April 22 (Reuters) - Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that if the G7 moved to ban exports to Russia, Moscow would respond by terminating the Black Sea grain deal that enables vital exports of grain from Ukraine. Russia has strongly signalled that it will not allow the deal to continue beyond May 18.
GRAIN DEAL
* The Group of Seven (G7) economic powers called on Sunday for the "extension, full implementation and expansion" of the grain deal.
* A first batch of Russian fertilizer which Latvia seized last year is being shipped to Kenya by the United Nations' World Food Programme, Latvia's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
Russia has cited the seizure as a key stumbling block to its continued participation in the grains deal.
DIPLOMACY
* Russia said on Saturday it was expelling more than 20 German diplomats in a tit-for-tat move. Germany did not immediately confirm any expulsions of its own, but said the arrival of a Russian government plane in Berlin was connected to the issue.
* France and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania expressed dismay after China's ambassador in Paris questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet countries like Ukraine.
* Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Saturday he did not want to "please anyone" with his views about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, after provoking criticism in the West for suggesting Kyiv shared the blame for the war.
FIGHTING
* Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday its forces had captured more territory in Bakhmut as they pursue their bid to seize full control of the city. The battle for Bakhmut has turned into one of the bloodiest of the 14-month war, with the eastern Ukrainian city almost completely destroyed by artillery shelling and urban combat.
* At least five Russian missiles hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and surrounding districts late on Saturday night, causing some damage to civilian buildings, local officials said.
* Units from Belarus returned home from Russia on Saturday after training on how to use the Iskander tactical missile system to launch nuclear weapons, the Belarusian defence ministry said.
ECONOMY
* Russia's richest people added $152 billion to their wealth over the past year, helped by high prices for natural resources - rebounding from the huge losses they experienced after the start of the war in Ukraine, Forbes Russia said.
RUSSIAN OFFICIAL'S SON
* The son of Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said in an interview published on Saturday that he had served in Ukraine under an assumed name as an artilleryman in the Wagner mercenary force, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported. Nikolai Peskov, the 33-year-old son of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, told the privately-owned newspaper that he had served in Ukraine, a rare, public example of the son of a senior Russian official fighting in the war.
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