- Finland, Sweden discuss NATO bids -

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto speak to US President Joe Biden for just over half an hour, about their expected bids to join NATO, the White House says.

Niinisto says on Twitter he explained "Finland's next steps" towards becoming part of the transatlantic defence group, and that his country "deeply appreciates all the necessary support from the US".

But the two hitherto non-aligned countries face a potential hurdle from Turkey, whose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he does not have a "positive opinion" of them joining the alliance.

Their foreign ministers say they are hoping to meet their Turkish counterpart in Berlin on Saturday, the day before they are expected to confirm their NATO bids.

Washington is "working to clarify Turkey's position", White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki says.

- Russia to suspend Finland's electricity supplies -

Russia will suspend electricity supplies to Finland this weekend, a supplier says, as tensions rise over Helsinki's NATO bid.

"We are forced to suspend the electricity import starting from May 14," said RAO Nordic, a subsidiary of Russian state energy holding Inter RAO. "RAO Nordic is not able to make payments for the imported electricity from Russia."

Finland's electricity network operator says it would be able to make do without Russian electricity.

- Pentagon chief talks to Russian counterpart -

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin urges Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to move immediately to implement a ceasefire in Ukraine, in their first conversation since before the war began, the Pentagon says.

"Secretary Austin urged an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and emphasised the importance of maintaining lines of communication," the Pentagon says in a statement.

A senior US defence official dampened expectations that any progress was made. "The call itself didn't specifically solve any acute issues or lead to a direct change in what the Russians are doing or what they are saying," the official says.

- G7 'strongly united' -

France says Group of Seven countries are "strongly united" in backing Ukraine until its "victory" against Russia, as Britain urges more weapons for Kyiv to keep up the pressure against President Vladimir Putin.

"It is very important at this time that we keep up the pressure on Vladimir Putin by supplying more weapons to Ukraine, by increasing the sanctions," British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says as she arrives for a second day of talks with her G7 counterparts in Germany.

- EU pledges extra aid -

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pledges an extra 500 million euros ($520 million) in military aid for Ukraine at the G7 meeting.

The extra cash will raise the EU's total military aid for Ukraine to two billion euros, he says.

- 'Seize Russian assets': Kyiv -

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba calls on the major industrialised nations to seize and hand over Russian assets to help with rebuilding his war-torn country, as he meets the G7 club.

And he warns any omission of an embargo on Russian oil in the EU's next sanctions package, due to opposition from Hungary, would spell the end of the bloc's unity, calling it a "critical moment".

- War crimes suspect in court -

A Russian soldier accused of killing a civilian appears in a court in Kyiv ahead of the first war crimes trial since the start of the offensive.

Vadim Shishimarin, 21, allegedly gunned down an unarmed 62-year-old civilian who had witnessed a carjacking by fleeing Russian troops.

He faces possible life imprisonment on charges of war crimes and premeditated murder.

- UK sanctions Putin's inner circle -

Britain sanctions 12 members of Putin's "inner circle" including his reputed girlfriend, accusing them of hiding tens of billions of dollars on his behalf.

The list includes Putin's ex-wife Lyudmila Ocheretnaya and Alina Kabaeva, a former Olympic gymnast whom UK officials described as his "current partner", as well as Kabaeva's grandmother Anna Zatseplina.

burs-jmy/raz/pvh