Slovak PM, top EU leaders visit Kyiv

Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger and two top European Union officials are in Kyiv looking to shore up the bloc's support for war-torn Ukraine.

Heger said in a tweet Friday that he, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the EU foreign policy chief have come up with trade and humanitarian aid proposals for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his government.

Part of that, Heger says is "to offer options for transporting grains, including wheat". Ukraine is a major world wheat supplier and Russia's war on Ukraine is creating shortages, notably in the Middle East.

He adds that the three want to help Ukraine on its path toward closer ties with the EU by "creating a ReformTeam." Ukraine has applied to join the EU, but was already sorely in need of reforms, notably to root out rampant corruption, years before Russian troops invaded in February.

___ London, Britain's Defence Ministry has assessed that at least some of the Russian forces who had pulled out from northern Ukraine will be transferred to the eastern Donbas region to continue fighting.

In a daily update, the ministry says that many of these forces will require significant replenishment before being ready to deploy farther east, with any mass redeployment from the north likely to take at least a week minimum.

It says Russian shelling of cities in the east and south continues and Russian forces have advanced farther south from the strategically important city of Izium, which remains under their control.

___ Copenhagen: Latvia says it has blacklisted 15 citizens of Russia and Belarus on grounds that their activities pose a threat to the nation's national security.

A list of nine Russians and six Belarus citizens was given by Latvia's State Security Service - the counterintelligence agency - to Interior Minister Marija Golubeva.

The State Security Service said Friday they include people who "may be involved in obtaining intelligence or providing support for Russia's foreign policy interests." It says among them are those who despite the crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine express support for the Kremlin.

Earlier this month, Latvia said it will close two of Russia's consular missions and expel a total of 13 Russian diplomats and employees currently stationed in the Baltic country.

___ Moscow: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has acknowledged that Russia has suffered "significant losses of troops" during its military operation in Ukraine.

Peskov said: "Yes, we have significant losses of troops and it is a huge tragedy for us." Speaking in an exclusive interview with British broadcaster Sky on Thursday, Peskov also hinted that the operation might be over "in the foreseeable future." He said that Russian forces were "doing their best to bring an end to that operation." He said: "And we do hope that in coming days, in the foreseeable future, this operation will reach its goals, or we'll finish it by the negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations."