Live: EU energy ministers to hold emergency talks after Russian gas cuts

Issued on: 02/05/2022 – 06:25

4.49am: Russia not seeking to end Ukraine war by May 9, says FM

Russia is not looking to end its war in Ukraine by Victory Day on May 9, its foreign minister said, as the country looks set to mark the key anniversary under the cloud of a deadly conflict. 

Speaking with Italian outlet Mediaset, Sergei Lavrov insisted Moscow would not rush to wrap up its so-called “special military operation” in time for the anniversary, which celebrates Nazi Germany’s surrender to allied forces — including the then Soviet Union — in 1945. 

“Our military will not artificially adjust their actions to any date, including Victory Day,” Lavrov said in the interview released Sunday. 

“The pace of the operation in Ukraine depends, first of all, on the need to minimise any risks for the civilian population and Russian military personnel,” he added.

Russia typically marks Victory Day in grand style, with a large military parade in central Moscow and a speech by President Vladimir Putin hailing the country’s leading role in the defeat of fascism in Europe. 

4:30am: EU energy ministers hold crisis talks after Russian gas cuts

Energy ministers from European Union countries hold emergency talks on Monday, as the bloc strives for a united response to Moscow’s demand that European buyers pay for Russian gas in roubles or face their supply being cut off.

Russia halted gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland last week after they refused to meet its demand to effectively pay in roubles.

Those countries already planned to stop using Russian gas this year and say they can cope with the stoppage, but it has raised fears that other EU countries, including Europe’s gas-reliant economic powerhouse Germany, could be next.

It has also threatened to crack the EU’s united front against Russia amid disagreement on the right course of action.

With many European companies facing gas payment deadlines later this month, EU states have a pressing need to clarify whether companies can keep buying the fuel without breaching the EU’s sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

3:05am: Explosions in Russian region bordering Ukraine

Two explosions took place in the early hours on Monday in Belgorod, the southern Russian region bordering Ukraine, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the region’s governor wrote in a social media post.

“There were no casualties or damage,” Gladkov wrote.

10:18pm: Pelosi’s visit to Kyiv is ‘very significant’

Pelosi’s visit to Kyiv is “very significant; it’s another show of solidarity and support for Ukraine,” The Guardian’s David Smith told FRANCE 24 from Washington DC.

05:21

9:20pm: Eight dead after Russian airstrikes in eastern Ukraine, governor says

Eight civilians died on Sunday following Russian shelling attacks in Donetsk and Kharkiv, the regions’ governors said, as Moscow’s forces push deeper into eastern Ukraine.

The deaths came as the Russian army refocuses its efforts on eastern Ukraine, notably the Donbas region, which incorporates Donetsk and Lugansk.

Four were killed in shelling in the town of Lyman in Donetsk, the regional governor said.

“On May 1, four civilians were killed in Russian shelling in the Donetsk region, all in Lyman. Eleven other people were injured,” governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram. Another person had died of his injuries in a town near Lyman, he added.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)