Ukraine-Russia war: Biden and Zelenskyy sign 10-year security deal; Putin's plan 'has failed', Germany says; Russia tells West not to 'worry' as its warships arrive in Cuba (2024)

Vladimir Putin will make a speech at Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs meeting today – the first time he has appeared at the meeting in three years.

The Russian leader's speech follows an emergency phone call that was held yesterday by senior officials of South Korea and the US over a possible impending visit by Mr Putin to North Korea in the coming weeks.

It also comes ahead of a Ukraine summit that will held over the weekend.

Around 90 states and organisations have confirmed their participation for the conference in Switzerland on 15-16 June that aims to create a pathway for peace in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will use the talks to build support for Ukraine's position on three key themes:food security, nuclear safety and the release of all prisoners and deportees.

Welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Yesterday was a major day for diplomacy as a G7 summitin Italy focused on how to intensify financial pressure on Russia.

G7 leaders announced a $50bn support package for Ukraine which will use frozen Russian assets as collateral.

But perhaps the bigger news was the signing of a 10-year security agreement between the US and Ukraine.

It establishes that the two governments will meet within 24 hours at senior levels to discuss any response in the event of an armed attack against Ukraine.

The deal is also thought to be a precursor to Ukraine's eventual membership of NATO.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Volodymyr Zelenskyy afterwards, Joe Biden said it was a "reminder" to Vladimir Putin that the US is not backing down.

Here are more updates from the last 24 hours...

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Chinese president had told him Beijing would not sell weapons to Russia;
• Ukraine and Japan signed a security agreement worth £3.5bn;
• Germany said Mr Putin's plan to wait for the world's support to stop has failed;
• Russia suffered "astronomical" losses during its Kharkiv offensive, an anonymous NATO official told European Pravda;
• Moscow was accused of a plot to influence the election in Moldova this coming October;
• American journalist Evan Gershkovich will stand trial in Russia after being accused of spying for the CIA;
• The Kremlin insisted that Russian warships which have arrived in Cuba for an exercise are no threat.

The map below shows the territorial picture in Ukraine...

By Nicole Johnston, Asia correspondent

Alongside who is attending the Switzerland summit, keep an eye out for who is not.

Russia won’t be there (it's not invited) and China has taken a controversial wide pass.Pressure to urge China to attend only seems to have driven it deeper into the arms of Russia.

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue on 2 June, Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accused China of "working hard" to prevent countries from participating in the Switzerland summit.

China pushed back. Its foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning told reporters: "Not attending it does not mean not supporting peace."

Ukraine believes China has leverage over Russia and could impose conditions to force Vladimir Putin to end the war.But for China this expectation is too much, it has not bought-into the Zelenskyy-led peace formula, so China has walked away.

The country was already facing stinging criticism from the West for backing Russia.Without China's booming trade with Russia, it grew by 60% last year to $240bn, President Putin would not be able to continue his war in Ukraine.

There are reports of Russian elite arranging Mandarin lessons for their children, turning to the East while Western sanctions turn Russia into a fortress.

With two wars to deal with in Ukraine and Gaza, the US is bogged down and unable to focus on Asia. That plays to China’s advantage.

It is forging new friendships with countries in the Global South and many of them see the world differently.

As India's external affairs minister, S Jaishankar, said two years ago: "Europe has to grow out of the mindset that its problems are (the) world’s problems."

That's all for our coverage for this evening.

Scroll back through this blog to see the day's updates.

A high-profile Ukrainian combat brigade has allegedly captured dozens of Russian soldiers amid fighting in the Kharkiv region.

Footage shared by Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade appeared to show the soldiers sitting in a school conference room.

The Ukrainian brigade said the troops were taken prisoner during combat operations around the northern Ukrainian town of Vovchansk.

Social media figures had previously reported substantial numbers of Russian troops surrendering in the area last week after counterattacks by Ukrainian infantry assault units.

The Khortit*iya Regional Command also claimed more than 60 Russian soldiers had been captured in the area in less than a week.

The Euros begin tomorrow, and for most teams the tournament is the first thing on their mind.

But for Ukraine's national team, they are also focused on their country's fight for freedom.

Thirteen players from the team have taken part in a video calling for the world to support Ukraine.

As each state where they were from, images of destruction in each city flash up.

"Our hometowns would like to host the Euros, but now they are fighting not for the tournament but for freedom," the video says.

The Russian advance on Kharkiv came at a "high price" for its troops, a NATO official has told European Pravda.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "Russia likely suffered losses of almost 1,000 people a day in May, which is quite an astronomical figure."

They were referring specifically to fatalities.

Russian forces have advanced less than 10km into Ukrainian territory and have not taken control of the city of Vovchansk.

The US defence secretary earlier said Russia's advance was slowing and the frontline stabilising, partly thanks to countries lifting restrictions on Ukraine's use of donated weapons on Russian territory.

The US president will skip the planned G7 dinner tonight, diplomatic sources have told our international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn.

The official dinner is being held by Italian President Sergio Mattarella in the Swabian Castle of Brindisi.

Joe Biden is skipping due to "a busy schedule and tiredness", according to Italian news outlet la Repubblica.

He will return to the US tomorrow for an event in Los Angeles.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Joe Biden are now addressing the issue of Chinese and Russian cooperation.

The US earlier expanded sanctions against companies and individuals accused of helping Russia's war effort, including entities in China.

Beijing has repeatedly denied it is supplying Russia with weapons, however it has been accused of providing critical components for Russia's war.

Mr Zelenskyy says he was told by President Xi Jinping that China would not sell weapons to Russia.

It's not clear when this conversation took place.

Meanwhile, Mr Biden says China is helping Russia in the war through technology and production.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledges the impact of the months-long delay to US weapons support, which was caused by Republicans blocking a major aid bill.

He says the pause in supplies had allowed Russia to conduct an offensive on the northeastern region of Kharkiv, but Ukraine had managed to stop it.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden made clear the US had not changed its position on allowing Ukraine to use American weapons to strike inside Russia.

The US recently said it would allow Kyiv to use such weapons to strike Russia only for the purpose of stopping the attack on Kharkiv.