Reuters World News Summary

To save our guys, (the far right) Azov (battalion), military, civilians, children, the living and the wounded". U.N. chief separately asks Russia's Putin, Ukraine's Zelenskiy to receive him United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has separately asked Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to receive him to discuss steps to bring about peace following Moscow's invasion of its neighbor.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Plane crashes into busy street in Haitian capital

A small plane crashed onto a busy street in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, Prime Minister Ariel Henry said, adding that the incident had caused both deaths and injuries. "I extend my sympathies to the families of the victims, who have been just plunged into the greatest desolation by this new tragedy," Henry wrote on Twitter, without specifying the number of dead or wounded.

Leading Putin ally predicts Mariupol victory on Thursday

Russian forces said they will seize the Mariupol steel plant that is the last main stronghold of resistance in the besieged city on Thursday after Ukraine proposed talks on evacuating troops and civilians there. Mariupol would be the biggest city to be seized by Russia since invading Ukraine eight weeks ago in an attack that has taken longer than some military analysts expected, seen over five million people flee abroad and turned towns and cities to rubble.

Russian armed forces will start taking delivery of new missile this year -Tass

Russia's nuclear forces will start taking delivery of the new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile this year once testing is complete, Tass quoted the head of the Roscosmos space agency as saying on Wednesday. Dmitry Rogozin said deliveries would start "in the autumn of this year," it reported. Earlier in the day Russia said it had conducted a first test launch of the missile.

Negotiating with Putin like dealing with a crocodile, UK PM Johnson says

British Prime Minister Boris compared negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin to dealing with a crocodile as he warned Ukraine it will be hard to negotiate a peace deal with a leader who is so unreliable. Johnson said Putin has made it clear that he wants to take more Ukrainian territory and could launch another assault on the country's capital Kyiv.

UK PM Johnson says 'of course' he will fight next election

Britain's Boris Johnson said on Wednesday he would seek to be reelected prime minister at the next election and could not think of any circumstances under which he would resign. Opposition parties and some of Johnson's own Conservative lawmakers have said the prime minister must go, after police fined him for breaking his own stringent coronavirus lockdown rules.

Biden hosts military chiefs as Ukraine crisis intensifies

President Joe Biden convened U.S. military leaders on Wednesday in an annual White House gathering taking on special significance as the war in Ukraine enters a risky new phase and Washington plans more weapons assistance. A "variety of topics" were set to be discussed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and senior military leaders, a National Security Council spokesperson said. The event includes a formal West Wing meeting as well as a dinner in the president's residence with leaders' spouses afterward.

Israeli police stop Jewish nationalist march in Jerusalem amid rising tensions

Israeli police on Wednesday blocked hundreds of far-right Jewish protesters from marching toward Jerusalem's Damascus Gate, the main entrance to the Old City's Muslim quarter, amid rising tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.

Hours after the march, a rocket launched from Gaza struck Israel, causing slight damage to a home but no injuries, police said. No faction claimed responsibility for what is the second such attack in days.

Macron, Le Pen clash on Russia, EU in angry TV debate

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday accused his far-right rival Marine Le Pen of being in thrall to Russian President Vladimir Putin over a years-old Russian bank loan to her party during a fiery TV debate ahead of Sunday's election. While he also charged Le Pen with harbouring an undiminished desire to pull France out of the European Union (EU), she struck back with a pledge to put money back in the pockets of millions of French made poorer during his five-year presidency.

Ukraine offers to hold Mariupol talks with Russia to evacuate garrison, civilians

Senior Ukrainian negotiators on Wednesday offered to hold special talks with Russia in Mariupol without conditions in a bid to evacuate troops and civilians from the besieged port city. Negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted on Wednesday that the talks could be "one on one. Two on two. To save our guys, (the far right) Azov (battalion), military, civilians, children, the living and the wounded".

U.N. chief separately asks Russia's Putin, Ukraine's Zelenskiy to receive him

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has separately asked Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to receive him to discuss steps to bring about peace following Moscow's invasion of its neighbor. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said separate letters were handed to the permanent missions of Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday afternoon asking Putin to receive Guterres in Moscow and Zelenskiy to receive him in Kyiv.