Ukraine-Russia war – latest: Fighting continues in Bakhmut as Lavrov laughed at

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said she was “hopeful” that negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union could start later this year.

Ms Metsola made the statement during her visit to the Ukrainian city of Lviv on Saturday, where she also met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

She added: “The future of Ukraine lies in the European Union.”

After the meeting, Mr. Zelensky thanked Ms. Metsola on social media.

He also said: “Ukraine aims to complete the implementation of the recommendations of the European Commission as soon as possible and to start negotiations for EU accession as early as this year.”

Ukraine first became a formal candidate for EU membership in June 2022, four months after Russia’s initial invasion.

However, joining the EU can take years. In principle, the accession of a new state must be supported by every current member. Some EU members are skeptical about how quickly Ukraine can recover from the war and adopt the necessary reforms for accession.

German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall is in talks with the Ukrainian government about building a tank plant in Ukraine.

The plant would cost around 200 million euros and could produce up to 400 Panther main battle tanks a year, according to reports in the German magazine The mirror.

The Panther is a cutting-edge new tank model currently under development, based on the Leopard 2 models currently being sent to Ukraine. These tanks could offer a significant advantage over the Soviet-era tanks that Russia and Ukraine currently rely on.

“Ukraine needs 600 to 800 tanks to win,” said Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall.

“Even if Germany were to give up all 300 Leopard 2 tanks available to the Bundeswehr, that would still be far too few.”

Mr Papperger said negotiations with the Ukrainian government were going well and hopefully a decision could be reached within the next two months.

According to estimates by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on March 4, the number of Russian troops killed was 152,190.

That number is 820 deaths higher than the March 3 estimate for Russia’s casualties as Russia’s bloody offensive in eastern Ukraine continues. The Ukrainian Armed Forces publish daily updated Russian casualty estimates.

They also estimate that Russia has lost 3,409 tanks, 302 planes and 289 helicopters so far.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has released a statement saying she is “proud” of the agreement to set up the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression in The Hague.

The center serves to prosecute war crimes committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In a video statement, Frau von der Leyen spoke about how she had visited Bucha, where some of the first evidence of Russian war crimes was found.

“Russia must pay for its crimes,” she said.

She added: “We must do everything in our power to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defense minister, visited the front lines in eastern Ukraine to conduct an inspection.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Mr Shoigu “inspected a command post at the front […]Direction South Donetsk.” No exact time or place was given.

A video released by the ministry showed Shoigu traveling in a helicopter, presenting medals to Russian soldiers and touring a devastated city with a senior officer.

NATO and other western countries should step up and speed up their arms shipments and other support to Ukraine, said General Sir Richard Shirreff, former NATO deputy supreme commander for Europe.

“What we have seen from the West and from the NATO countries is a kind of supplementary supply,” Sir Richard said in a speech on BBC Radio 4.

He added: “Had they had the stuff they need months ago, we probably wouldn’t be where we are now. Therefore, it is imperative to expedite supply, integration, logistical support, training and all the other things that need to be done to give Ukrainians the tools they need to do their jobs.”

Speaking of the ongoing attack on Bakhmut, he said that any Russian victory there would be “pyrrhic”.

“The Ukrainians have arguably achieved a strategic success so far by forcing the Russians to expend vast amounts of manpower and equipment.”

Bakhmut’s deputy mayor has confirmed that the battle for Bakhmut has entered a critical phase, with Russian forces increasing pressure on the city.

“There is fighting in the city and there are also street fights, but thanks to Ukrainian forces they still haven’t taken control of the city,” said Oleksandr Marchenko when interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

According to him, the city was almost completely destroyed by the war, not a single building remained untouched.

“Currently there is no communication in the city, so it is cut off. The bridges are destroyed. The tactic the Russians are using is the parched land tactic. They want to destroy Bakhmut like they did Mariupol.”

Nevertheless, the mayor announced that about 4,000 to 4,500 Ukrainian civilians are still said to be living in Bakhmut. The remaining residents are now living in emergency shelters “without gas and electricity”. However, they have been given heaters to survive the cruel winter cold in Ukraine.

Commenting on the Russian attack, Mr. Marchenko said: “The Russians are shooting at everything. They have no goal to save the city. Their only goal is to kill people and genocide the Ukrainian people.”

He added: “They want to destroy Bakhmut, they want to destroy the city.”

“I honestly can’t understand why they’re doing this.”

In its Saturday morning intelligence update, Britain’s MoD said Bakhmut was “under increasingly intense pressure”.

It said: “Ukrainian defenses of the Donbass town of Bakhmut are under increasing pressure, with intense fighting taking place in and around the town.

“Regular troops from the Russian Army and the Wagner Group have continued to advance into the northern suburbs of the city, which is now a Ukrainian-held salient vulnerable to Russian attack from three sides.

“Ukraine is fortifying the area with elite forces and within the last 36 hours two key bridges in Bakhmut have been destroyed, including a vital bridge connecting the city to the last main supply route from Bakhmut to the city of Khasiv Yar.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with US Attorney General Merrick Garland and senior European judicial officials on Friday and called on Russia to face international prosecution for war crimes.

Mr Zelensky announced the meetings in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, hundreds of kilometers from the war front, during his evening video address to the nation.

“We are doing everything to ensure that the International Criminal Court is successful in punishing Russian war criminals,” said Zelenskyy.

Russian artillery hammers the last routes out of Bakhmut to completely encircle the Ukrainian city.

Russian shelling of routes leading west from Bakhmut was blocked by the Reuters news agency. A bridge in the neighboring town of Chromove was damaged by Russian tank fire.

Ukrainian soldiers worked to repair damaged roads and more troops marched towards the front lines, a sign that Ukraine was not yet ready to abandon the city. In the west, the Ukrainians dug new trenches for defensive positions.