MAJOR ESCALATION IN UKRAINE : Russia Goes Scorched Earth

Oct 11 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to ask the leaders of the G7 group of nations to urgently supply Ukraine with weapons to defend itself from Russian missiles, a day after Moscow launched air strikes that killed 19 people.

DIPLOMACY

* U.S. President Joe Biden and other Group of Seven leaders will convene virtually later on Tuesday to discuss what more they can do to support Ukraine. Zelenskiy, who will address the meeting, has said his “number 1 priority,” is air defence systems, something Biden has already promised to provide.

* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Russia will not turn down a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Biden at a forthcoming G20 meeting and would consider the proposal if it receives one.

* Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Tuesday called Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine “abhorrent” and said she condemned them “in the strongest possible terms”.

* Russia’s missile strikes on Ukraine are unacceptably “brutal attacks”, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi told Zelensky on Tuesday.

* French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told France Inter radio on Tuesday that G7 heads of state would probably warn Belarus to stay out of the conflict.

* Hong Kong’s leader said there was “no legal basis” for the city to act on Western sanctions, when asked about a Russian yacht berthed in the city that belongs to a sanctioned Russian oligarch. read more

CONFLICT

* Russian missiles killed 19 people and wounded dozens on Monday, emergency services said, as the weapons tore into intersections, parks and tourist sites as well as knocking out power.

* Around 300 settlements in Kyiv region and a similar number around Lviv in western Ukraine remain without power, deputy Interior Minister Yevhen Yenin told a briefing on Tuesday morning.

* Russia’s defence ministry said it had hit “all designated targets” on Monday in what it called an attack on military, communications and energy infrastructure. Putin earlier blamed Ukraine for an attack on a bridge linking Russia to annexed Crimea on Saturday.

* Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accused Russia on Tuesday of committing war crimes by deliberately targeting energy facilities to create “unbearable conditions for civilians”.

* Britain would expect to see indicators if Russia was starting to consider deploying its nuclear arsenal in its war with Ukraine, Britain’s top cyber spy said on Tuesday, repeating that any talk of using such weapons was highly dangerous.

QUOTES

* “We will do everything to strengthen our armed forces … We will make the battlefield more painful for the enemy,” Zelenskiy said.

Compiled by Philippa Fletcher and Nick Macfie

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.