenary mutiny on Saturday.

Nicknamed “General Armageddon” by the Russian press for his aggressive tactics in the Syrian conflict, Surovikin, who is deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, has been absent from view since Saturday.

There have since been unconfirmed reports that he is being questioned by the security services.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred questions about Surovikin to the defence ministry, which has so far not made any statement about him.

Peskov said he did not have information about Prigozhin’s whereabouts at the present time.

10:46am: Ukraine claims slow gains in ‘fierce’ Bakhmut battles

Kyiv said Thursday that its forces were making slow gains around Bakhmut and were engaging in “fierce” fighting with Russian forces around the embattled east Ukraine town.

“We have advances near Bakhmut and are continuing. We are moving,” the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in a post on social media.

Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar separately said Thursday that Ukrainian forces had seized the “operational advantage” around Bakhmut and were on the offensive.

“Our troops are gnawing away at every meter of the enemy’s land in this fierce battle,” she said in a statement, adding: “They are making progress”.

Russian forces announced their capture of Bakhmut in May after months of gruelling warfare for the now-destroyed town that once was home to some 80,000 people. Ukrainian forces have since been posting painstaking gains around the flanks of the city after announcing a highly-anticipated counteroffensive earlier this month.

9:47am: Poland says EU should help pay for border security amid Wagner fears

Poland expects the European Union to help it fund measures to strengthen its eastern border, a deputy minister said on Thursday, after Warsaw announced a tightening of security due to concerns over the presence of the Wagner group in Belarus.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to offer troops from the private military company the choice of relocating to Belarus has led to fears among eastern NATO members that their presence will cause greater instability in the region.

On Wednesday the leader of Poland’s ruling nationalists Law and Justice (PiS), Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said Poland believed that there could be around 8,000 Wagner troops already in Belarus.

He said Poland would take both temporary and permanent steps to strengthen the border, including boosting the presence of security forces and increasing fortifications.

Asked on Thursday whether Brussels should help Warsaw pay for such measures, Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski said “Poland expects it”.

“European solidarity means supporting countries threatened with destabilization,” he told public radio. “These safeguards need to be increased.”

8:59am: Papal envoy to meet Patriarch Kirill in Moscow

Papal envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi and Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, will meet in Moscow on Thursday, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.

Read morePatriarch Kirill: The politically influential head of the Russian Orthodox Church

Zuppi on Wednesday discussed humanitarian issues with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser.

8:48am: Russian general ‘sympathetic’ to Wagner rebellion arrested, Moscow Times reports

Russian General Sergei Surovikin has been arrested, The Moscow Times reported Wednesday evening local time, citing two anonymous sources close to Russia’s Defense Ministry.

Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, was sympathetic to mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s weekend rebellion, US officials said on Wednesday, though it was unclear if he actively supported it.

The gereral has not been seen in public since Saturday and his whereabouts are unknown. The Defense Ministry has yet to comment on his alleged arrest.

Alexei Venediktov, editor-in-chief of the former Ekho Moskvy radio station, wrote on Telegram that Surovikin has not been in contact with his family for three days.

Surovikin is one of several generals to have have dropped out of public view following the Wagner Group’s failed rebellion aimed at toppling Russia’s top brass.

Read moreRussia’s top generals disappear from public view after failed Wagner rebellion

8:10am: Death toll rises to 12 after Russian missile strike on restaurant in Ukraine

The toll from a Russian missile strike on a restaurant in eastern Ukraine rose to 12 dead and at least 60 wounded on Thursday morning, authorities said.

In the Ukrainian-controlled town, where Russian strikes also hit homes, shops, a post office and other buildings, “rescue workers removed another body” on Thursday morning, bringing the death toll to 12, according to Kyiv‘s Interior Minister Igor Klymenko.

Three children were among the dead but the count of the wounded differed, with Klymenko putting the figure at 65 and emergency services counting 60.

The latter also said 11 people had been rescued from the Ria Pizza restaurant, an eatery popular with soldiers, aid workers and journalists.

6:12am: EU should not ‘lower the bar’ to take in Ukraine, says Denmark

Denmark‘s Finance Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said that his government supported European Union membership for Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and the western Balkans but said “geopolitical circumstances” did not justify skating over governance reforms, in an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday.

The EU risks “importing instability” if it relaxes its standards on democracy and corruption to hasten the accession of Ukraine and other candidate countries, Rasmussen told FT.

5:00am: EU leaders to discuss Russia rebellion, pledge support for Ukraine

European Union leaders will on Thursday debate the repercussions of the aborted rebellion in Russia as they pledge further support for Ukraine in its war against Moscow‘s invasion.

At a summit in Brussels, the leaders will also talk with NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg and discuss what role the EU could play in Western commitments to bolster Ukraine’s security.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said the leaders were certain to discuss Saturday’s dramatic abandoned rebellion by the Wagner mercenary group, even though it is not on the agenda of the summit or mentioned in drafts of its written conclusions.

Charles Michel, the president of the European Council of EU leaders, said the West should continue to support Ukraine and bolster its own defences.

“Ever more in these circumstances, we will reassert our commitment to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, including through sustainable financial and military assistance,” he wrote in a letter inviting leaders to the summit.

1:01am: Zelensky’s leadership honoured with top UK award

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been awarded a prestigious UK prize for his leadership and contribution to international relations, the Chatham House think tank said on Thursday.

The London-based research body said it had awarded Zelensky the 2023 Chatham House Prize, hailing his transformation from actor-turned novice politician to wartime leader as “nothing short of extraordinary”.

“The former actor has unified his nation in defiance of a formidable foe,” the think tank said in a statement.

12:28am: Russian general Surovikin was sympathetic towards Wagner rebellion, US officials say

General Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, was sympathetic to mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin‘s weekend rebellion, US officials said on Wednesday, though it was unclear if he actively supported it.

Prigozhin startled the world by leading an armed revolt on Saturday that brought his Wagner Group fighters from the Ukrainian border to within 200 kilometers (125 miles) of Moscow before he abruptly called off the uprising.

Three officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Surovikin had been in support of Prigozhin but Western intelligence did not know with certainty if he had helped the rebellion in any way.

As the rebellion began, Surovikin publicly urged fighters of the Wagner private militia to give up their opposition to the military leadership and return to their bases.

“I urge you to stop,” Surovikin had said in a video posted on Telegram messaging app, his right hand resting on a rifle.

Key developments from Wednesday, June 28:

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that he had called a meeting of senior officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland on July 6 to try to overcome Turkish objections to Sweden joining the military organisation.

Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday arrested a man they accused of helping Russia direct a missile strike that killed at least 11 people, including three teenagers, at a popular pizza restaurant in eastern Ukraine. The Tuesday evening attack on Kramatorsk wounded at least 60 other people, Ukraine’s National Police said.

Read yesterday’s liveblog to see how all the day’s events unfolded.

Issued on: 29/06/2023 – 08:03Modified: 29/06/2023 – 13:44

Sources from: FRANCE24.COM