Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country was not enthusiastic about talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin but had to face the fact that this would likely be necessary to end the war, while the Kremlin described such statements as conflicting.

In a speech to an Indonesian think tank, Zelensky added that there are things to be discussed with the Russian president, although the Ukrainian people are not eager to talk to him.

He said that Ukraine must face the realities of what it is experiencing and restore life within a sovereign state, adding that Russia does not yet seem ready for serious talks.

For his part, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that there was no indication that Russia was ready to negotiate, "in fact, the facts confirm that the Russian president is determined to continue the war."

On the other hand, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described these statements as conflicting, and said that the Ukrainian leadership constantly makes contradictory statements;

Which does not allow Moscow to understand what Kyiv wants.

He added that the Ukrainian leadership should realize the real situation, noting that the negotiations are frozen by a decision, according to the line chosen by the Ukrainian side.

For his part, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the Russian president is making gradual and slow progress in Ukraine, but it is tangible.


wheat and gas

In the developments, the Russian President stressed, in a call he received from Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehamer, the need for Kyiv to remove mines from the ports as soon as possible, to ensure that the trapped ships can exit there.

Putin stressed that attempts to hold Russia responsible for the obstacles to the supply of agricultural products to world markets are baseless.

The Russian president again cited "US and European sanctions against Russia" as the cause of the food crisis.

For his part, the Austrian chancellor announced that Putin assured him of Moscow's commitment to implementing the contracts concluded between the two countries in the field of gas supply, noting that the Russian President expressed his readiness to conduct a prisoner exchange deal with the Ukrainian side.

Meanwhile, the office of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Friday that he had discussed with the Ukrainian president the release of wheat exports from Ukraine to address the food crisis that threatens the world's poor countries.

Draghi said that Russia "is ready to make a major contribution to overcoming the food crisis thanks to the export of grain and fertilizer if the West lifts politically motivated restrictions."

military support

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss renewed her country's support to meet Ukraine's demand for heavy weapons, including tanks and aircraft.

The British Minister's words came in a press conference she held with her Czech counterpart in Prague.

In a related context, Mikhail Bodlyak, an advisor to the Ukrainian president, called on what he described as the partners to provide his country with the "MLRS" missile system.

In a tweet on Twitter, Podlyak published pictures that he said showed the flamethrower weapon used by the Russian forces in their war on his country, accusing the Russian forces of using the heaviest non-nuclear weapons against the Ukrainians, and of burning people alive.

Meanwhile, CNN quoted US officials as saying that the administration of President Joe Biden is preparing to provide Ukraine with long-range missile systems, and this is a first requirement for Ukrainian officials.

The network added that the Biden administration is inclined to send the long-range missile systems as part of an aid package to Ukraine that may be announced next week.


Field developments

On the ground, the pro-Russian separatists announced their control of the city of "Liman", in the Kramatorsk region, north-eastern Donetsk Province, in the Donbass region.

The separatist Donetsk Regional Defense Staff said it had captured the entire Lyman region, with the support of the Russian armed forces, an important railway junction that opens the way to major cities such as Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

The governor of the Ukrainian Donetsk Province announced that the Russian forces had taken control of the greater part of the city of Lyman, and that their forces had taken new positions, and continued to fight in light of the continuing violent attack from the Russian forces.

For his part, Al-Jazeera correspondent reported the escalation of Russian bombardment on the areas east of the Mykolaiv Province (southern Ukraine), from the front extending with the Kherson Province, which is controlled by the Russian forces.

The reporter added that plumes of smoke rose from several locations near the towns of Shevchenka and Pasad Pokrovsky, while the Ukrainian forces continue to reinforce their positions along the front line extending to Kherson.

A spokesman for the Southern Operations Command said that Russian forces tried to advance at the Mykolaiv-Kherson front, but were repelled by Ukrainian forces.

Ukrainian media, quoting the military administration in the city of Zaporozhye, said that the Russian army was transferring numbers of ground, naval and air forces from Crimea towards the city, and a convoy of military equipment and accompanying tanks was seen passing through the city of Melitopol.

Russian forces continue their attack from several axes on the city of Severodonetsk, in light of Moscow intensifying its efforts to fully control the Lugansk and Donetsk regions.

The military governor of the Lugansk local administration announced that the Ukrainian forces continue to fight to prevent the advance of Russian forces to the city of Severodonetsk, which is still under fierce attack.


Genocide

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Army Staff Command announced that the Russian forces began an attack on the city of Sloviansk (north of Donetsk) and are trying to break into the Ukrainian defense lines and cut the supply line to the city of Severodonetsk, near the city of Bakhmut.

The Southern Command of the Ukrainian forces stated that 10 people were killed and 35 wounded, in a Russian shelling with "Iskander" missiles, targeting a military barracks of the National Defense Forces in the Dnipro-Petrovsk region.

The Ukrainian president accused Russia of committing a "genocide" in the eastern Donbass;

Where the city of Severodonetsk is exposed to a torrent of bombs.

"The attack of the current occupiers in Donbass may make the region depopulated," Zelensky said in a televised speech on Thursday evening, accusing the Russians of seeking to turn Severodonetsk and other cities in the region to ashes.