The live blog is now closed, thank you for joining us. Here are the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war from Sunday, April 2:
The live blog is now closed, thank you for joining us. Here are the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war from Sunday, April 2:
- The US State Department says Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, in a rare phone call since the start of the Ukraine war, to immediately release detained Americans.
- The chief of Ukraine’s army says the country will continue to fight for its independence, a year after bodies of civilians were found in Bucha after Russian troops retreated.
- The European Union will guard against any abuse during Russia’s presidency of the United Nations Security Council during the month of April, the bloc’s foreign policy chief said.
- United States basketball star Brittney Griner, released from a Russian penal colony in a prisoner exchange last year, has urged the White House to keep using “every tool possible” to win the release of US reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was accused of spying in Russia.
- Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany has criticised former high-ranking politicians in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the country’s labour movement for issuing an appeal for peace talks with Russia.