TOP HEADLINES

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a visit to the Czech Republic on Friday that Kyiv needed long-range weapons to fight Russian forces in his country. READ MORE BELOW

• European Union countries are discussing ways to use frozen Russian assets to help in Ukraine's reconstruction, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Friday.

• In South Donetsk, 2 Ukraine attacks have been repelled by Russian artillery and heavy flamethrower systems, the Kremlin reported.

• Ukraine has submitted its request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership to the trade pact's depositary country New Zealand, Japan's economy minister Shigeyuki Goto said.

• In Russian-controlled territory rescuers discovered five more bodies in the flood zone caused by the collapse of the Kakhovka dam, local emergency services reported. It take the death-toll on the Russian side to 53.

• The EU will devote 500 million euros to boosting the production of ammunition for Ukraine and to replenish the stocks of EU member countries, it announced on Friday.

• The presidents of Ukraine and Turkey will discuss the potential extension of the Black Sea grain deal and a possible prisoner exchange between Moscow and Kyiv, a senior Turkish official said ahead of the talks.

• Ukrainian troops have advanced by more than a kilometre in the last day against Russian forces near the eastern city of Bakhmut, a military spokesperson said on Friday.

IN DEPTH

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a visit to the Czechia on Friday that Kyiv needed long-range weapons form the U.S. to fight Russian forces.

"Without long-range weapons it is difficult not only to carry out an offensive mission but also to conduct a defensive operation," he told a joint press conference with Czechia Prime Minister Petr Fiala.

"First of all, we are talking about long-range systems with the United States and it depends only on them today."

Zelenskyy was visiting Prague as part of a foreign tour before a NATO summit next week at which he has urged the military alliance to take concrete steps towards Ukrainian membership.

He also called in Prague for accession talks to start this year with the European Union.

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