President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for expanding international sanctions against Russia for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine as Kyiv battles against Moscow's more numerous and better armed forces.
Zelenskiy made the call on April 25 as he met in Kyiv with British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt, with whom he discussed the situation in Ukraine and the need for increased restrictive measures against Russia that are more difficult to avoid.
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"We paid special attention to the sanctions policy," Zelenskiy said on X, formerly Twitter.
"It is important to extend restrictive measures against Russia and make the circumvention of sanctions impossible," he added.
Zelenskiy also thanked Britain for a fresh military-aid package announced earlier in the week by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The $622 million package -- Britain's largest-ever -- was announced by Sunak during a visit to Poland on April 23 and brought the total amount of military aid that London has pledged to Ukraine this financial year to $3.71 billion.
Britain, one of Ukraine's staunchest allies, also said it would send its largest-ever single package of military equipment to Ukraine.
"I thank the people, the Government, the Prime Minister, and the Parliament of the United Kingdom for their support of Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion. We highly value our countries’ partnership," Zelenskiy wrote on X.
Hunt also met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, with whom he discussed in particular the contents of the upcoming military package, which is to include air defense systems for Ukraine's battered cities, and the delivery of energy equipment.
"I thanked the U.K for its leadership and constant support for Ukraine, especially for financial and military assistance and sanctions against the Russian Federation. We also discussed Ukraine's energy equipment needs," Shmyhal wrote on X.
Hunt's visit came shortly after U.S. President Joe Biden signed a long-delayed $61 billion military-aid package that was passed by the Senate on April 24.
Biden said that the desperately needed aid, including more air defense systems, would begin flowing again to Ukraine in the following hours.
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Ukraine Welcomes Long-Delayed U.S. Military Aid, Vows To Make Up For Lost Time
In Ukraine, several civilians were wounded and infrastructure was damaged by Russian shelling on April 25 of several Ukrainian regions.
Six people were injured in the Cherkasy region, said regional administration head Ihor Taburets, who added that critical infrastructure was damaged, without elaborating.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, three rounds of shelling damaged critical energy infrastructure and a gas pipeline but caused no casualties, regional head Serhiy Lysak said.
Four people were wounded in the Donetsk and three in th Kherson regions, regional heads Vadym Filashkin and Oleksandr Prokudin said.
Damage was also reported in the Zaporizhzhya region.