(Reuters) - The leaders of Germany, France and Italy, all criticised in the past by Kyiv for support viewed as too cautious, visited Ukraine on Thursday and offered the hope of EU membership to a country pleading for weapons to fend off Russia's invasion.
FIGHTING
* Ukrainian officials said their troops were still holding out against massive Russian bombardment in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, and described new progress in a counteroffensive in the south.
* An airstrike hit a building sheltering civilians in Ukraine's embattled eastern city of Lysychansk on Thursday, killing at least three and wounding at least seven according to local governor Serhiy Gaidai.
* The United States said on Thursday it has not asked Russia about two U.S. citizens reported missing after traveling to Ukraine to fight against Russian forces and said there are reports of a third missing American.
DIPLOMACY
* Ukraine alone should decide whether or not to accept any territorial concessions towards Russia in view of ending the war, French President Emmanuel Macron told TF1 television in an interview as he visited Kyiv.
* The European Union's executive is expected to propose on Friday that Ukraine become a formal candidate for membership of the bloc, diplomats and officials say.
* Russia said on Thursday that it had banned 121 Australian citizens, including top journalists and defence officials, from entering, accusing them of being part of a "Russophobic agenda".
* The Dutch intelligence service said on Thursday it had uncovered a Russian military agent attempting to use a false identity to infiltrate the International Criminal Court (ICC) which is investigating accusations of war crimes in Ukraine.
ECONOMY
* Russia promised on Thursday to speed up talks about increased gas sales to China and warned that Europe would pay a hefty price for its oil embargo against Russia. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Europe would pay an extra $400 billion in higher energy prices and could face a shortage of oil products. He did not give a timeframe.
* Russian-flagged ships have been carrying Ukraine's grain that was harvested last season and transported to Syria over the last couple of months, U.S. satellite imagery company Maxar said on Thursday.
* Ships loaded with grain and metals will leave the Azov Sea port of Mariupol soon, with shipments potentially headed to the Middle East, a pro-Russian separatist leader told the Interfax news agency on Thursday.
QUOTES
* "Every day of delay or postponed decisions is an opportunity for the Russian military to kill Ukrainians or destroy our cities There is a direct correlation: the more powerful weapons we receive, the faster we can liberate our people, our land." - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
* "My colleagues and I came here to Kyiv today with a clear message: 'Ukraine belongs to the European family'," - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.