Ukraine war live updates: Russia hit with more sanctions from UK and U.S.; G-7 leaders meet in Hiroshima

One ship carrying 6,800 metric tons of wheat departed Ukraine’s port of Chornomorsk under the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The ship is destined for Italy.

The deal, which established a humanitarian sea corridor for agricultural exports, was extended on Wednesday a day before its expiry.

Since August 1, nearly 1,000 ships carrying more than 30.3 million metric tons of agricultural products and foodstuffs have left Ukraine for global ports, according to figures provided by the United Nations.

— Amanda Macias

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country had a “special relationship” with Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin, speaking to CNN during an interview Friday.

“We are not at a point where we would impose sanctions on Russia like the West have done. We are not bound by the West’s sanctions,” Erdogan told CNN. “We are a strong state and we have a positive relationship with Russia.”

He added that “Russia and Turkey need each other in every field possible,” and that the U.N. and Turkey-brokered Black Sea Grain Corridor Initiative, in which he played a key role helping to unlock crucial Ukrainian grain exports blocked by Russia’s invasion, “was possible because of our special relationship with President Putin.”

Ahead of Turkey’s runoff presidential election vote on May 28, Erdogan is leaning into his image of a strong nationalist leader that pushes back against Western dominance, despite Turkey being a member of NATO.

Erdogan has played a mediating role between Ukraine and Russia since the war began, sending aid and weapons to Ukraine, but has also significantly expanded its trade ties with Russia, making many Western leaders uncomfortable.

Read the full story here.

— Natasha Turak

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that additional sanctions levied against Russia will only increase unity across the nation.

“We’re seeing just how aggressive the external pressure now being exerted on Russia is, on our entire society. Almost the entire arsenal is directed against us — economic, military, political, informational forces, and the most powerful anti-Russian propaganda is being deployed,” Putin said in an address before additional sanctions were announced, according to an NBC News translation.

The Russian leader added that “attacks on our history, culture, spiritual values do not stop.”

Putin’s remarks came hours before the United States and G-7 members announced coordinated sanctions on Russia.

— Amanda Macias

The Biden administration imposed a slew of sanctions targeting ways in which Russia has evaded such measures since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The new U.S. sanctions, which were taken in coordination with G-7 members and international allies, also target defense industry supply chains supporting the Kremlin’s ongoing war and energy sector firms with links to Russia.

The Department of Treasury issued sanctions on 22 individuals and 104 entities in more than 20 countries and expanded sanction authorities in order to target additional sectors of the Russian economy.

Meanwhile, the Department of State designated nearly 200 individuals, entities, vessels and aircraft with links to the Kremlin. The Department of Commerce also blocked 71 entities “to prevent Russia from accessing goods it needs for the battlefield.”

“From the beginning of President Putin’s illegal and unprovoked war, our global coalition has focused on supporting Ukraine while degrading Russia’s ability to conduct its invasion,” wrote Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a release announcing the new economic measures.

“Today’s actions will further tighten the vise on Putin’s ability to wage his barbaric invasion and will advance our global efforts to cut off Russian attempts to evade sanctions,” Yellen added.

Russia is the world’s most sanctioned country following rounds of coordinated economic measures imposed in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last February.

— Amanda Macias

Ukrainian civilians maintain their lives under harsh conditions in Kharkiv, where buildings have burned, collapsed and been left ruined about 15 months after Russia began its invasion. 

-Muhammed Enes Yildirim | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday said on Twitter that he was starting his first ever visit to Saudi Arabia and was prepared to take Kyiv’s cooperation with Riyadh to a “new level,” according to a Google translation.

Earlier in the day, Saudi news agency Al-Hadath said that Zelenskyy had arrived in Saudi port city Jeddah, facing the Red Sea, and would attend the 32nd Arab League summit of May 19.

Saudi Arabia has maintained a delicate diplomatic balance throughout the war, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in September securing the release of several foreign fighters captured by Russia during the conflict.

Riyadh is a close ally of Russia in the influential OPEC+ oil producers’ bloc, but has in the past voted in a U.N. resolution to condemn Moscow’s annexation of a swathe of Ukrainian territories.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Leaders of Kyiv’s allied G-7 powers on Friday said they have committed to further sanctions on Russia, as well as stating they have “ensured Ukraine has the budget support it needs for 2023 and early 2024.”

They once more condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, stressing peace cannot be achieved without the “complete and unconditional withdrawal” of Russian forces.

“We are imposing further sanctions and measures to increase the costs to Russia and those who are supporting its war effort,” the group said in a statement, outlining intentions to further target those who operate in key sectors such as manufacturing, construction and transportation.

