The EU flag was brought to the floor of the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv and hoisted following a video address by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“You have won the approval and respect of all EU member states,” she said. “Ukraine now has a very clear European perspective, it is an EU candidate country.”

Ukraine officially became an EU candidate country last week, a major step towards joining the bloc in a process that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “shouldn’t take years or decades”.

Matti Maasikas, European Union Ambassador to Ukraine, tweeted a video of the flag raising, writing, “Moving to tears – the EU flag was brought to the plenary hall of @ua_parliament. To stay.”

—Natasha Turak

A Russian missile strike in the Odessa region of southern Ukraine killed 18 people, including two children, the local governor said.

“As a result of a night missile strike by a Tu-22 strategic aircraft from the Black Sea in the Belgorod-Dniester district of the Odessa region, three X-22 missiles hit an apartment building and a recreation center “, wrote the regional governor of Odessa, Maksym Marchenko. on his Telegram channel, according to a Google translation.

“At 9 a.m., 18 victims were identified, including 2 children, and 31 people were hospitalized, including 4 children and a pregnant woman. ” he added.

CNBC was unable to independently verify the information. Moscow has denied any responsibility for the strike.

Odessa is a strategically important port city to which a large part of Ukrainian exports are shipped via the Black Sea. These food exports have been crippled by the Russian Navy which controls and blocks vital sea routes, causing global food prices to skyrocket.

—Natasha Turak

American basketball player Brittney Griner, detained in Russia since February 17, has arrived in a Moscow court for her trial. The Olympic gold medalist has been charged by Russian authorities with having cannabis oil in her luggage and smuggling narcotics, a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

US officials argue that Griner is being wrongfully detained. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said this week that the athlete was “detained wrongly, unjustly, and we have made this clear as an official decision of the US government”.

—Natasha Turak

An iron curtain between Russia and the West is essentially already there, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said, describing the political and economic wall that has formed following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

“As far as the Iron Curtain is concerned, it is already falling,” Lavrov said after talks with the Belarusian foreign minister, according to an AFP translation.

He added that the EU had made no effort to understand Russia’s interests, saying it was “interested in what was decided in Brussels. And what was decided in Washington was decided in Brussels. “.

Since early March and the imposition of numerous sanctions on Russia by the West, which cut many travel, financial and trade ties, many historians have invoked the so-called “Iron Curtain” to describe international relations. .

The term was first popularized by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1946 to describe the political, military and ideological barrier erected by the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin to isolate itself from the West.

—Natasha Turak

US President Joe Biden has pledged to support Ukraine for as long as needed. He was speaking at the end of a NATO summit in Madrid which saw the alliance agree to massively boost its military presence in Eastern Europe.

When asked at a new conference on Thursday if there was a limit on US aid spending in Kyiv, Biden replied: “We will stay with Ukraine, and all allies will stay with Ukraine. Ukraine, as long as it takes, and make sure they are not defeated.”

Biden also announced a new $800 million military aid package for the country as the war enters its fifth month.

—Natasha Turak

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Ukrainian forces after the liberation of Snake Island, a remote island in southern Ukraine.

“Undoubtedly, the main word today is ‘Snake’. Apparently, Zmiinyi (Snake) Island was talked about just as much as the day the Russian ship arrived there. Then the ship was gone forever and now the island is free again, ”Zelenskyy said via the Telegram messaging platform, according to a translation of NBC News.

Ukrainian officials said earlier that Russian troops evacuated Snake Island, which was taken by Russian forces on the first day of the invasion. The Russian Defense Ministry also confirmed the withdrawal.

—Amanda Macias

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government will increase the presence of Canadian troops in Latvia as part of NATO’s commitment to strengthen its deterrent measures along the Russian border.

Trudeau made the announcement at the close of the three-day NATO summit in Madrid. He did not give specific numbers.

Canada leads the NATO battle group in Latvia, which has a total of approximately 2,000 soldiers. Albania, the Czech Republic, Italy, Montenegro, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain also contribute troops to the group.

“We will bolster our military deployment in Latvia and work with other allies to be able to rapidly augment our current strength to our combat-capable brigade should the need arise,” Trudeau said.

Trudeau said his government also wants to send up to 39 armored combat support vehicles to Ukraine along with six additional drone cameras to help fight the Russian invasion.

— Associated Press