For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT:

8:51 a.m.: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the EU will set up a reconstruction platform to coordinate the rebuilding of Ukraine after its war with Russia, according to Reuters.

The platform will be used to map investment needs, coordinate action and channel resources, von der Leyen told the Ukraine Recovery Conference in the Swiss city of Lugano on Monday. “Since the beginning of the war, the European Union has mobilized around 6.2 billion euros in financial support,” von der Leyen said.

7:10 a.m.: Russia said Monday it will not be sending kind words to mark the Independence Day holiday in the United States.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that congratulations “can hardly be considered appropriate” and cited what he called the “unfriendly policies” of the United States.

The U.S. has opposed Russia’s war in Ukraine, sending weapons and helping train Ukrainian forces while also leading efforts to impose sanctions against Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated previous U.S. leaders on the holiday, including former Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted his wish of “peace and prosperity” to U.S President Joe Biden and the American people on Monday.

“I appreciate the leadership assistance of the United States in Ukraine’s defending of common values — Freedom, Democracy and Independence,” Zelenskyy wrote.

6:45 a.m.: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has visited Ukrainian cities where Russia is accused of committing war crimes against civilians. Albanese has also promised about US$70 million of additional military aid. For VOA, Phil Mercer reports from Sydney.

6:30 a.m.: Turkey has halted a Russian-flagged cargo ship off its Black Sea coast and is investigating a Ukrainian claim that it was carrying stolen grain, a senior Turkish official said on Monday.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkey said on Sunday the Zhibek Zholy ship was detained by Turkish customs authorities. Ukraine previously asked Turkey to detain the vessel, according to an official and documents viewed by Reuters.

6:15 a.m.:

6 a.m.: German’s foreign ministry spokesperson said that a meeting between German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, while in Indonesia for the G-20 is not up for discussion due to the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported on Monday.

Baerbock will attend the G-20 meeting on Thursday and Friday, said the ministry spokesperson. Lavrov is expected to attend.

5:00 a.m.: In an exclusive interview with Reuters from his Vatican residence, Pope Francis said he hopes to be able to go to Moscow and Kyiv in the coming months.

In a 90-minute conversation on Saturday afternoon, conducted in Italian, the 85-year-old pontiff spoke of the situation in Ukraine saying that there have been contacts between Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about a possible trip to Moscow.

The initial signs were not good. No pope has ever visited Moscow, and Francis has repeatedly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; last Thursday he implicitly accused it of waging a “cruel and senseless war of aggression.”

When the Vatican first asked about a trip several months ago, Francis said Moscow replied that it was not the right time. But he hinted that something may now have changed.

“I would like to go (to Ukraine), and I wanted to go to Moscow first. We exchanged messages about this because I thought that if the Russian president gave me a small window to serve the cause of peace.”

“And now it is possible, after I come back from Canada, it is possible that I manage to go to Ukraine,” he said. “The first thing is to go to Russia to try to help in some way, but I would like to go to both capitals.”

4:15 a.m.:

4 a.m.: Russia will shift the main focus of its war in Ukraine to trying to seize all of the Donetsk region after capturing neighboring Luhansk, Reuters reported Monday citing the Luhansk region’s governor.

Governor Serhiy Gaidai told Reuters in an interview that he expected the city of Sloviansk and the town of Bakhmut in particular to come under attack as Russia tries to take full control of what is known as the Donbas in eastern Ukraine.

Russia says it has established full control over the Luhansk region following a withdrawal by Ukrainian forces from the bombed-out city of Lysychansk.

“In terms of the military, it is bad to leave positions, but there is nothing critical (in the loss of Lysychansk). We need to win the war, not the battle for Lysychansk,” Gaidai said.

“It hurts a lot, but it’s not losing the war.”

He said the withdrawal from Lysychansk had been “centralized,” indicating that it had been planned and orderly, but that Ukrainian forces had risked being surrounded.

“Still, for them (Russian forces) goal number 1 is the Donetsk region. Sloviansk and Bakhmut will come under attack — Bakhmut has already started being shelled very hard,” he said.

3:20 a.m.:

3:00 a.m.: Reuters reported that France’s Schneider Electric said Monday it has agreed to sell its Russian unit to the local leadership team, joining a wave of major companies to divest of their Russian businesses after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Schneider Electric said it expected to write off up to $312.9 million (300 million euros) in terms of the company’s net book value as a result of the divestment.

Last week, Michelin said it planned to hand over its Russian activities to a new entity under local management by the end of the year while rival Nokian Tyres PLC also said it would quit Russia. Read full story

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation.”

2:30 a.m.:

2:00 a.m.: Ukraine’s Ambassador to Turkey said Turkish customs officials have detained a Russian cargo ship carrying grain shipped from a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine.

Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar said Sunday the ship was at the entrance of Turkey’s Karasu port, and that Ukraine hoped Turkish officials would confiscate the grain.

Ukraine has accused Russia of stealing grain from territories it has taken over since launching its war in Ukraine in late February.

Russia denies the allegations.

1:10 a.m.: The European Investment Bank, the lending arm of the European Union, is proposing a funding structure previously used during the COVID-19 pandemic to help rebuild Ukraine with up to 100 billion euros ($104.3 billion) of investment, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The EU-Ukraine Gateway Trust Fund would seek to have an initial 20 billion euros in contributions from EU countries and the EU budget in the form of grants, loans and guarantees.

The guarantees in particular would have a multiplier effect, leading to infrastructure projects totaling some 100 billion euros, the document said, about half of Ukraine’s more immediate needs.

The EIB’s proposal is set to be unveiled on Monday, the first day of the international Ukraine Recovery Conference in Switzerland that aims to provide resources to Ukraine and aid a post-war recovery.

12:01 a.m.: Ukraine’s forces have withdrawn from the bombed-out city of Lysychansk, prompting Russia to claim full control of the eastern Luhansk region, a key Kremlin war goal, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to regain the lost territory, Reuters reported.

Ukraine on Sunday said the tactical withdrawal would save the lives of its soldiers who would regroup, to launch a counter offensive with the help of long-range Western weapons.

But Moscow said the capture of Lysychansk less than a week after taking neighboring Sievierdonetsk meant it had “liberated” Luhansk. It said it will give Luhansk to the self-proclaimed Russian-backed Luhansk People’s Republic whose independence it recognized on the eve of the war.

The battlefield focus now shifts to the neighboring Donetsk region, where Kyiv still controls swathes of territory.

Some information in this report came from Reuters, Agence France-Presse, and The Associated Press.