Ukraine-Russia war: Biden and Zelenskyy sign 10-year security deal; Putin's plan 'has failed', Germany says; Russia tells West not to 'worry' as its warships arrive in Cuba (2024)

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Joe Biden are now addressing the issue of Chinese and Russian cooperation.

The US earlier expanded sanctions against companies and individuals accused of helping Russia's war effort, including entities in China.

Beijing has repeatedly denied it is supplying Russia with weapons, however it has been accused of providing critical components for Russia's war.

Mr Zelenskyy says he was told by President Xi Jinping that China would not sell weapons to Russia.

It's not clear when this conversation took place.

Meanwhile, Mr Biden says China is helping Russia in the war through technology and production.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledges the impact of the months-long delay to US weapons support, which was caused by Republicans blocking a major aid bill.

He says the pause in supplies had allowed Russia to conduct an offensive on the northeastern region of Kharkiv, but Ukraine had managed to stop it.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden made clear the US had not changed its position on allowing Ukraine to use American weapons to strike inside Russia.

The US recently said it would allow Kyiv to use such weapons to strike Russia only for the purpose of stopping the attack on Kharkiv.

We're hearing now from Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who are holding a joint news conference after it was revealed the US and Ukraine have signed a major 10-year security agreement.

The US president repeats his message that he will "stand with Ukraine" and says it is a "reminder to Putin that we are not backing down".

Mr Biden says lasting peace for Ukraine must be underwritten by Ukraine's ability to defend itself.

The agreement includes major commitments from Ukraine to implement reforms required by both the EU and NATO in order for Kyiv to join.

Steps taken by the G7 today will help Ukraine to succeed in its war against Russia, Mr Biden says, and leaders also discussed concerns about China supplying Moscow with "materials for its war machine".

Mr Zelenskyy says today is a "truly historic day" and that the security deal is the strongest agreement since Ukraine's independence.

He thanks Mr Biden for his leadership and says the deal will create jobs in both the US and Ukraine.

A Russian journalist covering the war has been killed by Ukrainian shelling on a village in eastern Ukraine, according to a local mayor.

Valery Kozhin, who worked for Russia's NTV television channel, was reportedly among a group of journalists hit in the strike on Holmivskyi.

NTV earlier reported three of its staff, including Mr Kozhin, had been injured and taken to hospital.

Holmivskyi is in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.

The $50bn support package agreed by G7 leaders today is "game-changing", Rishi Sunak has said.

The UK prime minister said it would support Ukraine on the battlefield and in its economic reconstruction - but would also send a "signal" to Vladimir Putin.

"The signal that will send, the deterrence, is as important as the actual practical support and that has been what we've been focused on," he said.

Mr Sunak said the money would be provided by the G7 as a loan and then secured against profits of seized Russian assets.

Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement aimed at providing support for Kyiv as it defends itself against the Russian invasion.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of today's G7 summit.

It establishes that the two governments will meet within 24 hours at senior levels to discuss any response in the event of an armed attack against Ukraine.

It's also seen as "supporting a bridgeto Ukraine’s eventual membership in the NATO alliance," the text said.

The British and Ukrainian leaders held a bilateral meeting at the G7 today.

Rishi Sunak and Volodymyr Zelenskyy walked through the grounds of the summit for 10 minutes on the British prime minister's request.

They spoke at length and in depth about the situation in Ukraine, with the conversation taking a serious tone.

They embraced at the end and Mr Zelenskyy wished the prime minister "all the best".

"Sophisticated" Russian cyberattacks are becoming "more aggressive" and intrusions could become harder to prevent, the vice chairman of Microsoft has warned.

Brad Smith testified to the US House of Representatives' Committee on Homeland Security today, two months after a scathing report on the tech giant's cybersecurity failings.

A transcript of Mr Smith's testimony shows he warned US politicians that Russia's Foreign Intelligence Agency (SVR) "continues to be one of the best resourced and most sophisticated cyber agencies in the world".

He said Microsoft had seen the agency become "more aggressive" over the past year.

The SVR is no longer withdrawing from a computer environment once discovered, but is instead doubling down, leading to the equivalent of "hand-to-hand combat" in cyberspace, Mr Smith said.

He warned of a "more direct relationship between nation-state activity and cybercrime, especially in Russia and North Korea".

Mr Smith also said preparations were needed for the likelihood that the US's opponents would "collaborate more closely in cyberspace".

"It's one thing to engage in cyber combat with four separate nation-state adversaries [Russia, China, North Korea and Iran], but quite another scenario if two or all four of these countries work in tandem," he said.

Vladimir Putin's plan to wait for international support for Kyiv to stutter has failed, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said.

His remarks came after G7 leaders agreed at a summit in Italy to provide additional financial support for Ukraine - including a loan deal worth roughly $50bn using interest raised through frozen Russian assets.

Mr Scholz said the agreement showed wealthy developed nations were committed to helping Ukraine more than two years after Moscow's invasion.

"It is a clear sign to the Russian president that he cannot simply sit this matter out and hope that he will succeed in winning this war at some point because of fiscal problems in some countries in the world that are currently supporting Ukraine. He hasn't," he said.

Six people, including two children, have been injured in a Russian strike in the eastern region of Dnipro, an official has said.

Regional governor Serhii Lysak said one of the children - a three-year-old girl - has been taken to hospital with an explosive injury, burns and scratches after the attack on the city of Novomoskovsk.

Another girl, aged 12, is recovering at home after "an acute reaction to stress", he said.

Some 91 houses, five educational buildings and gas infrastructure was also damaged, said Mr Lysak.