Russia-Ukraine war updates: Moscow to deepen ties with China, Lavrov says; west pledges to send more advanced weapons to Ukraine – live | Ukraine

Russia’s foreign minister has said Moscow will focus on developing relations with China, though would consider offers from the west to re-establish ties.

Sergei Lavrov, in a question and answer session at an event in Moscow, said western countries had espoused “russophobia” since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

Russia was working to replace goods imported from western countries, he said, and in future, would depend only on “reliable” countries not beholden to the west.

if they [the west] want to offer something in terms of resuming relations, then we will seriously consider whether we will need it or not,” Lavrov said, according to a transcript on the foreign ministry’s website.

Lavrov set down grievances with western countries that he said were determined to change the rules of international relations to Russia’s detriment.

We must cease being dependent in any way on supplies of absolutely everything from the west for ensuring the development of critically important sectors for security, the economy or our homeland’s social sphere.”

Lavrov said Moscow’s goal now is to further develop ties with China.

Now that the west has taken a ‘dictator’s position’, our economic ties with China will grow even faster.

In addition to direct revenue for the state budget, this is a chance to develop (Russia’s) far east and eastern Siberia.”

China, he said, had information and communications technologies “that are in no way inferior to the west. A great deal here will ensure mutual benefits.”

Lavrov said Russia would count on “only ourselves and on countries which have proven themselves reliable and do not ‘dance to some other piper’s music’. If western countries change their minds and propose some form of cooperation, we can then decide.”

Speaking to Russia’s ESTUARY Novosti news agency, Lavrov added:

Now the center of world development has shifted to Eurasia. At the moment, we have the most extensive network of partnerships in the Eurasian region. We must rely on them in the further development of our country, its transport, transit, and logistics capabilities. I am convinced that this is the right way.”

“Our western partners have proven, and not for the first time, that they are incapable of negotiating,” he added.

Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments for the next short while before my colleague Martin Belam in London take the reins a little later in the day.

Here are all the top lines so far:

• The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Vladimir Putin was the only Russian official he was willing to meet with to discuss how to end the war. “The president of the Russian Federation decides it all,” he said in a video address to the World Economic Forum in Davos. “I cannot accept any kind of meeting with anyone coming from the Russian Federation but the president.”

• to veteran Russian diplomat in Geneva has resigned over the invasion of Ukraine, in a rare political protest from within the Russian foreign policy establishment. Boris Bondarev, a counselor at the Russian permanent mission to the UN in Geneva, wrote in a public statement: “Never have I been so ashamed of my country.” He confirmed he had submitted his letter of resignation from him.

• A court in Kyiv has sentenced a Russian soldier to life in prison for the killing of a Ukrainian civilian, in the first verdict in a trial related to war crimes by the Russian army during its invasion of Ukraine. Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old sergeant, was found guilty of killing 62-year-old Oleksandr Shelipov in the Sumy region during the first days of the invasion.

• Twenty countries announced new security assistance packages and agreed to send more advanced weapons to Ukraine, including a Harpoon launcher and missiles to protect its coast, said Lloyd Austin, the US defense secretary. The new security packages included “critically needed artillery ammunition, coastal defense systems and tanks and other armored vehicles”.
• Denmark pledged to send Harpoon anti-ship missiles that could be used to push the Russian navy away from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, allowing exports of grain and other agricultural products to resume.

• “Low-level” discussions were under way on whether some US troops should be based in Ukraine and how the US may need to adjust its training of Ukrainian forces, said General Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

• Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the west to intensify its economic sanctions against Russia as he said business leaders in Davos needed to decide whether “brute force” should rule the world. In a keynote video address to the World Economic Forum, Zelenskiy called for a full oil embargo, the severing of Russian banks from the global financial system, the complete isolation of the Russian IT sector and a ban on trade with Russia.

• The European Union will likely agree an embargo on Russian oil imports “within days”, Germany’s economy minister said on Monday. Robert Habeck also told German broadcaster ZDF that the European Commission and the US were working on a proposal to cap global oil prices rather than pay “any price”.

• Nearly 90 people were killed in a Russian airstrike on the village of Desna in the northern Ukrainian region of Chernihiv, according to Zelenskiy. Ukrainian authorities said eight people were killed in the strike, which took place last Tuesday. Zelenskiy’s figure would give the Desna attack Ukraine’s biggest military death toll in a single strike of the war so far.

• The war in Ukraine could cause a recession in weaker economies, the head of the IMF has warned. Kristalina Georgieva predicted that 2022 would be a tough year and declined to rule out a global recession if conditions worsened markedly.

• New satellite images reportedly show Russian theft of Ukrainian grain. The pictures released by Maxar Technologies seemingly back up claims from Zelenskiy that food had been gradually stolen from the country, CNN has reported. In the photos, taken from 19 and 21 May, two bulk carrier ships with Russian flags can be seen loading grain from the grain silos they are docked by.

• Starbucks is leaving the Russian market, bringing an end to nearly 15 years of business there. The Seattle-based coffee company has 130 stores and nearly 2,000 employees in Russia. McDonalds is also pulling out, removing the “golden arches” from Moscow before leaving for good.