Ukraine-Russia war latest: Ukraine peace summit kicks off - but key politicians absent; US pledges $1.5bn in aid (2024)

While the peace summit begins in Switzerland, Russian shelling continues in Ukraine.

Another three people have been killed in an attack on the village of Ulakly in the eastern Donetsk region, its local governor has said.

Vadym Filashkin accused Russia of using cluster munitions, adding five people have been wounded.

Mr Filashkin said administrative buildings,a home, a shop and eight cars were damaged.

Sky News cannot independently verify these battlefield reports.

While Kyiv may have been disappointed by the US president's absence at today's peace summit, vice president Kamala Harris' announcement may smooth over any misgivings.

She has announced more than $1.5bn in aid, including Ukraine's energy sector and humanitarian crises resulting from Russia's invasion.

The funding includes:

• $500m forenergy assistance
• $324m for emergency energyinfrastructure repair
• $379m for refugees and other people impacted by the war, such as food, health services, water and sanitation.

"These efforts will help Ukraine respond to Russia's latestattacks on Ukraine energy infrastructure by supporting repairand recovery, improving Ukraine's resilience to energy supplydisruptions, and laying the groundwork to repair and expandUkraine's energy system," Ms Harris' office said.

By Dominic Waghorn, international affairs editor

It has been another bad week for Vladimir Putin.

He started his war in Ukraine to limit Western expansion, he says.

It is accelerating apace entirely because of his aggression.

In direct response to his unprovoked invasion, Ukraine has been able to sign a ten year security pact with America this week, a bridge to its eventual membership of NATO, even if that is still a very very long way away.

And Putin has been powerless to stop the West taking $300bn-worth of frozen Russian assets and use the interest to wire $50bn-worth of aid to Ukraine.

That has got to sting.

EU accession talks for Ukraine will also begin before the end of the month.

For all their mounting domestic challenges, Putin's enemies are keeping up the pressure, moving from the Adriatic coast to the Swiss mountains this weekend to continue diplomatic efforts against his aggression.

Ukraine has called a "peace summit" in Lucerne. It may be disappointed at the turnout.

Only 90 of the 160 nations invited are expected, most of them European nations.

Many nations from the so-called global south are either not coming or sending lower level delegations than Kyiv had hoped.

They are maintaining neutrality, some persuaded by Russia's false narrative, but many just view the far-away conflict as a way of making money, seduced by cheap Russian hydrocarbons or diplomatic bribes being handed out by Moscow.

China says it "hardly able to take part in the meeting" unless Russia was included on an equal footing.

Beijing is also benefiting handsomely from this conflict reaping a bonanza in cut-price Russia oil and exploiting the unequal relationship with relish.

But the support has arguably exposed forever as a sham one of the fundamental tenets of Chinese foreign policy - that interference in the sovereign affairs of another country, let alone unprovoked invasions, should never be tolerated.

For the West, the prelude to this peace summit has been mixed.

The diplomacy at the G7 in Bari packed a punch and creatively overcame differences particularly over the deal to leverage frozen Russia assets.

But the allies seemed distracted and fractious. Far-right forces no doubt helped by Russian online meddling are coming for them back home.

There is mounting concern about both the increasingly likely return of Trump and Macron's decision to bet the house in a bold if not reckless bid to save the French Republic.

Putin's recent military gains in Ukraine appear to have been slowed. He has the numbers when it comes to shells and men. But in terms of quality, the West has an unbeatable edge, if it has the unity and the will to exploit it.

That remains an open question two and a half years into this war and the current political outlook for each of its leaders is hardly encouraging.

More than 90 countries are taking part in today's peace summit, but the US will not be represented by Joe Biden, who is holding an election fundraiser in Los Angeles.

Instead, vice president Kamala Harris is in attendance - riling Kyiv - with Saudi Arabia and India dispatched lower level delegations.

China is staying away after Russia was frozen out of proceedings.

Nonetheless, Volodymyr Zelenskyy hopes to make a series of agreements that could form part of a peace-making process.

