Ukraine war live updates: Putin says new nuclear missiles ready to deploy soon; West pledges billions to help rebuild Ukraine

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced an additional $1.3 billion for Ukraine's reconstruction efforts while attending the Ukraine Recovery Conference hosted by Kyiv and London.

"Every investment that we make in Ukraine's recovery is aimed at bringing Ukrainians closer to that reality," Blinken said during an address at the InterContinental Hotel in London.

Blinken said the U.S. is ready to invest more than $520 million to help Ukraine overhaul its energy infrastructure, adding that Russian shelling has destroyed more than half of the country's critical power grid.

"We'll support Ukraine's energy market reforms to combat monopolies and to spur more private investment, which will enable Ukraine one day to become a major energy exporter," Blinken said.

In addition, President Joe Biden's top diplomat said the U.S. will provide $657 million to help modernize Ukrainian rail lines and ports and another $100 million toward upgrading Ukraine's customs programs.

— Amanda Macias

The European Union has approved its 11th sanctions package against Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Sweden, in its role as president of the EU, tweeted out the news Wednesday, saying "The package includes measures aimed at countering sanctions circumvention and individual listings."

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the move will "deal a further blow to Putin's war machine with tightened export restrictions, targeting entities supporting the Kremlin."

The union notes that its sanctions do not target a country or population, but are always targeted at specific policies or activities.

The Associated Press reported that the sanctions forbid transit via Russia of an expanded list of goods and technology which might aid Russia's military or security sector. Importantly, they place restrictions on the sale of sensitive dual-use goods and technology to third countries that might sell it on to Russia.

The package adds a further 71 persons and 33 entities to those banned from the EU and with EU assets frozen, for involvement in illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, according to the AP.

— Michele Luhn

No ships carrying agricultural products have left Ukrainian ports under the Black Sea Grain Initiative in the past two days, according to the U.N.-backed organization responsible for collecting export data.

The Black Sea grain deal was brokered between Ukraine, Russia, the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022 and faces expiry next month. The agreement established a humanitarian sea corridor for agricultural products for global destinations.

— Amanda Macias

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London, according to a State Department readout.

"Secretary Blinken and Minister Fidan discussed a number of shared regional priorities. Secretary Blinken welcomed Türkiye's support for Ukraine, including its work on the Black Sea Grain Initiative," State Department spokesman Matt Miller said in a statement.

Biden's top diplomat also pressed Turkey on the addition of Sweden into the NATO alliance.

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters traveling in his delegation that Sweden has not done enough to be admitted to NATO, according to a Reuters report. Ankara has previously accused Stockholm of harboring terrorists.

Sweden started the formal process of applying to NATO last May as Russia's war in Ukraine marched into its third month.

— Amanda Macias

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all signatories of the Black Sea Grain Initiative to "do their utmost to ensure the continuation of this vital agreement, which is up for renewal on 17 July," according to a new statement released by a U.N. spokesman.

"The Secretary-General is disappointed by the slowing pace of inspections and the exclusion of the port of Yuzhny-Pivdennyi from the Black Sea Initiative. This has resulted in a reduction in the movement of vessels coming in and out of Ukrainian seaports, leading to a drop in the supply of essential foodstuffs to global markets," Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for Guterres, wrote in a statement.

Ukraine has previously blamed Russia for delaying inspections at the ports and creating a backlog of vessels.

According to the U.N. statement, food exports through the Black Sea grain corridor have "dropped significantly from a peak of 4.2 million metric tons in October 2022 to 1.3 million metric tons in May."

— Amanda Macias

Russian President Vladimir Putin downplayed Ukraine's counteroffensive, saying Moscow had seen a "lull" in action and that Kyiv was seeing heavy losses, according to comments reported by Reuters that cited Russian news agency Interfax.

Ukraine could lose its fighting capacity as a result of those purported losses, Putin claimed, adding that Kyiv already understood that it had "no chance" in its counteroffensive.

Ukraine's military reported earlier Wednesday that it had made some partial gains in its counteroffensive in the south of the country but that fighting was intense.

Ukrainian officials told CNBC earlier this week that they knew the counteroffensive would not be "a walk in the park" and urged Ukraine's allies to have patience.

— Holly Ellyatt

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia's new generation of Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are capable of carrying 10 or more nuclear warheads, would soon be deployed for combat duty.

In a speech to new graduates of military academies, Putin stressed the importance of Russia's "triad" of nuclear forces that can be launched from land, sea or air.

"The most important task here is the development of the nuclear triad, which is a key guarantee of Russia's military security and global stability," he said.

"Already about half of the units and formations of the Strategic Missile Forces are equipped with the latest Yars systems, and the troops are being re-equipped with modern missile systems with the Avangard hypersonic warhead."

The first Sarmat launchers would be put on combat duty "in the near future", Putin said.

— Reuters

The Kremlin said U.S. President Joe Biden calling his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a "dictator" shortly after a high-profile meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials shows confusion in the White House's foreign policy.

Biden's comment at a Tuesday fundraiser came just a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up his first official visit to Beijing.

