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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Sunday that Russian forces “will move to even larger operations in the east” of Ukraine and that this week would be as crucial as any since Moscow’s invasion on February 24. Zelensky also challenged US President Joe Biden to provide more weapons to Ukraine in an interview with American media that aired Sunday. Read our live blog to follow the latest developments in Ukraine. All times are in Paris time [GMT+ 2].
7:31 am: Ukraine says sowing area for spring crops depends on mine-clearing in north
The 2022 spring crop sowing area in Ukraine can reach 80 percent of the pre-war acreage if the country manages to clear mines in northern regions, Kyiv’s deputy agriculture minister Taras Vysotskiy said on Monday.
Ukrainian agriculture officials said in February that the sowing area could fall 50 percent due to the Russian invasion, but they later revised the sowing area forecast to around 70 percent as Russian focres failed to occupy most of the country.
“If the territories of Chernihiv and Sumy regions, which have huge agricultural areas, can be cleared of mines in coming weeks, the sown area may increase to 80 percent,” state-run Ukrinform news agency quoted Vysotskiy as saying.
7:13 am: New Zealand to deploy military transport plane, personnel to Europe to support Ukraine
New Zealand said on Monday it will deploy a C-130 Hercules transport plane and 58 personnel to Europe to further support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
The team would travel throughout Europe transporting equipment and supplies to distribution centres, but would not enter Ukraine, Defence Minister Peeni Henare said in a statement.
The government also said it would donate an extra NZ$13.1 million ($9 million) towards military, legal and human rights support.
6:56 am: Zelensky says Biden ‘has the list’ of weapons Ukraine needs
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine’s fate as the war shifts south and east depends on whether the United States will help match a surge in Russian weaponry in the regions.
“To be honest, whether we will be able to (survive) depends on this,” Zelensky said in an interview broadcast on US television Sunday night. “Unfortunately, I don’t have the confidence that we will be receiving everything we need.”
Zelensky said he was grateful to Biden for US military aid to date but added that he “long ago” forwarded a list of specific items Ukraine desperately needed and that history would judge Biden’s response.
“He has the list,” Zelensky said. “President Biden can enter history as the person who stood shoulder to shoulder with the Ukrainian people who won and chose the right to have their own country. (This) also depends on him.”
6:54 am: Zelensky says Russian troops will move to ‘larger operations’ in Ukraine’s east
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Sunday in his nightly address to the nation that the coming week would be as crucial as any during the war, saying “Russian troops will move to even larger operations in the east of our state”.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)
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