Russia-Ukraine war live updates: McConnell leads GOP visit to Kyiv; Mariupol rescue talks ?difficult?

Ukraine favored to win Eurovision song contest at Saturday final Ukraine bans pro-Russian political partiesRussia denies that the war is contributing to global food crisisMore than $1B needed to rebuild hospitals, Ukrainian official saysTurkey proposes evacuation plan for wounded fighters at Azovstal plantHow to watch Eurovision Song Contest and the Ukrainian band favored to winThe West has declared ‘total hybrid war’ on Russia, Lavrov claimsAnother batch of civilians evacuated from MariupolIndia bans wheat exports as war in Ukraine sends global prices soaringTurkey ‘not closing the door’ to Sweden, Finland in NATO, official saysAustin asks Russian defense minister for cease-fire in UkraineTurkey’s Erdogan voices skepticism on Sweden and Finland joining NATOFinland’s president to Putin: Ukraine invasion prompted NATO bidMcConnell leads Senate GOP delegation to Kyiv, meets ZelenskyUkraine foreign minister urges G-7 to hand over seized Russian assetsUkraine favored to win Eurovision song contest at Saturday final Ukraine bans pro-Russian political partiesRussia denies that the war is contributing to global food crisisMore than $1B needed to rebuild hospitals, Ukrainian official saysTurkey proposes evacuation plan for wounded fighters at Azovstal plantHow to watch Eurovision Song Contest and the Ukrainian band favored to winThe West has declared ‘total hybrid war’ on Russia, Lavrov claimsAnother batch of civilians evacuated from MariupolIndia bans wheat exports as war in Ukraine sends global prices soaringTurkey ‘not closing the door’ to Sweden, Finland in NATO, official saysAustin asks Russian defense minister for cease-fire in UkraineTurkey’s Erdogan voices skepticism on Sweden and Finland joining NATOFinland’s president to Putin: Ukraine invasion prompted NATO bidMcConnell leads Senate GOP delegation to Kyiv, meets ZelenskyUkraine foreign minister urges G-7 to hand over seized Russian assetsUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed a delegation of Republican senators led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) to Kyiv on Saturday, praising the visit as “a strong signal of bipartisan support for Ukraine.”The other GOP senators visible in a video, which shows Zelensky greeting them on a Kyiv street, were John Barrasso (Wyo.), Susan Collins (Maine) and John Cornyn (Tex.). He added that 375 pharmacies in the country had been destroyed, according to Interfax.“Therefore, according to preliminary estimates, 32 billion hryvnias are needed to restore these hospitals,” he said.The health minister vowed that Ukraine would rebuild a medical system “that meets European requirements to ensure access to health care for all at their place of residence.” He said that “expert and political level of discussions” on how to rebuild medical institutions in the Kyiv region had been completed and that other discussions on restoring the institutions in Sumy and Chernihiv Oblasts were underway, Interfax reported.“We are determining which hospitals in a certain district should be, which departments they should have, what material and technical base they should have, and we will equip and restore them immediately in this direction,” he said.Turkey has proposed carrying out evacuations of hundreds of wounded fighters trapped in the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, a spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday.Ibrahim Kalin, Erdogan’s top foreign policy adviser, told Reuters that an evacuation plan he recently discussed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was “on the table.” As part of the plan, which he said Russia has not agreed to, evacuees from the steel plant would be transported to the port of Berdyansk and then picked up by a Turkish vessel that would take them to Istanbul.“If it can be done that way, we are happy to do it. “In fact our ship is ready to go and bring the injured soldiers and other civilians to Turkey.”Turkey has been evaluating the plan since last month, when Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said the country was exerting “significant efforts for the evacuation of all civilians struggling in Ukraine, including Turkish citizens,” according to the pro-Turkish newspaper the Daily Sabah.Ukrainian officials are continuing to negotiate with Russia to evacuate 60 medics and “seriously wounded” people from the besieged Azovstal steel plant, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Saturday.Kalin’s remarks came one day after Erdogan voiced skepticism about Sweden and Finland potentially joining the NATO defense alliance, a sign of dissension in efforts to revamp Europe’s security architecture after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.As Europe prepares for the final of its most popular song contest on Saturday, a Ukrainian folk-rap group may give Ukraine a reason to celebrate amid the Russian invasion.When Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra takes the stage in Turin, Italy, its members will have more eyeballs than ever on them at a time when the war back home has reached 80 days. Such a change could damage the “spirit of good neighborliness and partnership cooperation” between the two countries, Putin is reported to have said.Niinisto also repeated to Putin his “deep concern over the human suffering” caused by the war in Ukraine, while Putin stated that talks between Russia and Ukraine have been “effectively suspended” by Kyiv, which he said “is not interested in a constructive dialogue.”The phone call, whose tone both sides characterized as “direct,” was initiated by Finland.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with a U.S. Senate delegation led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Saturday in Kyiv, calling the visit “a powerful signal of bipartisan support for Ukraine from the U.S. Congress and the American people,” his presidential office said.In a video posted by Politico journalist Christopher Miller, McConnell and fellow Republican Sens.