(Bloomberg) -- A top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejected the idea that Kyiv must recognize “new territorial realities” as a pathway to potential peace with Russia. Andriy Yermak was responding to comments by Mikhail Galuzin, Russian deputy foreign minister, who also told Tass that Ukraine should give up its hopes of joining NATO and the European Union, recognize Russian as a state language, and stop taking weapons donations from the West. 

With attention focused on Ukraine’s potential counteroffensive, army commander in chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi posted a video on social media proclaiming that “the time has come to reclaim what is ours.” The bid to retake occupied territory is “ready to begin” and could start “tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or in a week,” said Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, told the BBC. “We must get to the day when we can say that we are ending this war with our victory,” Zelenskiy said on Telegram. 

Ukraine’s military intelligence claimed, without offering evidence, that Russia plans “large scale provocations” around the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Hundreds of German government employees based in Russia will be expelled in the latest round of diplomatic tensions between the two former major trading partners. Zelenskiy signed a decree to impose sanctions on 220 Russian and Belarusian entities as well as 51 individuals.   

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Coming Up 

  • NATO foreign ministers meet in Oslo from Wednesday
  • UN nuclear watchdog expected to brief Security Council on the Zaporizhzhia atomic plant on Tuesday

Markets 

Oil rose Friday and posted a modest weekly gain. Supply dynamics remain in focus, with Saudi Arabia and Russia having offered conflicting statements this week on the potential for more production cuts from OPEC and its allies. 

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