The European Union has defended its latest round of sanctions against Russia.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says the bloc has reached a reasonable solution with its agreement to cut almost 90% of oil imports from Russia by the end of the year.

But not everyone agrees with his assessment. Ihor Zhovkva, deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, says:

The talks are now in their second day - and some say the EU should go even further and discuss a seventh package of Russia sanctions that would include steps against gas imports.

Nick Thorpe
Reporting from Hungary's border

Image source, Reuters

Back to the EU oil ban now, and the exemption of the Druzhba - or Friendship - pipeline from the latest embargo is being presented by the Hungarian government as a major victory over the European Commission.

It comes after weeks of Hungary threatening to veto the EU sanctions package because refineries in Hungary, and other central European countries, are dependent on Russian oil.

In a late night video message on Monday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Hungarians they can sleep soundly in their beds, protected from the expensive fuel and heating costs which the embargo will mean for the rest of Europe.

Orban won a fourth successive election victory last month, promising to keep utility and fuel prices low; last week, he announced new windfall taxes to cover the cost of maintaining subsidies.

More from Kurt Volker, the former US ambassador to Nato and envoy for Ukraine.

On Joe Biden’s decision not to send long-range missiles to Ukraine that can “reach Russia”, Volker said the US president was still supporting Kyiv but “trying to draw a limit”.

Asked why this might be the case, Volker said that within the Biden administration, some people are concerned about doing anything to antagonise Russia to the point it threatens using nuclear weapons.

However, he quickly added he thought this was wrong: “I think this is misreading Russia. I think that Russia has its hands full trying to take Ukraine; the last thing they want to do is open another front.”

The most important thing, Volker added elsewhere during the interview, is for the US “to do everything we can to help the Ukrainians beat the Russians and remove them from their country”.

Image source, Getty Images

Russian forces could be making a strategic mistake by “putting everything” they have into the battle for Severodonetsk, in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, a former US ambassador to Nato has suggested.

While the city is important to the Luhansk region, “it’s not that important in the fight overall, and I do think the Ukrainians will be able to regroup and push back,” Kurt Volker, who also worked as the US special representative for Ukraine until 2019, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Asked if – on the back of Russia’s determination to take eastern Ukraine – he feared the war was entering a phase where Ukraine would start to lose “key areas” to Russia, Volker said he wasn’t worried because the Russian advance had been “incredibly slow and chaotic”.

While Ukrainian troops are “pushing back” around Kharkiv, and have “opened a counter[offensive] near Kherson,” he went on, the Russians are “putting everything into Severondonetsk”.

“When this battle is over, they’ll be substantially depleted,” Volker added.

Image source, .

Quentin Somerville
Reporting from Lysychansk

Parts of Severodonetsk are now under Russian control, according to a governor in the region - and BBC correspondent Quentin Sommerville who is in a neighbouring city has been writing about what he's been able to see from there:

Just days ago, I watched from a rooftop in Lysychansk as, on the horizon, its twin city of Severodonetsk was being bombed indiscriminately. Shells were landing every minute on its length and breadth. Severodonetsk was burning.

Lysychansk itself has been drained of life. Artillery fire is a regular threat. The air carried on the summer breeze is gritty with dust from smoke and pulverised buildings.

Here, Russia isn't fighting a campaign of attrition, it's waging a war of oblivion. And, for the moment on this front, it is winning.

Read the rest of Quentin's report here.

More now from Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai who has been speaking to the BBC. He was asked about the potential of Severodonetsk falling to the Russians.

"[It] is the capital of Luhansk. For all of us, it will be a difficult and unpleasant moment if it falls," he said. "But winning the war overall is important - not just one battle."

"We won't stop. We'll keep fighting until we receive enough heavy weaponry from the West to stop the Russian army at a distance."

"We need long-range artillery. The Russians are firing at us from a distance constantly. They have an enormous reserve of shells and they just fire at our positions for hours," Haidai said.

"Only after that do they send in troops on the offensive. When long-range artillery arrives then we will be able to... stop the Russian army."

Image source, .

Image source, Getty Images

We've been hearing updates from Luhansk regional Governor Serhiy Haidai this morning, but the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 has managed to speak to him over the phone about the situation in Severodonetsk.

"[The Russians] are trying to attack the city from many sides. Unfortunately they've already entered the city. It's a grave situation there," he said.

"They shot an ambulance, we don't know what's happened to the doctors. They're not picking up their phones. A hospital has been smashed up. The situation is very difficult."

"But Ukrainian troops haven't left. For the time being, there is fighting going on inside the city," Haidai said.

When asked if the city was in the process of falling to Russia, he said: "It's war. You can't make such predictions. But if they have to withdraw to the other side of the river - closer to Lysychansk - in order to preserve troops, then they will probably do so."

