US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has “already lost” the war in Ukraine as he visited NATO’s newest member country. Biden’s comments came as spokespeople for both the Ukrainian military and the Pentagon confirmed that cluster munitions had been delivered to Ukraine. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
10:32pm:Â Wagner forces not engaged in Ukraine in any significant way, says Pentagon
The Wagner mercenary group is not participating in military operations in Ukraine in any significant way, the Pentagon said on Thursday, more than two weeks after the group staged a brief armed mutiny in Russia.
"At this stage, we do not see Wagner forces participating in any significant capacity in support of combat operations in Ukraine," said Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder.
Wagner fighters had waged some of the fiercest and bloodiest battles during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But in the wake of the June 23-24 revolt, fighters were given the option of going into exile, joining Russia's regular forces or going home.
On Wednesday, Russia's defense ministry said Wagner was completing its handover of weapons to Russia's regular armed forces.
8:55pm: Pentagon confirms that Ukraine now has US-supplied cluster munitions
Ukraine has received US cluster munitions, a senior Pentagon official said on Thursday.
The US announced on July 7 it would send Kyiv cluster munitions as part of an $800 million security package intended to ensure Russian forces that invaded Ukraine nearly 17 months ago cannot halt a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
8:47pm:Â Russian and Turkish deputy foreign ministers discussed grain deal, says Russian foreign ministry
Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Vershinin discussed the Black Sea grain deal with his Turkish counterpart Burak Akcapar in a phone call on Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Thursday.
According to the ministry, the conversation was initiated by Turkey and "special attention was paid to the implementation of the 'Black Sea initiative' on the export of Ukrainian food".
7:39pm: Hungary signals it's likely to back Sweden's NATO bid in autumn
Hungary signalled on Thursday it could ratify Sweden's bid to join NATO in the autumn, with a ruling party lawmaker saying Turkey's decision to back Sweden's bid opened the door to strengthening the alliance at a time of need.
Read moreTurkey's Erdogan agrees to back Swedish NATO bid
Hungarian lawmaker Zsolt Nemeth said there was no need to convene an extraordinary session of parliament sooner to approve the decision as Turkish approval would come later.
"We will take up work in mid-September," Nemeth, the head of Hungarian parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, told private broadcaster InfoRadio.
There is no need to move sooner as Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will not forward the ratification of Sweden's NATO membership to the Turkish parliament until it reopens in the autumn, he said.
Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban has delayed ratification but his foreign minister earlier this month said that Budapest would not delay the process if Turkey dropped its opposition, which it did on Monday.
7:30pm: EU bank unveils new fund worth €400 million to help rebuild Ukraine
The European Union's lending arm on Thursday unveiled a new fund worth €400 million ($447 mln) to spend on rebuilding Ukraine before the bloc's longer-term reconstruction plan kicks in.
Sixteen of the EU's 27 countries said they would chip in to the European Investment Bank's (EIB) Ukraine Trust Fund, which will provide grants and loans, as well as offering guarantees to Ukrainian banks and businesses. France and Italy led with contributions worth 100 million euros each to the fund, which a deputy head of the EIB said could go towards repairing large infrastructure, providing financing to small and medium enterprises or public services.
The EU is supporting Ukraine's budget with €18 billion this year and pledged €50 billion in 2024-27 to help rebuild the country from the war unleashed on it by Russia in February 2022.
Before that new financing kicks in, EIB Vice-President Teresa Czerwinska said the EIB's new fund would act as a bridge, with a cut-off date at the end of 2025.
7:20pm: EU's von der Leyen urges Putin to prolong grain deal
European Commission President von der Leyen on Thursday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to prolong a deal allowing the Black Sea export of Ukraine grain, saying the consequence of not doing so would be global food insecurity.
The ball was now in Russia's court with the whole world watching, von der Leyen told a press conference.
6:57pm:Â Putin says Russia may quit Black Sea grain deal if demands not met
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia could withdraw from the Black Sea grain deal until other sides fulfil their promises.
The deal, which allows for the safe export of Ukrainian grain and fertiliser from Black Sea ports, is due to expire next Monday. Moscow has repeatedly threatened to block its extension over aspects of its implementation affecting Russia's own exports.
Putin, speaking on state television, said Russia was in contact with the United Nations on the matter but said he had not seen a message addressed to him from the UN Secretary General suggesting a compromise to salvage the deal.
