LIVE UPDATES: 25 Civilians Escape Mariupol’s Azovstal Steelworks - Sputnik Correspondent

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has discussed Washington’s support to Kiev in a phone call with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said.

"Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to follow up on their April 24 meeting in Kyiv. …The Secretary provided an update on plans for U.S. diplomats to return to Ukraine, including initial visits to Lviv this week and plans to return to Kyiv as soon as possible. The Secretary and Foreign Minister discussed the Administration’s April 28 request to Congress for $33 billion in security, economic, and humanitarian aid to empower Ukraine to defeat the Kremlin’s unconscionable war," Price said in a Saturday statement.

Finland is preparing to cut off natural gas supplies from Russia in May, the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper reports.

Russian energy giant Gazprom has asked the Finnish state-owned energy company Gasum to give a response before May 20 regarding Russia’s request to receive payments for gas in rubles.

According to Helsingin Sanomat, Finland, as well as most of Europe, could cut off Russian gas supplies on May 21.

Finnish officials say that without Russian gas, Finland will need to search for alternative sources, such as the Baltic Connector pipeline, or reduce production.

Finnish Minister of European Affairs and Ownership Steering Tytti Tuppurainen said on Wednesday that Finland had decided not to agree to Russia’s terms on ruble payments for gas.

Leader of the German opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party Friedrich Merz is expected to visit the Ukrainian capital on Monday, May 2, the Bild newspaper reports citing sources.

Merz will thus become one of the first German politicians to visit Ukraine, the Bild said on Saturday, recalling that Bundestag members Anton Hofreiter and Michael Roth both visited Ukraine in mid-April.

According to Bild, there are currently no plans for any potential visits of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Kiev.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted Ukraine's questionnaire for obtaining EU candidate status to EU Ambassador in Ukraine Matti Maasikas.

Since March 2, Russia has delivered over 16,800 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the civilian population of Ukraine and has held 941 humanitarian actions in the country, with 8 having been carried out over the past 24 hours, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said on Saturday.

"Since March 2, Russia has already delivered 16,805.9 tonnes of essential items, food, medicines and medical products to Ukraine, carried out 941 humanitarian actions, including eight humanitarian actions in the Donetsk People's Republic and Zaporizhia region over the past day, during which 316.8 tonnes of humanitarian aid were transferred to the civilian population," Mizintsev said at a press briefing.

The general stressed that on Saturday, 10 humanitarian actions were held in the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, Kharkiv and Zaporozhye regions, during which 320 tonnes of essential items and food were transferred to the population.

The Ukrainian authorities have been supplying Romania with food on a daily basis in exchange for weapons despite the shortage of products for its own population, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said on Saturday.

"According to the available information, the Ukrainian authorities have organized a mass export of grain, corn, oil crops and farm animals to Romania on a daily basis by road and rail, and barges from the port of Izmail along the Danube. To date, about 20 million tonnes have been exported. Foreign weapons and ammunition are imported to Ukraine in exchange for the mentioned agricultural products through a return route," Mizintsev said at a press briefing.

The general stressed that Kiev has been supplying Bucharest with agricultural products despite the fact that its own population lacks food.

The Ukrainian military have started arresting residents of the city of Mykolaiv for installing Telegram on their phones, sending text messages to Russian numbers and being subscribed to Russian channels on social networks, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said on Saturday.

According to Mizintsev, the Ukrainian militants are conducting punitive raids in the region, looking for those who may have transferred any information to the Russian armed forced or the people's republics of Donbas.

"The reason for the slightest suspicion is a history of calls and text messages to Russian numbers found in phones, correspondence in various messengers, which contains a condemnation of the current Ukrainian authorities, subscriptions to Russian channels in social networks and the Telegram application installed on smartphones," Mizintsev said.

According to the general, all suspects are being arrested, tortured and threatened with physical violence against their relatives.

During the raids, Ukrainian nationalists are forcibly seizing valuable property and food, which they allegedly plan to use to meet the needs of the armed forces, Mizintsev said.

He also stressed that dozens of those arrested have not returned to their homes and nothing is known about their fate.

Ukrainian neo-Nazis plan to fire on people who will be evacuated from Kharkov with a view to accusing the Russian military of crimes against civilians, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said on Saturday.

"Official Kiev continues to prepare monstrous and ruthless provocations, involving mass destruction of civilians, with a view to further accusing the Russian armed forces," Mizintsev said at a press briefing.

According to him, the Ukrainian military installed artillery pieces near the village of Tsupivka in the Kharkiv region to attack civilians during the evacuation through a humanitarian corridor from Kharkov.

"The Russian side has reliably established that neo-Nazis plan to carry out this monstrous bloody act in the near future," Mizintsev added.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A Danish mercenary fighting on the side of the Ukrainian troops during the Russian special operation was confirmed dead by his family, the TV2 channel reported on Saturday, citing the Danish Foreign Affairs Ministry.

On Friday, the Jyllands-Posten newspaper reported that a Danish mercenary, who was fighting on the Ukrainian side, was killed in Ukraine. The mercenary reportedly arrived in the country to take part in the conflict last month.

According to the TV2 broadcaster, the ministry talked to the family of the Dane who was believed to have died in Ukraine and the family confirmed his identity.

NOVOAZOVSK (Sputnik) - A group of 25 civilians was evacuated from the territory of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, where the remaining Ukrainian forces have been hiding since the takeover of the port city by the Russian troops, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Saturday.

According to the correspondent, the evacuees included 19 adults and six children.

The railcars contained 3,000 tons of diesel fuel produced in Belarus and Russia, the NBR added.

The leaders of France and Ukraine held a phone conversation earlier on Saturday. According to BFMTV, Macron promised Zelensky "to strengthen assistance to Ukraine in defensive weapons and humanitarian support".

If Finland and Sweden join NATO, this will create a stable and strong North, he added.

The details of the conversation are yet unknown, the broadcaster noted.