US pushes exporters to cut off clients who might sell weapons parts on to Russia; Zelenskiy insists Putin a threat to Nato countries. What we know on day 765
A Russian SU-35 Flanker fighter jet has crashed into the sea off Sevastopol, Crimea. Footage online showed a jet on fire, spiralling into the ocean and exploding. The Russian-installed governor of the illegally occupied region, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said on Thursday the pilot ejected and was picked up by rescuers but gave no details as to the cause of the crash. Maria Avdeeva, a Ukrainian security expert, claimed that it had been shot down, while other pro-Ukraine Telegram channels speculated that the cause was friendly fire. Ukrainian officials have not commented on the claims, which cannot be independently verified. The region has come under frequent Ukrainian attack during the two-year conflict.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, told the speaker of the US House of Representatives during a phone call on Thursday that it was vital for Congress to pass a new military aid package for Ukraine. Mike Johnson, the speaker, has held up a bill for months that would supply $60bn in military and financial aid.
“We recognise that there are differing views in the House of Representatives on how to proceed, but the key is to keep the issue of aid to Ukraine as a unifying factor,” Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy said he briefed Johnson about the situation on the battlefield and also spoke about “the dramatic increase in Russia’s air terror”. The Ukrainian military later said that its top commander, Oleksander Syrskyi, spoke to the US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Charles Brown, about battlefield issues.
Zelenskiy, in a CBS interview, has warned that Vladimir Putin will push Russia’s war “very quickly” on to Nato soil unless he is stopped in Ukraine. Zelenskiy acknowledged that his troops are not prepared to defend against another imminent major Russian offensive, and highlighted the urgency for American Patriot missile defence systems and more artillery.
The US is telling American companies making and selling parts that can be used in missiles and drones to stop shipping their goods to more than 600 foreign parties who might divert them to Russia. The parts have been found in Russian munitions recovered in Ukraine. “In the last several weeks, we’ve sent letters to more than 20 American companies, each containing a list of more than 600 foreign parties,” said Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary at the commerce department. Axelrod said senior US officials have also been contacting company bosses directly to discuss further steps to prevent their products ending up inside Russia.
A Russian court on Thursday sentenced journalist Mikhail Feldman to two years in prison for denouncing Moscow’s full-scale military offensive on Ukraine. Police in Moscow detained five other reporters over a 24-hour period.
Against the backdrop of war in Ukraine, several central and eastern European countries began marking on Thursday the 20th anniversary of the largest expansion of Nato when formerly socialist countries became members. Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined Nato on 29 March 2004. Other former Soviet satellites including Poland and the Czech Republic had been admitted several years earlier.
Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, on Thursday hosted his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal, for talks designed to ease friction over Ukrainian farm imports and border blockades by disgruntled Polish farmers. On Thursday, Polish prime minister welcomed his counterpart to Warsaw.
“We are close to a solution,” Tusk said. “This applies to the amount of products that can flow into Poland, once we determine it, we are close to ensuring that transit does not disturb the Polish market.” Shmyhal said the talks were “extremely constructive” and intensive. “Today I can say that we definitely have progress regarding lifting of the blockade.”
Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) has carried out searches as part of an investigation with other European security services into alleged Russian espionage, the agency said on Thursday.
French authorities uncovered a website containing a fake recruitment drive for French volunteers to join the war in Ukraine, the defence ministry said on Thursday. The site was taken down by French services, said a government source, who asked not to be named.
