EU leaders in Kyiv, Battle for Donbas, Sanctions and soaring energy prices, Saudi sportswashing

They finally met for the first time since the Russian invasion. Mario Draghi, Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron travelled to Kyiv to meet Volodymyr Zelensky. The EU's top guns rallied the troops in Brussels ahead of this Friday's endorsement by the European Commission for Ukraine and neighbouring Moldova to gain candidate status to the bloc. This Friday, the British prime minister also pledged support during a surprise trip to Kyiv, the second since the start of the war. Boris Johnson announced a plan to train up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers every 120 days in an unspecified location outside the country.

Artillery shelling has been indiscrimately raining on cities like Lysychansk, where one strike killed at least four civilians on Thursday. In nearby Severodonetsk, authorities say the bombardments are so relentless that there is no let-up in the trauma for those taking shelter in basements. Ukranians say they have intercepted Russian reconnaissance units plotting moves to next storm the eastern city of Sloviansk.

This week, Russia also reduced gas flows to its two biggest customers in Europe, Germany and Italy, and cut flows to France completely this Friday. As prices at the pump soar, Russia's invasion of Ukraine is an aggravating factor to the highest inflation in four decades. This week saw the biggest interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve in that period.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine also precipitated a warming of relations with that other giant oil producer, Saudi Arabia. Ahead of next month's visit there by Joe Biden, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced a trip next week to Turkey, the return leg of a first sit-down in years with Recep Tayyip Erdogan back in April.

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Elise Marné