News on the war between Ukraine and Russia: Kyiv launches major drone attack on Crimea as Zelensky’s foreign minister arrives in China

Due to Hungary’s controversial stance on the war in Ukraine and its close relations with Russia, the European Union has denied Hungary the right to host the next meeting of foreign and defense ministers.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the decision was a consequence of Hungary’s actions and “we must send a signal, even if it is a symbolic signal.”

Hungary has taken over the presidency of the Council of the European Union. Normally, Hungary would host the informal meeting of foreign and defense ministers from August 28 to 30. Hungary has condemned the move as “completely childish.”

Hungary’s dissenting stance on the war in Ukraine has angered its European partners. Right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this month.

Mr Orban called it a “peace meeting” and said Hungary had taken “the first step towards restoring dialogue” with Russia. He also accused the EU of pursuing a “pro-war policy”.

Mr Borrell told reporters: “If you want to talk about the warring party, talk about Putin. I can say that all member states – with one exception – are very critical of this behaviour. I think it was … appropriate to show this feeling and to convene the next meetings of the Foreign and Defence Council in Brussels.”

As part of a Czech-led initiative to purchase ammunition from around the world for Ukraine, 100,000 rounds of ammunition will be delivered to the country in July and August, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said on Monday.

The Czech Republic actively supported Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression and took the lead in raising funds to supply more ammunition and grenades to Kyiv.

“In July and August we will ship a total of about 100 (thousand) more pieces. From September these deliveries will be accelerated,” Lipavsky told reporters in Brussels.

Russia claims its air defense systems at a port in Crimea destroyed more than 15 drones launched from Ukraine overnight.

The Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol said today that the Ukrainian attack on the city had been thwarted without loss of life or infrastructure.

“No objects were damaged in the city,” Mikhail Razvozhayev said on his Telegram channel.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will arrive in China today for talks to urge Russia’s closest ally to end the war.

Mr Kuleba’s visit is unusually long and will last from today until Friday, July 26. It comes at the invitation of the Communist Party of China and includes a meeting between Mr Kuleba and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning announced on Monday.

Despite its increasingly close “borderless” relations with Russia, China has presented itself as a neutral party. Beijing has not condemned the war, but has called for peace and presented itself as a mediator.

However, the US and Europe accuse China of supplying dual-use components and equipment that could help Russia in the war.

“This is the first bilateral visit to your country (China) in my capacity as Foreign Minister. We will discuss important issues such as restoring peace, deepening our bilateral dialogue and expanding trade and economic cooperation,” Kuleba said.

“We can achieve a lot if we work together.”

Ukraine’s top commander said on Monday that Russian forces were conducting relentless attacks to advance toward the city of Pokrovsk, a logistics hub in the east, and that active fighting was taking place along the entire front line.

“The enemy ignores its relatively high losses and continues to advance towards Pokrovsk,” Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a statement from the Eastern Front.

According to openly available intelligence battlefield maps, Pokrovsk is less than 24 kilometers from Russian-occupied territories. It is also located at a road and rail junction, making the city an important logistics hub for the military in the east.

“Active fighting of varying intensity is taking place along the entire front,” Syrskyi said, noting that Russian forces were also trying to capture floodplain islands near the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Channel X that he respected US President Biden’s “tough but strong decision” to withdraw from the election campaign and thanked him for his help “in preventing (Russian President Vladimir) Putin from occupying our country”.

In a post, he said: “Ukraine is grateful to President Biden for his unwavering support of the Ukrainian struggle for freedom, which has been and will continue to be critical, along with strong bipartisan support in the United States.”

“Many strong decisions have been made over the past few years, and they will be remembered as bold steps taken by President Biden in response to challenging times. And we respect today’s difficult but strong decision. We will always be grateful to President Biden for his leadership.

“He supported our country at the most dramatic moment in history, helped us prevent Putin’s occupation of our country, and continued to support us throughout this terrible war.

“The current situation in Ukraine and across Europe is no less challenging, and we sincerely hope that America’s continued strong leadership will prevent Russian evil from succeeding or its aggression from paying off.”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will visit China from July 23 to 26.

The Prime Minister is keen to maintain Britain’s position as one of Ukraine’s most vocal supporters in the world – a role that will become even more important as support from other powers begins to falter, writes Maria Dejevsky

Earlier, the country’s top commander said Russian forces were launching relentless attacks to advance toward the city of Pokrovsk, a logistics hub in eastern Ukraine, and that active fighting was taking place along the entire front line.

“The enemy ignores its relatively high losses and continues to advance towards Pokrovsk,” Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a statement from the Eastern Front.

The oil refinery in Tuapse was damaged in a night attack, officials in the Kaznodar region confirmed on Monday.

As part of a Czech-led initiative to purchase ammunition from around the world for Ukraine, 100,000 rounds of ammunition will be delivered to the country in July and August, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said on Monday.

The Czech Republic actively supported Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression and took the lead in raising funds to supply more ammunition and grenades to Kyiv.

“In July and August we will ship a total of about 100 (thousand) more pieces. From September onwards these deliveries will be accelerated,” Lipavsky told reporters in Brussels.