Thank you for reading. We’ll be back with more coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine tomorrow.

The headlines:

-- Ukraine is fighting for the security of the whole of Europe and should be a full member of the European Union, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Swedish lawmakers on Thursday. “We are not fighting just for the people of Ukraine, but for Europe’s security and we have shown that we deserve to be a fully fledged member of the EU,” Zelenskiy said in a video address to parliament.

-- Western leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday will agree to strengthen their forces in Eastern Europe and increase military aid to Ukraine as the Russian assault on its neighbour entered its second month.

-- They will warn Putin his country will pay “ruinous” costs for invading Ukraine during a series of NATO, G7 and EU summits over Thursday and Friday. U.S. President Joe Biden is among those attending.

-- Ukrainian authorities in besieged Mariupol said on Thursday about 15,000 civilians had been illegally deported to Russia since Russian forces seized parts of the southern port city.

-- The Kremlin on Thursday said sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich played an early role in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, but the process was now in the hands of the two sides’ negotiating teams.