Ukraine-Russia war: Russia practises missile launches in nuclear drills - as G7 leaders to discuss Moscow sanctions (2024)

By Dominic Waghorn, international affairs editor

As G7 leaders meet near the idyllic Italian city of Bari, the view is stunning.

The Adriatic backdrop calm and serene.

Don't be fooled.

The outlook for the Western alliance is anything but.

The allies meet battered and weakened by storms back home and a sense of impending doom hangs over them.

It says it all that the least dysfunctional of the G7 member states right now is Italy - a country more usually prone to political instability.

Going into this summit its host, Italy's leader, Georgia Meloni, boasted that hers is the strongest government in Europe, "going against the trend".

Who could argue with that?

Not Emmanuel Macron, struggling to save France from the populist right after its election triumph a few days ago and the snap parliamentary vote he’s called to follow.

Not Chancellor Olaf Scholz equally humbled by the same in Germany.

And certainly not Rishi Sunak, limping from one excruciating ordeal to another on the election trail, in Britain.

Outside of Europe, Meloni's other guests arrive with similar domestic baggage.

Canada's Justin Trudeau faces rising disenchantment and Japan's Fumio Kishida approval ratings have never been worse.

And Joe Biden is in his own world of pain, personal and political.

Allies and voters back home increasingly wonder if he will last the course to the election let alone another four years in office.

As war rages in Europe and beyond, there could not be a worse time for such weakness and division.

This year's G7 venue, near the walled city of Bari, has lessons for its guests from a long history of conflict, fought over by Byzantines, Saracens, Normans and Angevins.

The leaders convene with their enemies at the gate.

Populist forces threaten to topple the citadels of liberal democracy across Europe.

Russia is on the march in Ukraine - the conflict galvanising an alliance of autocracies to the East.

As host, Georgia Meloni will try to orchestrate a united response.

Italy has been at the forefront of efforts for instance to use Russia’s confiscated billions to help finance the war in Ukraine.

But on the eve of this summit, the diplomacy seemed to be unravelling - with Europe reportedly accusing America of not pulling its weight in the initiative.

The allies know too well the price of dither and delay.

The failure to send tanks to Ukraine before Russia could prepare its defences has proven extraordinarily costly on the battlefield.

Expectations of diplomatic progress in Bari are being managed.

Excuses made. Democracy is messy.

It's harder to marshal multiple democracies than it is for the enemy to run a totalitarian state.

But in truth there is no time for division - this could be the West's last best chance.

In a year President Trump may be in place, a man viscerally opposed to all the G7 stands for.

He may be six months into dismantling NATO.

France could be paralysed, its president a lame duck, Germany the same.

The enemies of freedom and democracy are doing what they can to hasten the West's demise.

In Moscow, Tehran and Beijing they are looking on with glee - untroubled by this latest gathering.

Unless the allies can prove them wrong.

Don't hold your breath.

The US has broadened its sanctions on Russia, including targeting China-based companies selling semiconductors to Moscow, as part of an effort to cut funding for the war in Ukraine.

Semiconductors have been found in a wide array of Russian equipment, from drones to radios, missiles and armoured vehicles, recovered from the battlefield, Ukrainian officials say.

The US Treasury said it is raising "the risk of secondary sanctions for foreign financial institutions that deal with Russia's war economy", effectively threating to revoke Moscow's access to the US financial system.

It also said it is moving to restrict Russia's ability to use certain US software and IT services and, alongside the State Department, targeting more than 300 individuals and entities in Russia and across Asia, Europe and Africa.

In addition, the Commerce Department said it is targeting shell companies in Hong Kong for diverting semiconductors to Russia, taking steps that would affect nearly $100m of high-priority items for Moscow including chips.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minster, welcomed the sanctions.

"We particularly applaud tough measures against Russia's defence-industrial base and its access to technology and resources abroad," he wrote on X.

"Any entity assisting Russia in the production of weapons must be subjected to the most intense pressure."

Eight European Union foreign ministers have called on the EU to ban Russian diplomats from moving freely around the bloc and restrict them to countries where they are accredited.

In a letter to EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, ministers said: "Free movement of holders of Russian diplomatic and service passports, accredited in one host state, across the whole Schengen area is easing malign activities."