6:18pm:Â Putin says new arms to Ukraine will change nothing on battlefield
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that supplies of new weapons to Ukraine would change nothing on the battlefield but would only further escalate the conflict there.
Putin, speaking on state television, also said tanks provided by Western powers to Ukraine would be a "priority target" for Russian forces fighting there.
He reiterated his opposition to Ukraine joining NATO, saying this would threaten Russia's own security.
5:54pm:Â Russia says Lavrov discussed Ukraine crisis with Chinese FM
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed Ukraine with China's top diplomat Wang Yi on Thursday on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting in Indonesia, Lavrov's ministry said.
"An exchange of views took place on the current situation around the Ukrainian crisis. Attention was paid to assessing the efforts of the international community to launch a peaceful negotiation process on Ukraine," it said in a statement.
5:09pm: Biden says Putin has 'already lost’ the war in Ukraine
US President Joe Biden on Thursday said that Russian President Vladimir Putin “already lost” the war in Ukraine as he visits NATO’s newest member country, Finland.
Pointing out that Russia cannot maintain the war for years, Biden said that Putin will “eventually decide it is not in the interest of Russia to continue war”. Â
Despite vowing steadfast support for Kyiv, Biden said "no one can join NATO while a war is going on", because it would guarantee a third world war
4:51pm: EU helping UN, Turkey in bid to extend Black Sea grain deal
The European Commission is helping the United Nations and Turkey in their efforts to extend a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain and is open to "explore all solutions that contribute" to ensuring that continues, a European Union spokesperson in Brussels said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday sent Russian President Vladimir Putin a letter proposing a way forward to further facilitate Russian food and fertilizer exports and ensure the continued Black Sea shipments of Ukrainian grain.
The Black Sea gain deal is due to expire on July 18.
3:38pm: Ukraine receives cluster munitions, says military spokesperson
Ukraine has received cluster munitions, a military spokesperson said on Thursday, less than a week after the United States announced it would transfer such munitions to Ukrainian forces.
Valeryi Shershen, a spokesman for the Tavria military command in southern Ukraine, confirmed a CNN report citing the commander of the Tavria forces as saying Ukraine had just received cluster munitions but had not used them yet.
Cluster munitions are "in the hands of our defence forces," Shershen told Ukrainian television but giving few details.
The US announced on July 7 that it would send Kyiv cluster munitions as part of an $800 million security package intended to ensure Russian forces that invaded Ukraine nearly 17 months ago cannot halt a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Cluster munitions are prohibited by more than 100 countries. They typically release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. Those that fail to explode pose a danger for decades.
2:24pm:Â Russia says Ukraine's assertions on blowing up nuclear station are lies
Russia's nuclear chief on Thursday pushed back against Ukrainian assertions that Moscow had plotted to blow up a nuclear power station it controls, saying no evidence supported the claim and that only "a complete idiot" would do such a reckless thing.
Kyiv has repeatedly said that Russian forces planned to blow up the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in southern Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian forces had mined the roof of several reactors at the plant, Europe's largest, which they seized shortly after launching their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Wednesday it had not seen any mines or explosives during an inspection of the plant, though it said it was waiting for access to the rooftops of reactors No. 3 and No. 4.
"Those who wanted to arrange some sort of provocation there have been exposed," Alexei Likhachev, the general director of Russia's state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, told state television, citing the IAEA observations.
1:56pm:Â France's parliament approves big boost in military spending, spurred by Ukraine war
France’s parliament on Thursday approved a multi-billion-euro boost to military spending through the rest of this decade, spurred by Russia’s war in Ukraine and fast-growing global threats.
President Emmanuel Macron pushed for the bigger budget, which would spend 413 billion euros ($450 billion), the most significant spending hike in half a century. The money would modernise France’s nuclear arsenal, augment intelligence spending and develop more remote-controlled weapons.
He has argued the boost was needed to ensure “our freedom, our security, our prosperity, our place in the world". The defence minister has compared it to France’s push in the 1960s to develop nuclear weapons, making the country one of the world’s bigger military powers.
The new military plan includes doubling the number of military reservists and reinforcing cyberdefence, as well as increasing weapons production capacity both to help Ukraine and to keep the French military adequately supplied.
11:01am:Â Serbia bans anti-Putin activist from entering country
Serbian police on Thursday banned Petr Nikitin, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, from entering the country, a Belgrade-based lawyer said.