The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Canada and Japan are among those due to attend.

Broader concerns such as food and nuclear security are expected to be part of the talks.

European officials privately concede that without support from Moscow's main allies, the summit's impact will be limited.

"What can [Mr Zelenskyy] hope for out of it?" said Daniel Woker, a former Swiss ambassador.

"Another small step forward in international solidarity with Ukraine."

German chancellor Olaf Scholz told Welt TV: "Many questions of peace and security will be discussed, but not the very biggest. That was always the plan.

"This is a small plant that needs to be watered, but of course also with the perspective that more can then come out of iit."

Neutral Switzerland, which took on the summit at Mr Zelenskyy's behest, wants to pave the way for a future peace process that includes Russia.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

World leaders are gathering in Switzerland today for the Ukraine peace summit,which Volodymyr Zelenskyy hopes will lay the groundwork for a peace process in his country.

World leaders including Rishi Sunak, French president Emmanuel Macron and US vice president Kamala Harris are among those taking part.

Russia is not invited and has said the event is meaningless without its inclusion, while some countries, including China, chose not to accept their invitations.

The Ukrainian president said the summit would involve "two days of active work with countries fromall parts of the world, with different nations that arenonetheless united by a common goal".

Before we kick off our live updates, here's a reminder of the main news from the past day:

• On the eve of the Ukraine peace summit, Vladimir Putin pledged to end the war in Ukraine if Kyivagreed to drop its NATO ambitions and hand over the entirety offour regions Moscow claims to have annexed;
• In the same briefing, the Russian president said the "selfishness and hypocrisy of Western countries" has led to a "dangerous turn of events", with Moscow "close to a point of no return";
• Mr Zelenskyy responded to Mr Putin's peace proposal by drawing parallels to Adolf Hitler in the lead up to the Second World War and saying the Russian leader's words couldn't be trusted;
  
• Meanwhile, prosecutors at theInternational Criminal Court said they were probing allegedRussian cyberattacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure aspossible war crimes.
  

That brings an end to our coverage of the Ukraine war for this evening.

Scroll through the blog below to catch up on the day's developments.

EU ambassadors have agreed to formally begin accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova later this month.

The Belgian EU presidency said talks would start on 25 June.

According to the presidency, the decision should be given the nod by finance and economy ministers at a meeting next Friday.

The European Council decided to open accession negotiations with Ukraine in December last year.

Last week, the EU said both countries had met the criteria needed to start formal discussions, with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal revealing his hope that talks would start this month.

Hot off the heels of his appearance at the G7 leaders' meeting in Italy, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in Switzerland for the Ukraine peace summit aimed at exploring ways of ending the war in his country.

World leaders including Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and US vice president Kamala Harris are set to join Mr Zelenskyy at the summit.

But it's expected to fall short of its aim to isolate Moscow, with China among a group of countries choosing not to attend.

G7 nations have reaffirmed their commitment to support Ukraine "for as long as it takes".

A final statement from the summit in Italy saw leaders affirm their plan to finance a $50bn loan for Kyiv using "extraordinary revenues" from frozen Russian assets.

They said the move sends an "unmistakable signal" to Vladimir Putin as the war rages on.

Volodydmyr Zelenskyy called the decision a" vital step forward in providing sustainable support for Ukraine in winning this war".

Mr Putin, meanwhile, has condemned the freezing of Russian assets as "theft" and has vowed it "will not go unpunished".

According to US and French officials, the money could be in Kyiv's hands before the end of the year.

Ukraine has attacked Russia's border region of Belogorod, killing five people, according to Russian officials.

Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said two bodies were pulled from the rubble of an apartment block in Shebekino.

News agencies cited emergency services as saying a third body was later found, after the alleged shelling caused a stairwell to collapse.

Reports also said a driver was killed when a drone hit their car in a nearby village, while a woman was reportedly killed in her home as it was hit by rocket fire in the village of Oktyabrsky.

Sky News cannot independently verify the reports.