Russia-Ukraine war live: troops ‘stoutly holding’ Avdiivka against Russian encirclement

News Snapshot:

Ukraine’s energy ministry said that Russia had attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure with different weapons 60 times in recent weeks. The EU’s executive recommended that the bloc starts membership negotiations with Ukraine once it fulfils outstanding conditions. “The Commission recommends that the [EU] council opens accession negotiations with Ukraine,” the Brussels-based European Commission said . Military cooperation between Russia and China is becoming increasingly important, but the two countries do not intend to build a cold war-style military alliance, Vladimir Putin said as he hosted a top Chinese general . Leaders of the G7 group of countries have insisted that their...