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Week in Ukraine: NATO meets as Russia's war blows past 500 days

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a news conference ahead of a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Monday. Russia's war in Ukraine will top the agenda when NATO leaders meet in the Lithuanian capital on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mindaugas Kulbis
/
AP
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a news conference ahead of a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Monday. Russia's war in Ukraine will top the agenda when NATO leaders meet in the Lithuanian capital on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Here's a look ahead and a roundup of key developments from the past week.

What to watch

President Biden and NATO allies will gather for the alliance's summit in Lithuania starting Tuesday, and the war in Ukraine is due to dominate. Sweden's pending entry to NATO and a possible — or not — have also been big issues in the lead-up to the gathering.

A deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to enable Ukrainian grain and other farm goods to ship safely from Black Sea ports is due to expire next week, July 17. Russia has again of the deal if its own trade terms aren't met.

What happened

Russian President Vladimir Putin Yevgeny Prigozhin and other leadership from the Wagner Group mercenary force, the Kremlin said. They spoke just five days after Wagner's rebellion against Russia's defense leadership. It remains unclear what role Wagner could play in the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked the with Russia over the weekend, issuing a video filmed on Snake Island, where he honored the troops defending his country. He also announced five commanders of a renowned unit that fought in the city of Mariupol who had been captured would be coming home.

U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich passed the . Emma Tucker, editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal, his employer, told NPR he remains in good health and relatively good spirits.

The U.S. is to target dug-in Russian forces. Both Ukraine have been using cluster munitions, which are banned by over 120 countries because of their immediate and longer-term danger to civilians.

Wagner Group mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was allegedly , according to the autocratic leader of Belarus, which is the country where the Kremlin had said Prigozhin would be headed after his mutiny attempt.

Ukraine said Russian forces placed devices resembling of nuclear reactors they control in Ukraine. Russia also accused Ukraine of planning attacks against the plant.

President Biden welcomed Sweden's prime minister to the White House in a show of entry into NATO, ahead of the alliance's summit this week.

In-depth

The U.S. is sending

Opinion: Remembering

before heading to a NATO leaders summit in Lithuania

Is a prisoner swap being discussed ?

An advocate for banning

Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin is

To protect against Russian airstrikes,

Ukraine's Zelenskyy warns of possible

Special report

Russia's war in Ukraine is changing the world: .

Earlier developments

You can read . For context and more in-depth stories, you can find more of . Also, listen and subscribe to NPR's for updates throughout the day.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Alex Leff is a digital editor on NPR's International Desk, helping oversee coverage from journalists around the world for its growing Internet audience. He was previously a senior editor at GlobalPost and PRI, where he wrote stories and edited the work of international correspondents.
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