US rockets with ranges of around 70km would be enough for the Ukrainian army to repel Russian offensives, according to a key advisor to Ukraine's President Zelensky.

Oleksiy Arestovych was reacting to President Biden's comments that the US would not send Ukraine rocket systems "that can strike into Russia".

Speaking to Russian lawyer Mark Feygin on his YouTube channel, Arestovych said MLRS (long-range multiple-rocket system) missiles that can strike up to 70km would be "more than enough for us".

"If they are not planning to give us 300[km], firstly - it may be only at this stage. And secondly, 70km would be more than enough," he said.

Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials have urged delivery of the MLRS to counter Russia's heavy bombardments in the eastern Donbas region.

But there are fears Russia would view deliveries of such heavy weapons as a provocative escalation - and risk drawing the US and its Nato allies into direct conflict with Moscow.

Image source, .

More now on Severodonetsk, where Russian and Ukrainian troops are fighting inside the city.

If Severodonetsk and the nearby city of Lysychansk are taken by Russia then the entire Luhansk region in the east will fall under Russian control.

“Unfortunately, the front line has cut the city into two halves, but the city is still defending [itself], the city is still Ukrainian," city head Oleksandr Stryuk told Ukrainian TV.

He added that Russians have set up military positions in about one half of the city.

“The evacuation is suspended. Unfortunately, it’s impossible [to evacuate civilians]... because street fighting is continuing," he said.

In its latest assessment of the situation in Ukraine, external, the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) says Russia’s recent capture of Lyman supports its main operational effort, which it says is likely to remain surrounding Severodonetsk and closing the pocket around Ukrainian forces in the Luhansk region.

Heavy shelling in the city continues, while street fighting is likely to be taking place on its outskirts, it says. Progress has been slow, but gains are being held.

Russia has achieved greater local successes than earlier in the campaign by massing forces in a relatively small area, it adds, which forces Russia to accept risk elsewhere in occupied territory.

Its political goal is likely to fully occupy the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, the MoD says.

It adds that to achieve this, Russia will need to secure further challenging operational objectives beyond Severodonetsk, such as the key city of Kramatorsk and the main road between Dnipro and Donetsk.

Steve Rosenberg
Russia editor

The EU's oil agreement is a compromise deal - but it's also an important one.

Moscow is heavily reliant on its energy exports, and the EU says this deal will cut more than 90% of Russian oil imports by the end of the year.

But for all the sabre-rattling and anti-Western rhetoric we've been hearing from Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, I suspect the Russian leader is more likely to say to Europe: "Get ready for some more economic pain because of this embargo. Let's see how long your support for Ukraine lasts."

The Kremlin is aware of the differences of opinion within the EU over what to do about Russia - and you can be sure that Putin is going to try and exploit them.

Russia will look for new markets, but in terms of oil that's not a quick fix. The infrastructure isn't in place to reorient oil exports from Europe to Asia, for example. And if it does sell to Asia - it will have to do so at a discounted price.

There's also the question of Russian gas - an embargo on that could be discussed next.

EU deal exemption - a win for Hungary PM Orbanpublished at 08:09 British Summer Time 31 May 2022

08:09 BST 31 May 2022

Jessica Parker
Reporting from Brussels

As we've been reporting, the EU has agreed to ban most imports of Russian oil, but with key exemptions for Hungary.

Crude oil delivered by pipeline will be exempt - following demands from Budapest.

Expectations of a breakthrough ebbed and flowed on Monday. Then overnight it was confirmed that oil imports from Russia by sea would be banned.

However, Hungary, which had argued its economy couldn't cope with an embargo, will retain access to its branch of the key Druzhba pipeline that also supplies Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

But officials insist that, taken with German and Polish commitments to phase out all Russian oil by the end of this year, the EU boycott would hit 90% of imports.

It's not clear how long the exemption will last, but it's a win for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban - a man who has been known to have relatively warm relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Another of Mr Orban's demands, that Hungary might still access Russian oil in other ways if something happened to the pipeline, also appears to have been met. The plans now need to be signed off by ambassadors in order to be formally adopted.

EU leaders have reached a deal on banning oil imports from Russia - here's a reminder of what's been agreed.

How much? More than two-thirds of Russian oil imports will be blocked immediately, with that number rising to 90% by the end of the year.

Not all oil: The ban will only affect oil that arrives by sea but not pipeline oil, following opposition from Hungary which is heavily reliant on Russian imports.

€400bn ($430bn, £341bn): That's how much the EU currently pays Moscow for oil and gas. Russia supplies 27% of the EU's imported oil and 40% of its gas.

