War In Ukraine: Latest Developments

Kyiv, Ukraine, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd May, 2022 ) :Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine: - Poland offers full support for Ukraine EU bid - Poland's president Andrzej Duda pledges full support for Ukraine's EU membership bid, saying those who "shed their blood" for Europe must be respected, "even if the situation is complicated, even if there are doubts".

- France warns of long wait - France's Europe minister warns the bid by Ukraine to join the EU might not be finalised for "15 or 20 years".

He reiterates an offer by France's President Emmanuel Macron to create a looser "European political community" that could help integrate Ukraine with the bloc sooner, a proposal Zelensky has already rejected.

- Ukraine extends martial law - Ukraine extends martial law for three months through to August 23, as the war with Russia drags on.

- Russia presses Donbas - Ukrainian forces are under intense pressure in the eastern Donbas region and on Ukraine's southern coast.

Shelling and missile strikes hit Kharkiv in the north, and Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia in the south, while eight civilians are killed on the eastern front in the Donbas.

- Russia ready to resume Ukraine talks - Russia's lead negotiator in peace talks with Ukraine, Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, says Russia is willing to resume negotiations but the initiative to continue them is with Kyiv.

- Baltics stop importing Russian electricity - Russian utility Inter RAO stops trading to the Baltics after a ban by pan-European exchange Nord Pool.

"This is an important step on our way to energy independence," Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys tells AFP.

The development comes a day after Russian energy giant Gazprom halted gas supplies to Finland after Helsinki refused to pay its bill in rubles, as Moscow had demanded.

- African Union chief to visit Russia, Ukraine -- Senegalese President Macky Sall says he will travel to Russia and Ukraine soon on behalf of the African Union, whose presidency he currently holds.

- Prisoner exchange talks -A Russian negotiator says Moscow would consider exchanging prisoners from Ukraine's far-right Azov battalion for Viktor Medvedchuk, a wealthy Ukrainian businessman known for his close ties to Putin.