Referring to Biden's remark, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said "on the one hand, of course, this is a very contradictory manifestation of U.S. foreign policy, which speaks of a large element of unpredictability," he told reporters, according to a NBC translation.

"And on the other hand, the continuation of such mentoring manifestations of U.S. foreign policy, which have already become unacceptable for a huge number of states and the number of these states is constantly growing," he added.

"However, this is their business. We have our own bad relations with the United States of America and its very good relations with the People's Republic of China," Peskov said.

Blinken's visit to Beijing on Monday took place at a time of high tension between the U.S. and China, with Beijing's close relationship with Moscow a concern for the West.

Biden's "dictator" comment is bound to fray relations further and on Wednesday, China responded by saying the comment was "ridiculously absurd."

— Holly Ellyatt

Britain, the United States and the European Union pledged on Wednesday billions of dollars more help to rebuild Ukraine, with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak launching a war insurance framework to try to spur companies to invest.

While welcoming the support, the answer from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was blunt - Kyiv needs concrete commitments to projects that will help Ukraine not only recover but to develop into a powerful member of the Western world.

After nearly 16 months of a war that has destroyed homes, hospitals and other critical infrastructure across Ukraine, Sunak appealed to businesses and governments at a recovery conference in London to do more to help rebuild the country.

Addressing the key difficulty for most companies wanting to invest in Ukraine - insurance against war damage and destruction - Sunak announced the London Conference Framework for War Risk insurance, which could pave the way for derisking investment, though he was light on details.

He said the London Conference Framework was "a huge step forward towards helping insurers to underwrite investments into Ukraine, removing one of the biggest barriers and giving investors the confidence they need to act".

Sunak also unveiled measures including $3 billion of additional guarantees to unlock World Bank lending that Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group, said would allow his group to continue to help "people rebuild their lives after devastation".

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would provide Ukraine with 50 billion euros for 2024-27, while U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered $1.3 billion in additional aid.

Ukraine is seeking up to $40 billion to fund the first part of a "Green Marshall Plan" to rebuild its economy, including developing a coal-free steel industry, a senior Ukrainian official said before the conference.

The total bill will be huge, with Ukraine, the World Bank, the European Commission and the United Nations estimating in March that the cost was at $411 billion for the first year of the war. It could easily reach more than $1 trillion.

— Reuters

A ceasefire in Ukraine is not enough for European officials, who want lasting peace in the region, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told CNBC.

"We are very clear we do not want only a ceasefire and a frozen conflict in regions of Ukraine, because these regions will always be fragile. No investment will go there, and the conflict could [at] any time flare up again, as we have learned since 2014. So it has to be a real peace," von der Leyen said on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.

Speaking to CNBC's Steve Sedgwick, von der Leyen said that China can nevertheless be a crucial player in the peace process.

"China is a permanent member of the UN, and this comes with responsibility. And China has influence on Russia, so we expect China to use this influence to convince Russia to sit down at the negotiating table," she said.

Read more on the story here: 'We do not want only a ceasefire': EU chief calls for lasting peace in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday it was necessary to move towards real projects for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

"We must move from agreement to real projects," he said at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London. "There is a Ukrainian delegation that will present concrete things and we propose to do them together during my tour," he said.

Opening the conference, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a new framework for war risk insurance on Wednesday, aimed at helping businesses invest in Ukraine.

"This is a huge step forward towards helping insurers to underwrite investments into Ukraine, removing one of the biggest barriers and giving investors the confidence they need to act," Sunak said.

— Reuters

Ukraine's armed forces said they are gaining ground in their counteroffensive in the south of the country.

Andriy Kovalev, spokesperson of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said Ukraine's troops continue to conduct offensive operations in the Melitopol and Berdyansk areas of Zaporizhzhia.

"On the directions Novodanilivka - Robotyne, Mala Tokmachka - Verbove, Vilne Pole - Makarivka, they had partial success, they are gaining ground at the achieved milestones," he said, according to comments posted on the Military Media Center on Telegram.

Kovalev added that Russian forces focused their main efforts "on conducting defense and preventing the advance of Ukrainian troops, using reserves, trying to restore the lost position."

Defense forces of Ukraine continue to hold back the advance of Russian troops in the east of the country, Kovalev added, noting that "especially heavy fighting" continues in the Lyman area of Donetsk.

"Offensive actions were carried out in the direction of Bilogorivka - Shipylivka, they were partially successful," he said. CNBC was unable to immediately verify the information in the update.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russia's Ministry of Defense claimed Wednesday that it had intercepted three Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on their approach toward "objects" in the Moscow region. 

The drones were shot down with the help of electronic warfare, the ministry said, according to state news agency Tass.

"Today, an attempt by the Kiev [Russia's spelling of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital] regime to carry out a terrorist attack on objects in the Moscow region with three aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles was thwarted. All UAVs were suppressed by electronic warfare, as a result of which they lost control and crashed," the ministry said.

It added that there was no damage or casualties as a result of what it described as a "failed terrorist attack."

Ukraine has not commented on the incident and says it does not attack objects in Russia itself, previously stating that such incidents were likely carried out by Kremlin opponents within the country.