Gas not included: But so far, no sanctions on Russian gas exports to the EU have been put in place, although plans to open a new gas pipeline from Russia to Germany have been frozen.

A tough process: EU members spent hours struggling to resolve their differences over the ban, with Hungary its main opponent. The compromise followed weeks of wrangling until the pipeline exemption was agreed

Jeremy Bowen
Reporting from Bakhmut

Image source, BBC/Jeremy Bowen

Maxsym Lutsyk looks older and more serious, and makes fewer jokes, than when I saw him in the days after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Back then, the 19-year-old had just put university on hold and volunteered to fight.

Last week he made a difficult journey out of the Donbas front line, using back roads at night to avoid artillery fire, to pick up supplies for his unit and to tell me what it has been like fighting the Russians.

We met in Bakhmut, a small town well within the range of Russian artillery. Some of its buildings are in ruins and the city has been almost emptied of civilians.

For three weeks, Maxsym and his comrades had fought to keep control of a position they called Serber, after a small dog they had adopted. It was in a smashed-up former factory in Rubizhne, a town that eventually fell to the Russians.

His unit was targeted by tank fire about 25 times a day, he says.

"One of my friends was killed there and maybe 10 or 15 guys were injured seriously."

More now from the governor of the Luhansk region who has been speaking to Ukrainian TV.

"In Severodonetsk, a part of the city is already under control of the Russian army," he told the 1+1 channel.

“A few days ago they said they had seized the entire city – but this is not the case," he added. “We have our boys there – they’re fighting back. So, they [Russians] are unable to advance freely.”

“I don’t think that there is an encirclement risk [of Severodonetsk]; a [troop] withdrawal remains possible to Lysychansk," Serhiy Haidai said.

“All the remaining territory under Ukrainian control is being shelled," he added.

Let's take a look at the key eastern city of Severodonetsk now, where Russian forces are mounting a major offensive.

"The situation in Severodonetsk is as complicated as possible," Luhansk regional Governor Serhiy Haidai wrote on Telegram. He added that the entire region was under continuous bombardment - "air bombs, and artillery, and tanks. Everything".

"The main efforts of the Russians are now focused on establishing control over the city," he wrote.

He also spoke to Ukrainian state TV earlier, saying “the situation in the city remains very difficult" and Russian troops were advancing slowly towards the centre.

“The fighting goes on," he said.

Having failed to conquer all of Ukraine, Russian forces are now targeting Donbas - a region made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. If Severodonetsk and the nearby city of Lysychansk fall, the whole of Luhansk would be occupied.

Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of the conflict in Ukraine. Here is the latest on what has been happening overnight:

• Russian separatists in the east of Ukraine say invading forces have now taken control of around a third of the city of Severodonetsk
• Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai says the situation in the city is "as complicated as possible" and that the entire region is under continuous bombardment, the AFP news agency quotes him as saying on Telegram
• He also told Ukrainian state TV Russian troops were slowly advancing towards the centre of the city
• European Union leaders have agreed on a plan to block more than two-thirds of Russian oil imports
• In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the situation in Donbas remains extremely difficult, as Russian forces continue their offensive there

Image source, .

Image source, EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET

We're pausing our coverage of the invasion of Ukraine for now. Here are some of today's main developments:

• Hungary's opposition to a proposed ban of Russian oil imports has frustrated two days of EU talks in Brussels as the bloc tries to agree a sixth round of sanctions
• Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for "greater unity" from EU leaders over the plans
• Turkey says it is willing to help Ukraine and Russia create "a secure sea route" for exporting Ukrainian agricultural products. Grain supplies have built up after the invasion disrupted Black Sea export routes
• French journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff has been killed by shrapnel from a Russian shell after it hit an evacuation car in Luhansk
• Russians have been moving in on the city of Severodonetsk as heavy fighting continues in the Luhansk region

Read more about the day's events here.

Today's updates were brought to you by Chris Giles, Jack Burgess, Phelan Chatterjee, Tiffany Wertheimer, Alexandra Fouché, Gareth Evans, Adam Durbin, Sam Hancock and Claire Heald.

Join us again tomorrow.

Image source, REUTERS/Gennady Galperin

Valentin Yumashev, the son-in-law of former Russian leader Boris Yeltsin, who helped President Vladimir Putin come to power, has quit his role as a Kremlin adviser, Reuters has reported.

Yumashev was an unpaid adviser with limited influence on Putin's decision-making, but his departure removes one of the last links to Yeltsin's rule inside Putin's administration, Reuters reports.

Yeltsin's rule, 1991-9 oversaw a period of liberal reforms, during which Russia opened up to the West.

Boris Yeltsin came to international attention as the Russian leader who took control of the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union.