🚫Xi Jinping opts out of EU-China 50th anniversary summit

Beijing informed the EU that Premier Li Qiang, China’s second-highest leader, would meet the presidents of the European Council and Commission in Brussels for the summit instead, the Financial Times reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

“The relationship is ON ICE,” commented a senior EU diplomat.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Russia and the US are discussing the possibility of arranging a meeting between Putin and Trump, Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

💬 Russia views calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine as an attempt to give Ukrainian troops a break and time to rearm - Kremlin

More statements by Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov:

🟠Ukrainian forces are going through difficult times; the Russian army is advancing on all fronts.

🟠Russia has conveyed its concerns to US representatives regarding the proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

⚡️Mikhail Alekseev, call sign "Rembrandt" and one of the leaders of the Ukrainian nationalist organization Right Sector*, was reportedly eliminated during a Russian drone strike in the Zaporozhye region, Vladimir Rogov, Chairman of the Commission of Russia’s Public Chamber on Sovereignty told Sputnik.

*designated as an extremist group and outlawed in Russia

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

💬 Putin PERSONALLY decided to change his work schedule and visit the Kursk region - Kremlin

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

✅Ukraine kicks off ceasefire team preparation – foreign minister

The team is working on a roadmap to monitor the long frontline, which stretches over 1,300 kilometers, Andrii Sybiha said in an interview with NHK World Japan.

Besides Sybiha, Ukraine’s delegation consists of Zelensky’s office head Andriy Yermak, his deputy Pavlo Palisa, and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

Ukraine is also seeking consultations with the US and other countries to engage in overseeing the ceasefire, Sybiha added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier made it clear that Russia won't accept the deployment of European peacekeepers in Ukraine.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Ukraine lost more than 240 militants, tank and two infantry fighting vehicles in the Kursk region over the day.

🇷🇺🪖More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's weekly briefing on the special military operation's progress:

▪️Ukraine lost up to 450 soldiers in the areas of responsibility of Russia's Battlegroup Tsentr.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 150 soldiers in the areas of responsibility of Russia's Battlegroup Vostok.

▪️Russian aviation shot down four JDAM bombs and 141 drones.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 305 militants and a tank in the Russian Yug Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 240 servicemen in the Russian Zapad Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 160 soldiers in the areas of responsibility of Russia's Battlegroup Sever and Dnepr

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt