Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

ECONOMY * Russian President Vladimir Putin told the leaders of France and Germany in a phone call that Russia was willing to discuss ways to make it possible for Ukraine to resume shipments of grain from Black Sea ports, the Kremlin said.

Russian forces have stepped up their assault on the Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk after claiming to have captured the nearby rail hub of Lyman, as Kyiv intensified calls for longer-range weapons from the West. FIGHTING * Russia's defense ministry said its forces had taken full control of Lyman, west of Sievierodonetsk but Hanna Malyar, Ukraine's deputy defense minister, said the battle for Lyman continued, media reported. * Russia also said it had used missile strikes to destroy Ukrainian command posts in Bakhmut and Solar. Both towns are on an important road running southwest from Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk. * Luhansk's governor, Serhiy Gaidai, said on Friday that Russian troops had entered Sievierodonetsk, the largest Donbas city still held by Ukraine. * Gaidai said 90% of buildings in Sievierodonetsk were damaged with 14 high-rises destroyed in the latest shelling. * Ukraine has started receiving Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark and self-propelled howitzers from the United States, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said. * Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he expected good news this week on weapons supplies, without giving details.

TERRITORIAL ALLEGIANCE * A senior pro-Russian official in the occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson told Reuters that nearby fighting could affect the timing of its formal bid to join Russia and a decision was likely "towards next year". ECONOMY * Russian President Vladimir Putin told the leaders of France and Germany in a phone call that Russia was willing to discuss ways to make it possible for Ukraine to resume shipments of grain from Black Sea ports, the Kremlin said. * British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Zelenskiy that international partners were working intensively to find ways to resume the grain exports from Ukraine to avert a global food crisis. * A ship has entered the Ukrainian port of Mariupol for the first time since Russia completed its capture of the city to load metal and ship it east to Russia, TASS news agency reported. * The EU is seeking a deal to ban Russian oil deliveries by sea but not pipeline to win over Hungary. Zelenskiy has accused the EU of dithering.

TALKS * French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Putin to release the 2,500 Ukrainian defenders of the Azovstal steel plant detained by Russian forces, the Elysee palace said. * Ukrainian presidential adviser and peace talks negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said any agreement with Russia cannot be trusted and Moscow can only be stopped in its invasion by force. * The Kremlin blamed Kyiv for stalled talks. COMING UP * An EU summit on Monday and Tuesday could see divisions between members who want to take a hard line against Russia and those calling for a ceasefire. 

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