The ministers said that intelligence, propaganda "or even preparation of sabotage acts are the main workload for a large number of Russian 'diplomats' in the EU".

The letter, which was signed by ministers from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania, added that "this measure will significantly narrow operational space for Russian agents".

Ukraine will sign a security agreements with the US and Japan on the sidelines of today's G7 summit, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

"Bilateral security agreements will be signed during [G7] meetings with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida," he said in a social media post ahead of the summit in Italy.

"The document with the United States will be unprecedented, as it should be for leaders who support Ukraine."

Deals with both the US and Japan had been expected, but full details of each of the agreements have not been made public.

Mr Zelenskyy also said quicker fighter jet pilot training, faster plane deliveries to Ukraine, and obtaining more air defence and long range weapons were among Kyiv's priorities at the meeting.

NATO members are set to take tougher action against Russian spies after a campaign of hostile activities by Moscow that includes acts of sabotage and cyber attacks, the head of NATO has said.

"We have seen several examples of sabotage, of arson attempts, of cyber attacks, of disinformation," Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels - where a meeting of NATO defence ministers is taking place.

Mr Stoltenberg said ministers would also discuss how NATO could respond, as well as how to protect critical maritime and cyber infrastructure, and also "tighter restrictions on Russian intelligence personnel across the alliance".

These images show members of the Ukrainian 33rd Separate Mechanised Brigade teaching each other how to use weapons.

Soldiers are seen using an a M2 Browning machine gun and an Oshkosh M-ATV Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle.

The drills took place in the Donetsk region.

An agreement on unlocking the value of frozen Russian assets to help fund Ukraine could be reached before G7 leaders meet later, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan has said.

Mr Sullivan said good progress had already been made on major issues including the asset freeze, and that leaders were more united than ever.

The topic is sure to come up today in Puglia.

By Tamara Cohen, political correspondent

Rishi Sunak will set out a £240m aid package to Ukraine as world leaders meet to discuss how to intensify financial pressure on Russia.

Theprime minister, in what could be his lastG7summit in the job, will use the visit to Puglia to say the UK is behindUkraine"whatever it takes" as the war grinds on.

Downing Street said the money would be used for emergency humanitarian aid and to rebuild critical energy infrastructure targeted by Russian bombing, as well as wider reconstruction.

This is part of a £2.5bn military aid package to Ukraine this year.Agreed by Mr Sunak on a trip to Kyiv in January, the UK-Ukraine security deal includes the largest delivery of drones by any nation.

Although the latest financial commitment was made before the general election was called, the prime minister will hope the focus on Ukraine will help rebut accusations he has little interest in foreign affairs, following the debacle over his early departure from the D-Day commemorations, whichhas dogged his election campaign so far.

Mr Sunak said ahead of the summit in Italy: "We must be decisive and creative in our efforts to support Ukraine and end Putin's illegal war at this critical moment.

"The UK remains at the forefront of the international response as we have been from the outset.

"We must move from 'as long as it takes' to 'whatever it takes' if we are to end this illegal war.

Russian troops practised the electronic launch of missiles as part of the second stage of drills on how to deploy tactical nuclear weapons, the Russian ministry of defence has said.

"As part of the second stage of the exercises of non-strategic nuclear forces, the personnel of the missile formation of the Leningrad Military Districtpracticed combat training tasks for covert advance to the designated position area and carried out electronic missile launches against conditional enemy targets," the Russian MoD said.

"The personnel involved in the exercise navy crews carried out sea trips to the designated patrol area."

Vladimir Putin ordered the drills after what Russia said were threats from the West, including suggestions from officials that Ukraine would be allowed to strike deep into Russian territory with Western-supplied weapons.

Footage released by the defence ministry showed Russian sailors focusing on a dummy target and then counting down to launch, including pressing the "launch" button.

This comes as G7 leaders are set to meet in Italy to discuss how to intensify financial pressure on Russia.

Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Today, the 50th G7 summit begins in Italy, with world leaders gathering to discuss a range of issues - with the war in Ukraine set to feature prominently.

Rishi Sunak will set out a £240m humanitarian aid package to Ukraine as part of a range of measures made to intensify financial pressure on Russia.

Joe Biden will meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy later on today to discuss a bilateral security agreement, which the Ukrainian leader will hope can be signed today.

We'll be bringing you the latest throughout the day.