Russia Ukraine news today: Putin met with Wagner chief Prigozhin five days after attempted coup

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukrainian forces took the “initiative” after making gains in a broader counteroffensive outside the eastern city of Bakhmut.

It states that Ukraine is “progressing, albeit not as rapidly”. [as we would like]Mr. Zelenskyy said: “We would all love it if the counter-offensive could be completed in less time.” But there is reality. Today the initiative is on our side.”

“We all want to do it faster because every day means new losses for Ukrainians. We’re making progress. We’re not stuck,” he said in an interview with US news network ABC, noting that the military has overcome a “kind of stagnation” in recent months.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is arranging a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Kyodo news agency reported Monday, citing a government source.

Zelenskyy is expected to attend the summit of leaders of the US-led security pact in Lithuania this week to press for Ukraine’s admission to NATO once the war sparked by the Russian invasion is over.

Kishida last met Zelenskyy in May at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, where the Ukrainian leader made a surprise trip on a French plane to the Japanese city known for suffering the world’s first atomic bombing.

The Kremlin said Monday it had nothing new to say about the Black Sea grain export deal, which is due to expire next week.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that there are currently no plans for President Vladimir Putin to meet Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan to discuss extending the deal and that it is not known when Putin will visit Turkey.

Moscow has repeatedly said it sees no reason to extend the grain deal beyond July 17.

The deal allows Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports, but Russia says not enough has been done to remove obstacles to its own grain and fertilizer exports.

The Kremlin said on Monday that Ukraine’s membership in the NATO military alliance would have very negative consequences for Europe’s security architecture and that Russia would see such a move as a threat requiring a tough response.

NATO is holding a summit in Lithuania on July 11-12 to show its solidarity with Ukraine, while Kyiv is not yet accepted as a member of the alliance.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin on June 29, five days after the group marched toward Moscow in a short-lived uprising, the Kremlin said on Monday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin invited 35 people to the meeting, including unit commanders, and that it lasted three hours. The Wagner commanders told Putin they were his soldiers and would continue to fight for him, Peskov said.

The brief mutiny led by Prigozhin, in which Wagner militants seized control of the southern city of Rostov, posed the greatest challenge to Putin’s hold on power since he took office as Russia’s supreme leader on the last day of 1999.

It was defused by a deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Since then, Putin has thanked his army and security services for averting chaos and civil war.

Prigozhin said the purpose of the mutiny was not to overthrow the government, but to “try,” as he put it, the army and defense chiefs for their mistakes and unprofessional actions in Ukraine.

Prigozhin was supposed to leave for Belarus under the terms of the deal, but Lukashenko said last week he was back in Russia and Wagner fighters had not yet accepted an offer to resettle in Belarus, raising questions about the deal’s implementation.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Monday he would talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin about extending an agreement that would allow Ukrainian grain to be exported from its Black Sea ports beyond the current July 17 deadline.

Before leaving for a NATO summit in Vilnius, Erdogan said he expected Putin to visit Turkey in August.

US President Joe Biden has arrived at Downing Street where he will discuss the war in Ukraine with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Mr Biden’s visit to the UK is part of a three-country trip that will include a NATO summit in Lithuania to show solidarity with Ukraine in its fight against Russia, while Kiev is not yet accepted as a member of the defense alliance.

Russia has doubled production of its Su-34 and Su-35 fighter jets to meet its military needs in Ukraine, the RIA news agency reported Monday, citing a top executive at state-owned Rostec.

Ukraine’s foreign minister said on Monday that NATO had decided to abandon Kiev’s commitment to follow a Membership Action Plan (MAP) as part of its path to joining the military alliance.

“After intense talks, NATO allies have agreed to remove MAP from Ukraine’s path to membership. “I welcome this long-awaited decision that shortens our path to NATO,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter on the eve of a NATO summit in Lithuania.

It is difficult to obtain accurate data on the number of military casualties since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, for two reasons. The fierceness of the fighting on the ground and the fact that both sides tend to keep their maps secret to avoid damaging morale – especially at a time when the war is entering a crucial new phase.

The Kremlin, in particular, is unlikely to admit the high death rates among its troops, because to do so would be to admit that Vladimir Putin’s sham war to “denazify” Russia’s neighbor is not going according to plan and, in fact, represents a massive misjudgment on the part of its leader, who is back home already under pressure because of the attempted uprising by the Wagner group mercenaries.

Moscow is more inclined to downplay its own (rarely offered) figures – the official figure is around 6,000 – and to accuse its enemies of being dishonest against Moscow whenever external estimates suggesting significant Russian losses are offered.