Latest developments:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Sweden has taken steps “in the right direction” to address Turkey’s concerns in order to earn support for Sweden’s entry into NATO.  But Erdogan said public demonstrations by an organization Turkey considers a terrorist group “nullifies the steps taken.”
International Atomic Energy Agency calls for inspectors to be able to access the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant amid dueling accusations from Ukraine and Russia that the opposing side planned to attack the plant. 

 

Ukrainian officials reported a Russian rocket attack early Thursday in the western city of Lviv.

Regional governor Maksym Kozytskiy said on Telegram the rocket hit an apartment building and that there were casualties.

Lviv is located near Ukraine’s border with Poland, far from the front line areas in eastern and southern Ukraine that have been the focus of much of the recent fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces.

In an interview with CNN broadcast Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he wanted to launch a counteroffensive earlier, but that the timing was dependent on getting military aid from Ukraine’s U.S. and European partners.

Ukraine began the counteroffensive last month, aiming to reclaim territory occupied by Russia since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.

Ukrainian officials have sought ammunition and more advanced weapons, including air defense systems and fighter jets, in order to match up with Russia’s military capabilities.

“I wanted our counteroffensive to happen much earlier, because everyone understood that if the counteroffensive unfolds later, then a bigger part of our territory will be mined,” Zelenskyy told CNN.  “We give our enemy the time and possibility to place more mines and prepare their defensive lines.”

He reiterated his case for Ukraine to receive F-16 fighter jets, saying having the planes is not about gaining an aerial advantage, but rather “being equal” to Russia’s forces.

Denmark said last week that training for Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s had begun.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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