Live: Ukraine rejects concessions Russia continues offensive in east and south

05:10am: City of Mariupol left in ruins

After weeks of siege and strikes much of Mariupol, a Ukrainian city on the coast of the Sea of Azov, has been reduced to a wasteland.

Hundreds of thousands of the city’s residents fled for their lives. Those who stayed fear for their future. 

Residents of Ukrainian city of Mariupol face uncertain future

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5:00am: Russian soldiers start clearing mines from Ukraine’s Azovstal

Russian soldiers cleared mines and debris on the industrial grounds of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol on Sunday after hundreds of Ukrainian forces holed up in the vast plant for weeks were ordered to stand down.

Soldiers walked through the compound and swung mine detectors over roads littered with debris, while others checked under objects for the explosive devices, video footage showed.

“The task is huge, the enemy planted their own landmines, we had also planted anti-personnel mines while blocking the enemy. So we’ve got some two weeks of work ahead of us,” said a Russian soldier who only gave his nom de guerre Babai.

Russia on Friday said the last Ukrainian fighters defending Azovstal had surrendered. Ukraine has not confirmed that development, but a commander of one of the units in the factory said in a video that the troops had been ordered to stand down. 

9:13pm: Polish President Andrzej Duda pledges full support for Ukraine’s EU membership bid

Polish President Andrzej Duda on Sunday pledged full support for Ukraine’s EU membership bid, saying those who “shed their blood” for Europe must be respected, “even if the situation is complicated, even if there are doubts”.

“I have no doubt that the European Union will make such a gesture,” he added, saying the European Council’s decision on Ukraine’s candidate status on June 24 would be “extremely important, above all psychologically and politically”.

Addressing the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv, Duda said he would continue his efforts as long as Ukraine remained outside the bloc and that a successful membership bid would be thanks to Warsaw.

6:10pm: Senegalese President Macky Sall says he will visit Moscow and Kyiv in coming weeks

Senegalese President Macky Sall said he would visit Moscow and Kyiv in the coming weeks in his capacity as chairman of the African Union, which he said wanted to see de-escalation in Ukraine and peace reached through dialogue between the two sides.

Speaking at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Sall said: “We do not want to be aligned on this conflict, very clearly, we want peace. Even though we condemn the invasion, we’re working for a de-escalation, we’re working for a ceasefire, for dialogue … that is the African position.”

5:30pm: French President Emmanuel Macron calls on WHO members to condemn Russian aggression

French President Emmanuel Macron asked the member countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) to support a resolution condemning Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, and “reaffirmed the full solidarity of France and the European Union with Ukraine”.

This text is expected to be adopted on Tuesday. Although it strongly condemns Russia, it does not “in any way provide for (its) expulsion”, said a Western diplomat, recalling that the WHO can only impose “very weak” sanctions on a member country.

4:30pm: Zelensky promises reciprocal rights for Poles in Ukraine

Polish citizens in Ukraine will be granted the same rights that Ukrainian refugees in Poland are currently receiving, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda on Sunday during his visit to Kyiv.

Poland has granted over 3 million Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the right to live and work, and claim social security payments.

Earlier on Sunday, a Ukrainian ruling party lawmaker said that Zelensky had announced the imminent tabling of a parliamentary bill that would give Polish citizens “special legal status” in Ukraine.

3:26pm: France’s Europe minister says Ukraine’s bid to join the EU would take ’15 or 20 years’ 

Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union would not be finalised for “15 or 20 years,” France’s Europe minister said Sunday, dashing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hopes for a quick entry in the wake of Russia’s invasion of his country.

“We have to be honest. If you say Ukraine is going to join the EU in six months, or a year or two, you’re lying,” Clement Beaune told Radio J. “It’s probably in 15 or 20 years, it takes a long time.”

3:01pm: Ukraine extends martial law through August 23

Ukraine on Sunday extended martial law for three months through to August 23 as the war with Russia continues.

President Volodymyr Zelensky first signed the decree along with a general military mobilisation call on February 24 when Russian forces invaded.

Ukraine’s parliament on Sunday voted by an absolute majority for the decree to be extended a third time as Russia pursues its offensive targeting the eastern Donbas region.

FRANCE 24’s Cyril Payen reports. 

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1:26pm: Ukraine must decide its own future, says Poland’s president

Only Ukraine has the right to decide its future, Polish President Andrzej Duda told lawmakers in Kyiv on Sunday as he became the first foreign leader to give a speech in person to the Ukrainian parliament since Russia’s February 24 invasion.

Kyiv has ruled out any peace deal that would involve it ceding territory and has dismissed calls for a ceasefire that would involve Russian forces remaining in territory they have occupied, saying this would simply give Moscow time to rebuild its forces.

“Worrying voices have appeared, saying that Ukraine should give in to Putin’s demands,” Duda said. “Only Ukraine has the right to decide about its future… nothing about you without you,” he added, to a standing ovation in the chamber.

Duda said that the international community must demand that Russia completely withdraw from Ukrainian territory.

“If Ukraine is sacrificed for… economic reasons or political ambitions — even a centimetre of its territory — it will be a huge blow not only for the Ukrainian nation, but for the entire Western world,” Duda said.

FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg reports. 

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(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)