🔴 Live: US pledges $1.3 billion in economic aid to Ukraine at London conference

11:22am: Kremlin says ‘no grounds’ to extend Black Sea grain deal

The Kremlin on Wednesday restated its position that there are “no grounds” to extend the Black Sea grain deal, saying that the accord brokered by the UN and Turkey was not being properly implemented.

On a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the UN had been forced to acknowledge that “unfortunately, they are not managing to exert the necessary influence on the countries of the collective West in order to fulfil this Russian part of the agreement”.

He was referring to a list of Russian demands, including for the removal of what Moscow says are obstacles to the export of its own grain and fertilisers.

11:07am: US to provide $1.3 billion of additional aid to Ukraine, says Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States would provide more than $1.3 billion in additional aid to Ukraine to help the country recover and rebuild its energy grid.

“We will provide more than $1.3 billion in additional aid to help Ukraine,” Blinken told the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London. “We’re going to invest $520 million to help Ukraine overhaul its energy grid.”

10:56am: EU has ‘special responsibility’ towards Ukraine, von der Leyen says

The European Union has a “special responsibility” towards Ukraine in the long term, the European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday, as she outlined investment plans for the country at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.

“This is for Ukraine’s immediate needs. But let’s talk about the future. I believe the European Union has a special responsibility,” von der Leyen said.

“Ukrainians tell us that when they imagine their future, they see Europe’s flag flying over their cities. And I have no doubt that Ukraine will be part of our union.”

10:34am: Zelensky says ‘real projects’ for Ukraine’s reconstruction are needed

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday it was necessary to move towards “real projects” for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

“We must move from agreement to real projects,” he said at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London. “There is a Ukrainian delegation that will present concrete things and we propose to do them together during my tour,” he said.

8:25am: Russian defence ministry says Ukraine drone attack in Moscow region thwarted

Russian air defences downed three drones in the Moscow region on Wednesday, the defence ministry said, in what it called an attempted Ukrainian attack.

The ministry said Russian defences had used electronic jamming to cause the drones to lose control and crash, without causing any casualties or damage.

Ukraine almost never comments on military operations outside its own borders, but drone attacks on Russian territory – including in Moscow itself, where two reached the Kremlin complex and others struck parts of the city in May – have become an increasingly frequent occurrence.

Moscow regional Governor Andrei Vorobyov said two of the drones in Wednesday’s incident were intercepted as they approached military warehouses.

7:44am: Ukrainian forces ‘gaining ground’ near Melitopol and Berdiansk, military says

Ukrainian forces are gaining some ground towards Melitopol and Berdiansk in the Zaporizhzhia region, Andriy Kovalev, a spokesman for the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said early on Wednesday.

“They had partial success, they are gaining ground,” Kovalev was quoted as saying in a post on the Ukraine Military Media Center’s Telegram channel, adding that the gains were near the settlements of Mala Tokmachka and Robotyne, among others.

Ukraine continues to hold back the advance of Russian troops in the east of the country, with “especially heavy fighting” taking place near Lyman in the Donetsk region, he added.

7:03am: Allies seek private investment to rebuild Ukraine at London conference

Diplomats from dozens of countries are meeting Wednesday in London to drum up funds to rebuild Ukraine, a mammoth task whose cost is estimated by the World Bank at more than $400 billion – a figure rising daily alongside the human toll of the 16-month war.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to announce a new package of US assistance at the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which is both a fundraising forum and a message to Russia that Ukraine’s allies are in it for the long haul.

Blinken, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are among international representatives at the gathering, which hopes to get big businesses to back Ukraine.

“(It’s) very much about encouraging the private sector to invest in Ukraine’s rebuilding and recovery,” UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Tuesday. To do that, he said, “we need to demonstrate that those investments will be effective and that they will be safe” by underwriting Ukraine’s long-term security.

6:46am: Two drones intercepted on way to military warehouses in Moscow region, governor says

Two drones were intercepted on their approach to military warehouses in the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the area, said on Wednesday. “Debris was found, no damage or casualties,” Vorobyov said, adding that the drones fell near the village of Kalininets.

Russia’s channels on the Telegram messaging app, including one with links to the security services, said at least one more drone was intercepted near the village of Lukino.

2:02am: Russian navy to receive two new nuclear submarines by end of year

The Russian navy will receive two new nuclear submarines by the end of this year, Russia’s TASS state news agency reported on Wednesday.

Alexei Rakhmanov, head of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, told TASS in an interview that the strategic nuclear-powered submarine missile cruiser Emperor Alexander III and the multipurpose nuclear-powered submarine Krasnoyarsk will be operational by the end of 2023.

Key developments from Tuesday, June 20

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine’s forces were destroying Russian forces in the two main theatres of the conflict, the east and south of the country, and working hard on pushing Moscow’s troops back.

Kyiv repatriated three Ukrainian prisoners of war from Hungary after a group of POWs was transferred there from Russia without coordination with Kyiv, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Additionally, the destruction of the vast Kakhovka hydro-electric dam has caused €1.2 billion of damage, Ukraine’s environment minister said on Tuesday, warning that mines unearthed by flooding could wash onto other European countries’ shores.

Finally, France and Italy said they are united in supporting Ukraine’s war effort, according to French President Emmanuel Macron who met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the Élysée Palace on Tuesday.

Read yesterday’s liveblog to see how all the day’s events unfolded.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)