The Ukrainian leadership hopes that the upcoming meeting in the so-called Ramstein format will provide further support in the fight against the Russian aggressors. The monthly consultations of Ukraine's supporters, named after the US base in Rhineland-Palatinate, are about military and civilian support for the country attacked by Russia. According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian leadership is preparing for the next meeting and is currently clarifying its needs for weapons and ammunition, especially for heavy artillery.

"I have had preparatory talks," Zelenskyy said on Monday in his nightly video address after consulting with the commanders of his forces. "And we expect solid decisions that do justice to the prospects on the battlefield." In addition to the supply of ammunition, he also discussed with the generals production possibilities by state and private companies.

The format, named after the location of the first meeting in Ramstein, will be continued in Rhineland-Palatinate on April 21 after meetings at various locations in recent months.

The Ukrainian armed forces fended off dozens of attacks by Russian troops in the east of the country on Monday, according to their own statement. In its daily situation report, the General Staff in Kiev once again cited the cities of Bakhmut and Maryinka as the "epicenter of hostilities". There, in the course of the day, around 50 attacks from five different directions were repulsed "with high losses from the enemy". The information could not be independently verified.

Russian troops and "Wagner" army are fighting together

In the battle for the already largely destroyed but symbolic city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, Russian troops and the private army "Wagner" are now taking more coordinated action against the Ukrainian defenders. Russian storming units, including paratroopers, have captured two neighborhoods in the northwest and center of Bakhmut, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

The head of the "Wagner" group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, confirmed the joint approach. According to them, the regular troops protect the flanks of the private army in the fight against the Ukrainian armed forces. Prigozhin had recently repeatedly criticized that the Russian Ministry of Defense was doing too little to take Bakhmut. Above all, the confidant of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin had complained about a lack of ammunition.

On the Ukrainian side, it was recently confirmed that Russian fighters have advanced into the center of Bakhmut. According to Russian figures, around 80 percent of the city, which had around 70,000 inhabitants before the war, has been captured. Ukraine, in spite of everything, does not want to give up Bakhmut.

Apologies to Turkey

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov apologized to Turkey for comparing Ukraine's war losses to Turkish earthquake victims. "Ukraine has sympathy with the Turkish people," Reznikov said on Twitter on Monday.

Earlier, he told the Spanish newspaper "La Razón" that the losses of the Ukrainian army were below the death toll of the earthquake disaster in Turkey just over two months ago. He could not give more concrete information due to the secrecy. More than 50,000 people died in the earthquake at the beginning of February in Turkey alone, and there were also many deaths in neighboring Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister thanks Brazil

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov thanked Brazil for its support in the conflict with Ukraine and held out the prospect of an imminent end if Moscow's demands were to be met. "We are, of course, interested in the Ukraine conflict ending as soon as possible," Lavrov, who was on a visit to the capital Brasília on Monday, was quoted as saying by the Russian state agency Tass. By a quick end to the war, Russia understands the recognition of the conquered parts of Ukraine as Russian territory.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauricio Vieira reiterated his country's interest in a peaceful solution and criticized sanctions against Russia. Brazil, as one of the world's leading agricultural producers, depends on fertilizers from Russia.

EU criticism of import bans on Ukrainian grain

The EU Commission is critical of import bans imposed by Hungary, Poland and Slovakia on grain from Ukraine. A spokeswoman for the Brussels authority stressed on Monday that trade policy falls within the exclusive competence of the EU and therefore unilaterally taken measures are unacceptable. In difficult times, it is important to coordinate all decisions within the EU.

Farmers in several eastern EU countries are facing disproportionate competition from the duty-free import of large quantities of Ukrainian grain made possible in the wake of the war. The Slovak government justified the import ban by saying that cheaper products from Ukraine would destabilize the market of neighboring EU countries.