Putin deploys nuclear weapons to Belarus

A woman cries as she carries her child, leaving the scene of a Russian rocket attack that ruined her house in Stari Petrivtsi close to Kyiv, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. [AP Photo]

The European Commission will propose additional funding to support Ukraine in the coming years. This year, the EU is providing $19.8 billion but aims at a longer-term solution to provide Kyiv with financing certainty as it repels Russia's invasion.

"The EU is ready to provide Ukraine with sustainable and predictable financial support beyond 2023 to maintain both macro financial stability and support reconstruction," European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said Friday.

African delegation

Air defense sirens blared Friday in Kyiv as a delegation of African heads of state met with government leaders in hopes of brokering a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko posted on social media that there was an explosion in the central Podil district. "Missiles are still flying towards Kyiv," he said on Telegram.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is part of the African delegation set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the first step in its mission to broker a peace deal.

The other members of the delegation are Senegalese President Macky Sall, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema and Comoros President Azali Assoumani, who currently leads the African Union.

African presidents from Congo, Egypt and Uganda also were set to participate in the peace mission but instead sent their representatives.

The group was expected to meet with Zelenskyy on Friday and then travel to Russia to meet with Putin.

Reuters reported that it had seen a draft of the peace proposals and negotiation points the African peace mission crafted, which include a Russian troop pullback and suspension of the implementation of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Putin.