Nikitin, a founder of the Russian Democratic Society, which opposes Russia's invasion of Ukraine, was denied entry to Serbia where he has lived since 2016. Cedomir Stojkovic, a lawyer who represents Nikitin, said the decision was made following a request to police from Serbia's Security and Information Agency (BIA) seeking "a protective measure of expulsion of a foreigner".
"This is unlawful as Nikitin's children are here, this is a separation of a family, he is a resident, but the police can nevertheless deport him," Stojkovic said.
9:14am: 'I have not heard new proposals on grain deal,' says Russia's Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that he had not heard any new proposals on the Black Sea grain export deal, which is set to expire on Monday.
The deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, aimed to prevent a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blocked by the conflict to be safely exported.
Russia has repeatedly threatened to pull out of the deal unless what it calls obstacles to its own grain and fertiliser exports are lifted.
9:08am:Â Russia says F-16 jets in Ukraine will be seen as 'nuclear' threat
Russia will regard Western F-16 fighter jets sent to Ukraine as a "nuclear" threat because of their capacity to carry atomic weapons, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday.
"We will regard the very fact that the Ukrainian armed forces have such systems as a threat from the West in the nuclear sphere," Lavrov was quoted as saying by the Russian foreign ministry.
7:13am:Â Ukraine says downed 20 Russian drones, 2 cruise missiles in third night of attacks
Ukraine said Thursday it had downed 20 Russian attack drones and two cruise missiles overnight in a third night of strikes on Kyiv and elsewhere in the country.
"We have a successful air defence operation," air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said. "Twenty Shaheds were destroyed – all those flying were downed. Two Kalibr cruise missiles were also destroyed."
6:40am:Â Russian general dismissed after accusing top brass of failing soldiers
A Russian general said he had been dismissed as a commander after telling the military leadership about the dire situation at the front in Ukraine where he said Russian soldiers had been stabbed in the back by the failings of the top military brass.
Major General Ivan Popov, who commanded the 58th Combined Arms Army, said in a voice message published by a Russian lawmaker that he had been dismissed. There was no immediate comment from the defence ministry.
4:01am:Â Australia says 'complicated' to supply Ukraine with planes
Australia's defence minister on Thursday cast doubt over a proposal to bolster Ukraine's military with retired fighter jets, saying Kyiv's request for extra air power posed a "complicated question".Â
Australia ramped up its support for Ukraine on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Lithuania overnight, pledging to send an additional fleet of 30 armoured Bushmaster infantry vehicles at a cost of US$67 million.Â
But Kyiv has also asked Australia about the condition of dozens of retired F-18 fighter jets, which could provide a major boost against the might of the Russian air force.Â
Defence Minister Richard Marles said conversations about providing aircraft were "ongoing", but were much more difficult than other forms of military support.
2:40am: One dead in overnight air strike on Kyiv
Air strikes on Kyiv killed one person and wounded at least four others, authorities said on Thursday, with explosions heard across the Ukrainian capital in the third night of attacks.Â
Emergency services were responding to calls in Solomyansky, Shevchenkivsky, Podilsky and Darnytsky districts following "explosions in the capital", Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
00:15am: Zelensky expresses confidence in Ukraine joining NATOÂ
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed a commitment by G7 nations to support Ukraine for as long it takes to defeat Ukraine, insisting it was a step on the road to Kyiv eventually joining NATO.
Zelensky insisted that the promises from the Western leaders amounted to a "significant security victory" that he could take home to Kyiv.
But he did not disguise the fact that he would have preferred the 31-member Atlantic alliance to have agreed a firm timetable for Ukraine to join its ranks once the 16-month old Russian invasion has been defeated and peace restored.
"The best guarantee for Ukraine is to be in NATO," Zelensky said, expressing confidence that once the war is over Ukraine would be welcomed, but warning that the G7 commitments should be seen "not instead of NATO, but as security guarantees on our way to integration".
Key developments from Wednesday, July 12:
US President Joe Biden and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed "US readiness to begin negotiations with Ukraine on bilateral security commitments", during a meeting at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, according to a White House readout.
The pair also discussed continued US assistance to help Ukraine's "ongoing counteroffensive" against Russia, the statement said.
Russia's foreign ministry said the latest NATO summit showed that the Western alliance is returning to "Cold War schemes", adding that the Kremlin is ready to respond to threats by using all necessary means.
Read yesterday’s live blog to see how all the day’s events unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