— Holly Ellyatt

Intense fighting continues in parts of southern Ukraine, but Britain's Ministry of Defense noted that, over recent weeks, Russia is continuing to fortify occupied territory in the Kherson region near Russian-controlled Crimea.

"Russia has continued to expend significant effort building defensive lines deep in rear areas, especially on the approaches to occupied Crimea," the ministry said in an intelligence update Wednesday.

"This includes an extensive zone of defences of 9 km in length, 3.5 km north of the town Armyansk, on the narrow bridge of land connecting Crimea to the Kherson region."

These "elaborate defences" highlight the Russian command's assessment that Ukrainian forces are capable of directly assaulting Crimea, the U.K. noted, adding that "Russia continues to see maintaining control of the peninsula as a top political priority."

— Holly Ellyatt

International leaders, officials and investors are in London on Wednesday for a two-day "Ukraine Recovery Conference" focused on drumming up funding for Ukraine's reconstruction once the war ends.

Ahead of the conference, which will be attended virtually by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the U.K. pledged a new package of financial support for Ukraine, including $3 billion of World Bank loan guarantees.

In his opening address at the conference, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to say that Russia was hellbent on destroying Ukraine's economy as its invasion continues.

"As we've seen in Bakhmut and Mariupol, what Russia cannot take it will seek to destroy. They want to do the same to Ukraine's economy," he said in pre-released remarks. "The scale of the challenge is real, the war brought a 29% fall in Ukraine's GDP last year, but just look at the streets of Kyiv, despite the threat of attack, people are getting on with their lives – and getting on with business."

On Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined a 50 billion euro ($54.6 billion) aid package for Ukraine for the next four years. It would be in the form of a budget reserve from the EU's 2021-27 budget.

Andrius Tursa, Central and Eastern Europe advisor at Teneo, commented that while the Ukraine Recovery Conference provides "an opportunity to advance still relatively early-stage discussions on the massive and challenging post-war reconstruction phase," the war is set to continue for the foreseeable future "as the first weeks of Ukraine's long-awaited offensive reaffirm expectations of slow and costly gains."

— Holly Ellyatt

Defense firm Raytheon Technologies (RTX) is expecting another $3 billion in arms sales as countries look to restock their arsenals amid Russia's war in Ukraine.

"We are going through the warcraft, we are going through the munitions at a rate none of us expected," RTX CEO Greg Hayes told CNBC's Phil LeBeau on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show.

"We have seen $2 billion of orders related to Ukraine restocking. We expect another $3 billion this year but there are probably a multiple of that we will see over the three or four years," Hayes added.

The United States has provided the lion's share of security assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia's war. Last week, the Biden administration approved its 40th weapons package for Ukraine worth $325 million bringing the U.S. security assistance to more than $40 billion since Russia's full-scale invasion last February.

— Amanda Macias

EDITOR'S NOTE: This post contains graphic content depicting death in Kherson region.

Waters slowly recede in the Hola Prystan area of Kherson in eastern Ukraine following the collapse of Nova Kakhovka dam. Volunteers and municipal workers begin the gruesome task of clearing bodies in the Russian-controlled territory of the Kherson region after flood waters receded. Kyiv and Moscow both blame each other for the dam's explosion.

— Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

A Moscow court fined the companies that own the popular messaging apps Telegram and Viber, citing their failure to remove certain content Russia deems to be "illegal", in particular content on the war in Ukraine.

Telegram, whose operational center is in Dubai, was ordered to pay a 4 million ruble fine ($47,525), while Viber's owner, the Japanese multinational company Rakuten, was fined $1 million rubles, according to Russian news agency Interfax.

Telegram is very widely used in both Russia and Ukraine by political leaders, the military, journalists, activists and ordinary citizens. It was founded by Russian-born brothers in 2013.

The fine for Telegram, Russian state media agency TASS reported, was for not deleting 32 channels publishing what Moscow described as "false information" about the war in Ukraine, which it calls its "special military operation."

Shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, the Kremlin announced a law that banned any "discrediting" of Russia's armed forces, with penalties of up to 15 years' imprisonment. Numerous critics of the war have been arrested and jailed.

— Natasha Turak

It's becoming clear that Ukraine could have a long and bloody slog ahead of it when it comes to its counteroffensive aiming at recapturing Russian-occupied territory in the south and east of the country.

Ukraine's counteroffensive has produced only limited gains so far, with eight settlements reclaimed in the last two weeks. Ukrainian officials are the first to admit that the country's armed forces face a "tough duel" with Russia in the weeks and months ahead.

"We knew from before we started [the counteroffensive] that this wasn't going to be a walk in the park," Yuriy Sak, a senior advisor in Ukraine's defense ministry, told CNBC Tuesday.

"We knew that Russians had months to prepare for it, we knew that they have built very, very strongly-fortified defense lines, that they have laid millions of mines along the front line. They're dug in so deep, that we already had a very good idea that this will be not an easy task," he added.

Read more on the story here: 'Tough duel' ahead for Ukraine as Russia mounts fierce resistance to counteroffensive

— Holly Ellyatt

Russia fines Telegram and Viber for ‘illegal’ war content; Putin open to talking about Ukraine, Kremlin says