Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine as of Aug. 18, 2022, 18:05:55 GMT, according to AFP.

- Erdogan says 'on side' of Ukraine -

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan throws Turkey's support behind Ukraine, at a meeting with counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in the western city of Lviv.

"While continuing our efforts to find a solution, we remain on the side of our Ukraine friends," Erdogan tells reporters after the meeting.

He was speaking just two weeks after flying to Sochi for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during which the two sides pledged to boost economic cooperation.

Zelensky hails Erdogan's visit as a "powerful message of support".

He rules out peace with Russia unless it withdraws its troops from Ukraine, telling reporters he was "very surprised" to hear from Erdogan that Russia was "ready for some kind of peace."

"First they should leave our territory and then we'll see", he adds.

- UN chief sounds warning over nuclear plant -

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warns that any damage to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, where increased fighting has raised fears of a nuclear incident, would be "suicide."

Speaking after a meeting at which Ukrainian President Zelensky urged the UN to ensure security at the plant Guterres says he is "gravely concerned" about the situation and it should be demilitarized.

"We must tell it like it is -- any potential damage to Zaporizhzhia is suicide," he says.

Erdogan, who met Zelensky and Guterres in Lviv, also warns of the danger of "another Chernobyl" disaster erupting at Zaporizhzhya.

Ahead of the meeting Zelensky criticized "deliberate" Russian attacks on the facility.

He was speaking after the defense ministry in Moscow denied it has deployed any heavy weapons at the power plant in southern Ukraine which it has controlled since shortly after its February 24 military operation.

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling Europe's biggest nuclear power plant, fuelling fears of an accident to rival the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

- UN vows to step up Ukrainian grain exports -

The United Nations wants to step up grain exports from Ukraine before winter, Guterres says after the talks with the Ukrainian and Turkish presidents in Lviv.

"We will do our best to scale up our operations to face... the coming winter," Guterres says, hailing a deal between Ukraine and Russia brokered by Turkey and the UN that has led to exports resuming this month after Russia's operation blocked essential global supplies.

Kyiv said Thursday that a 25th cargo ship carrying grain had departed Ukraine under the deal.

- At least six killed in Kharkiv strikes -

Russian strikes batter the northeast Ukraine region of Kharkiv, killing at least six and leaving 25 injured, a day after Russian bombardments killed 13 in the eponymous city.

The head of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Synegubov, says Moscow's forces launched eight missiles from Russian territory at around 04:30 am (0130 GMT) striking across the city.

Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv has been subjected to persistent Russian shelling since Moscow launched its military operation.