Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Kyiv Saturday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss reconstruction work and a possible EU candidacy. Meanwhile, Ukraine reiterated its pleas to Western countries for faster weapons deliveries and humanitarian aid as Russia said it had shot down three Ukrainian war planes. Follow FRANCE 24 for live updates. All times are Paris time 'GMT+2).
11:36am: Zelensky warns of "acute" food crisis due to blockade, says Ukraine will "prevail in this war"
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that his country would "definitely prevail in this war that Russia has started".
Speaking from an undisclosed location in Kyiv, Zelenskiy told delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that his country was unable to export enough food because of a Russian blockade, and that the world would face "an acute and severe food crisis and famine."
The Russian Defence Ministry said on Saturday that its air defence forces had shot down three Ukrainian war planes.
The Russian military shot down two MIG-29 planes in the Mikolayiv region and one Su-25 fighter jet in the Kharkiv region, the ministry said in a statement.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen visited Ukraine on Saturday to discuss with President Volodymyr Zelensky his country's bid to get candidacy status to join the European Union.
"With President Zelensky I will take stock of the joint work needed for reconstruction and of the progress made by Ukraine on its European path," von der Leyen tweeted on arrival in Kyiv.
Ukraine pleaded to Western countries for faster deliveries of weapons as better-armed Russian forces pounded the east of the country, and for humanitarian support to combat growing outbreaks of deadly diseases. FRANCE 24"s Catherine Norris Trent reports from Kyiv.
Ukraine pleaded to Western countries for faster deliveries of weapons as better-armed Russian forces pounded the east of the country, and for humanitarian support to combat growing outbreaks of deadly diseases.
In Severodonetsk, the small city that has become the focus of Russia's advance in eastern Ukraine and one of the bloodiest flashpoints in a war well into its fourth month, further heavy fighting was reported.
The war in the east, where Russia is focusing its attention, is now primarily an artillery battle in which Kyiv is severely outgunned, Ukrainian officials say.
Weapons experts from France are helping their Ukrainian counterparts collect evidence of possible Russian war crimes in the northern region of Chernihiv, Ukraine's prosecutor general said on Friday.
The French Gendarmerie's experts, including specialists in drone modelling, ballistics and weapons of mass destruction, have been collecting evidence at sites of destruction from Russian shelling.
They replaced group of gendarmerie forensic experts who arrived in mid-April to help establish what happened in Bucha, near Kyiv, where the killing of many civilians provoked a global outcry.
US President Joe Biden said Friday that his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky "didn't want to hear" American warnings ahead of Russia's invasion of his country. "I know a lot of people thought I was exaggerating," Biden said at a fundraising reception in Los Angeles, referring to his forewarning of the possibility of a Russian attack.
"But I knew we had data to sustain (the assessment)," he added in front of reporters.
"(Russian President Vladimir Putin) was gonna go into the border. And there was no doubt, and Zelensky didn't want to hear it, nor did a lot of people. I understand why they didn't want to hear it, but he went in."
The United States began raising the alarm over Russia's preparations for an invasion of Ukraine well before Putin announced the "special operation" against the country on February 24.
(FRANCE24 with REUTERS and AFP)