“We will starve Russia of G7 technology, industrial equipment and services that support its war machine,” the bloc said, reiterating plans to reduce Russian revenues and Moscow’s resourcing to progress its war in Ukraine.

The group said it had “dramatically” dwindled its reliance on Russian energy and commodities following the export ban and its price cap scheme on Moscow’s seaborne crude oil and oil products, and added intentions to “continue to work closely together to restrict trade in and use of diamonds mined, processed or produced in Russia.”

Read more here.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The U.K. government has formally revealed more sanctions against Russia, targeting the theft and resale of Ukrainian grains, major energy and arms-shipping companies, and enterprises connected to Russian state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom that are “producing advanced materials and technology.”

The new designations cover 86 individuals and companies.

The U.K. government also affirmed the announcement of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak — who is in Japan for the Group of Seven summit — who said the U.K. was banning imports on Russian diamonds and copper, aluminum and nickel.

The U.K. and its G-7 allies are set to disclose new sanctions against Russia after G-7 discussions, to reduce the Kremlin’s coffers and stall Moscow’s progress in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

— Ruxandra Iordache

A railway disruption in the vicinity of the base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet could affect supplies and deliveries of weapons, such as Kalibr cruise missiles, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in its daily intelligence update.

A train was derailed near Simferopol in the Crimean Peninsula, blocking the route to Russia’s BSF base at Sevastopol after the interference of “unauthorized individuals,” Russian state news agency Tass reported. Russian authorities are currently working to address the incident.

“Any sabotage in this area will further increase the Kremlin’s concerns about its ability to protect other key infrastructure in Crimea,” the British Ministry of Defense said. “The peninsula retains a vital psychological and logistical role in enabling Russia’s war in Ukraine.”

Russia invaded and annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.

— Ruxandra Iordache

European Council President Charles Michel signaled the EU’s willingness to consider sanctions on Russian diamonds in a press conference ahead of the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, this weekend.

“We are now focused on shutting the door on loopholes. And continuing to cut Russia off from critical supplies. We will restrict trade in Russian diamonds. Russian diamonds are not forever,” he said.

The EU has so far fallen short of taking steps against Russian diamonds, but has implemented several waves of sanctions against Russian banking, trade and energy since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The U.K. on May 18 announced intentions to ban Russian diamonds, alongside imports of Russian-origin copper, aluminum and nickel.

— Ruxandra Iordache

A Ukrainian security official confirmed that the country’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in person this weekend, in line with an earlier report from the Financial Times.

“Very important things will be decided there and it is therefore the presence of our president that is absolutely essential in order to defend our interests,” said Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, in comments reported by Reuters.

Officials of the world’s seven richest nations are expected to discuss tighter sanctions on Russia, with Britain on May 18 announcing intentions to ban Russian diamonds, as well as imports of Russian-origin copper, aluminum and nickel. It also plans further sanctions on 86 additional people and companies. The EU is likewise targeting trade restrictions on Russian diamonds, according to European Council President Charles Michel.

— Ruxandra Iordache

A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity per ground rules established by the White House, said G-7 members are planning on rolling out new sanctions and export controls on Russia.

“Tomorrow you will hear a powerful statement of unity, strength and commitment in our response to Russia’s war of aggression,” the senior administration official said on a conference call with reporters.

“We have taken an array of actions to hold Russia accountable in coordination with our G-7 partners, we’ve put in place the largest set of sanctions and export control actions ever imposed on a major economy,” the official said of the coordinated rounds of sanctions imposed on Moscow since the start of the war in late February.

The official said that the Biden administration will also be “rolling out a substantial package of our own” but declined to provide specific details other than the sanctions will address evasion loopholes.

— Amanda Macias

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend the Group of Seven meetings in person on Sunday, Financial Times reported, citing people briefed on the preparations on Friday.

The surprise visit comes after the president was expected to attend the meetings virtually instead.

Zelenskyy’s trip to Hiroshima is “aimed at hardening western resolve in support of Ukraine and winning over other non-G7 attendees at the summit, including India and Brazil,” the Financial Times report said.

— Jihye Lee

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Moscow had agreed to renew the Black Sea grain deal for two months even though it did not see results when it came to implementing the parts of it which apply to Russia.

Speaking at a press conference with his Ugandan counterpart, Lavrov said the deal was aimed at bolstering the food security of the world’s poorest people.

Lavrov denied that Russia’s renewal of the part Turkish-brokered deal was related to presidential elections in Turkey.

— Reuters