Live: Zelensky to press G7 for more help as Russia makes headway in Donbas

Issued on: 27/06/2022 – 06:42

06:04am: Zelensky to press G7 for more help as Russia makes headway in Donbas

President Volodymyr Zelensky will urge world powers to step up their support for Ukraine when he addresses the G7 summit on Monday, as Kyiv reels from the first Russian strikes on the capital in weeks.

Zelensky is set to join the leaders of the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Canada via video link at 10:00 am (0800 GMT).

“We need a powerful air defence – modern, fully effective. Which can ensure complete protection against these missiles. We talk about this every day with our partners. There are already some agreements. And partners need to move faster if they are really partners, not observers,” Zelensky said in his daily address late Sunday

3:36am: Ukraine war could boost illegal drug production, UN warns

The war in Ukraine could allow illegal drug production to flourish, the United Nations warned Monday.

Previous experience from the Middle East and Southeast Asia suggests conflict zones can act as a “magnet” for making synthetic drugs, which can be manufactured anywhere, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in its annual report.

“This effect may be greater when the conflict area is near large consumer markets.”

The UNODC said the number of dismantled amphetamine laboratories in Ukraine rose from 17 in 2019 to 79 in 2020, the highest number of seized laboratories reported in any country in 2020.

Ukraine’s capacity to produce synthetic drugs could grow as the war continues, it added.

“You don’t have police going around and stopping laboratories” in conflict zones, UNODC expert Angela Me told AFP.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)