Russia-Ukraine war live updates: At least 60 feared dead after ...

His comments came after the key Black Sea port of Odesa was hit with cruise missiles and the continued bombardment of the Azovstal steel plant up the coast in Mariupol.Read full coverage of the war here.The Associated PressKYIV, Ukraine — Leaders from the Group of Seven developed democracies pledged Sunday to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, as they met with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for online talks to stress their support and to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germany’s surrender in 1945.Cutting out Russian oil supplies “will hit hard at the main artery of (President Vladimir) Putin’s economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war,” the G-7 countries, which include the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany, France and Italy and Japan, said in a statement.“We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies,” they added.Casting a look back at World War II, the leaders stressed unity in their resolve that Putin must not win.“We owe it to the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War, to continue fighting for it today, for the people of Ukraine, Europe and the global community,” they said.U.S. President Joe Biden’s call with the G-7 leaders and Zelenskyy lasted about an hour.The Associated PressWASHINGTON — The United States has announced new sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.The penalties include cutting off Western advertising from Russia’s three biggest television stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services to any Russian and more restrictions on Russia’s industrial sector. They can take your lives, but they can never take your pride,” he said.Christina Zhao and Allie RaffaThe U.S., European Union and Group of Seven nations will impose additional sanctions on Russia targeting the country’s state-controlled media, elites and services that help finance the war in Ukraine, a senior Biden administration official said Sunday.The announcement came as Biden met virtually with leaders of the G7 and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reinforce their shared commitment to strengthening the war-torn country’s position on the battlefield and at the negotiating table.The U.S. will sanction three of Russia’s most-viewed directly or indirectly state-controlled television stations — Joint Stock Company Channel One Russia, Television Station Russia-1, and Joint Stock Company NTV Broadcasting Company, the official said, adding that the stations have been among the largest recipients of foreign revenue, which feeds back into the Russian state.The administration will also prohibit U.S. individuals from providing accounting, trust and corporate formation, or management consulting services to anyone in the Russian Federation in an effort to limit key services to Moscow companies and elites whose wealth generates revenue for Russia and who are trying to hide that money and evade sanctions, the official said.Read the full story.The Associated PressWASHINGTON — A U.S. official says the top American diplomat in Ukraine has temporarily returned to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, the capital — an announcement tied to V-E Day.The official says the return of the acting ambassador, Kristina Kvien, fulfills a pledge that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during the American’s recent visit to Kyiv with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.The official says the return of select U.S. diplomats to the embassy “is a testament to Ukraine’s success, Moscow’s failure, and our effective and enduring partnership with the government and people of a sovereign, democratic, and free Ukraine.”The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the developments before an official announcement.It’s not clear when the U.S. embassy will fully reopen. “I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop, and this war has been brutal, and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine,” Biden said.Zelenska, who has not been seen in public since the invasion began, thanked Biden for what she called “a courageous act.”Read full story here.ReutersUkrainian troops retreated from the eastern Ukrainian city of Popasna, the governor of Luhansk region said on Sunday, confirming previous reports that it had been taken.The head of Russia’s republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, had said on Sunday his troops had taken control of most of Popasna.Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai told Ukraine television that Ukrainian troops had retreated to take up more fortified positions, adding: “Everything was destroyed there.”Russian forces launched a new offensive push in April along most of Ukraine’s eastern flank, with some of most intense attacks and shelling taking place recently around Popasna in the Luhansk region.A man stands in a crater after Russian airstrike in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Saturday.ReutersThe president of the German parliament Baerbel Bas arrived in Kyiv on Sunday to commemorate victims of World War II and to hold political talks, a parliament official said on Twitter.Enrico Brissa, Bundestag’s chief of protocol, posted on Twitter pictures of Baerbel arriving on a train and her meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.Leila SackurSenior Russian commanders have been drawn onto the battlefield because of a “faltering performance on the frontline” and “difficulties in command and control,” Britain's defense ministry said in an intelligence briefing Sunday.