(Bloomberg) --

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a previously unannounced visit to Kyiv. About 20 civilians were evacuated Saturday from the giant Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the besieged port city that’s suffered a weeks-long Russian assault. 

Zelenskiy said Saturday night that Moscow is stepping up attacks in the east of the country, and addressed the forces in Russian, urging them not to fight.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Zelenskiy he was “more committed than ever to reinforcing Ukraine and ensuring Putin fails.” Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken briefed Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on the administration’s request to Congress for an additional $33 billion in aid. 

(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)

Key Developments

  • EU to Propose Phasing Out Russian Oil by End of Year
  • Putin’s War Brings Risks to Moldova and its Pro-Moscow Enclave
  • Biden Seeks to Lure Putin’s Top Scientists to U.S. 
  • Putin’s Gas-for-Rubles Gambit Hits EU Fault Lines as Stakes Rise
  • China Calls Russia Relationship a ‘New Model’ for the World
  • Green Fix to Replace Russian Gas Is Stymied by Europe’s Red Tape

All times CET: 

Ruble Becomes Currency in Occupied Kherson (9:17 a.m.)

Russia on Sunday replaced Ukraine’s hryvnia with the ruble as official currency in Kherson, the state news agency RIA Novosti reported, as Moscow looks to extend control over the occupied southern city. 

Ukraine’s state communication service said Russia on Sunday cut off mobile communication and internet services provided by Ukrainian operators in the Kherson region. Russian media said Kyiv was responsible for the service disruption. 

Since seizing Kherson in early March, Moscow “has sought to legitimize its control of the city and surrounding areas through installing a pro-Russian administration,” the U.K. defense ministry said in an intelligence update. Recent actions “are likely indicative of Russian intent to exert strong political and economic influence in Kherson over the long term.” 

Pelosi Meets With Zelenskiy in Kyiv (8:22 a.m.) 

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met Ukraine’s president in a previously unannounced visit to Kyiv, becoming the highest-ranked American official to travel to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24. 

Zelenskiy showed footage of the visit on his Ukrainian-language Twitter account early Sunday. “Thank you for helping to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state!” he tweeted.  

The footage showed Zelenskiy shaking hands with Pelosi and other U.S. lawmakers, including Democrats Adam Schiff of California, Jason Crow of Colorado and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts. “Our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done,” Pelosi said in the video. 

Zelenskiy Urges Russian Troops to Leave Ukraine (12:00 a.m.)

Switching to Russian in his nightly video address, Zelenskiy urged Russian soldiers not to fight and instead leave his country. “Every Russian soldier can still save his own life,” he said. “It’s better for you to survive in Russia than to perish on our land.” 

The president said Moscow was “accumulating additional forces,” albeit “with little motivation and little combat experience,” for fresh attacks in the east. “They built up reinforcements in the Kharkiv region, trying to increase pressure in Donbas,” he said.

20 Civilians Evacuated From Steel Plant, Military Says (7:26 p.m.)

Some 20 women and children were evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol on Saturday, according to Ukraine’s military.

In a video address on Telegram, the deputy commander of the Azov regiment, Sviatoslav Palamar, said he hoped the civilians would be transferred to Ukraine-controlled territory in Zaporizhzhya.

Earlier, the Tass news agency reported that about 25 civilians, including six children, had left the plant in what would mark the first significant evacuation from the giant industrial facility, the last pocket of resistance in Mariupol.

The United Nations has been trying to broker civilian evacuations in the port city. An estimated 2,000 Ukrainian military and 1,000 civilians, mostly women and children, remain holed up in Azovstal, which is surrounded by Russian forces and has been under heavy bombardment. 

Russian Air Strikes Target Odesa Airport (5:45 p.m.)

Multiple explosions were heard around Ukraine’s major Black Sea city of Odesa early Saturday evening, CNN reported, citing witnesses. The Ukraine military’s southern operational command said on its Telegram account that the runway at the city’s airport had been damaged.  

Ukraine Red Cross Says Office in Donetsk Was Bombed (4:27 p.m.)

The office bombed in Dobropillya was the relief agency’s eighth damaged or destroyed since the Russian invasion started Feb. 24, the Ukrainian Red Cross said on Twitter. 

Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram that seven people including a child had been injured in the shelling of residential buildings.   

Ukraine Seeks China’s Help to Stop War: Xinhua (4:20 p.m.)

In an interview with China’s official Xinhua News Agency, Kuleba asked China to pressure Russia into making a truce. Kuleba said he believed the war wasn’t in China’s interests and asked Beijing to become one of the guarantors of Ukraine’s security.

EU to Propose Banning Russian Oil by Year-End (2:03 p.m.) 

The EU is set to propose that Russian oil be banned by the end of the year, with restrictions on imports introduced gradually until then, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The EU will also push for more banks from Russia and Belarus, including Sberbank PJSC, to be cut off from SWIFT, the international payment system, said the people. 

A decision on the new sanctions, the EU’s sixth round of measures against Russia, could be made as soon as the coming week at a meeting of the bloc’s ambassadors.  

Macron, Zelenskiy Speak For an Hour (1:52 p.m)

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone with his Ukrainian counterpart on Saturday, according to the French leader’s office. 

Macron renewed his commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to the readout. He said that France will strengthen its support for Ukraine in military equipment and humanitarian aid.

Zelenskiy, on Twitter, said the pair discussed Ukraine’s path to EU membership and the investigation of war crimes.  

Russia Says It Will Quit Space Station (12:17 p.m.)

The head of Russia’s space program said Moscow has decided to pull out of the International Space Station, state media reported, a move it’s blamed on sanctions imposed over the invasion.

“We’ll inform our partners about the end of our work on the ISS with a year’s notice,” Roscosmos general director Dmitry Rogozin said on state television, TASS and RIA Novosti reported.

Rogozin had already threatened to end Russia’s ISS mission unless the U.S., Europe and Canada lifted restrictions against enterprises involved in the Russian space industry.

 

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