Russia Ukraine News Highlights | Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned NATO Monday that its member states would soon be attacked by Russian forces after an air strike hit a Ukrainian military base close to the Polish border.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the strategic southern port city of Mariupol, facing acute deprivation amid a prolonged siege, has topped 2,000, officials there said.
While western Ukraine has largely been spared so far, Russian air strikes overnight Saturday into Sunday carried the war deep into the west, killing 35 people and wounding 134 at a military base near Yavoriv, outside the city of Lviv -- which is dangerously close to the frontier with EU and NATO member Poland.
"If you do not close our sky, it is only a matter of time before Russian missiles fall on your territory, on NATO territory, on the homes of NATO citizens," Zelensky said in a video address released shortly after midnight, urging NATO to impose a no-fly zone over his country.
Washington and its EU allies have sent funds and military aid to Ukraine and imposed unprecedented economic sanctions on Russia. Zelensky has continued to implore foreign counterparts to do more.
"Last year, I clearly warned NATO leaders that if there were no harsh preventive sanctions against the Russian Federation, it would go to war," Zelensky said. "We were right."
Further east, the latest fighting in Kyiv's suburbs left a US journalist dead -- the first foreign reporter killed since Russia's invasion of its neighbour on February 24. "Kyiv. A city under siege," presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter. He said the city was preparing a "ruthless defence".
Meanwhile, efforts continued to get help to Mariupol, which aid agencies say is facing a humanitarian catastrophe. A humanitarian column headed there had to turn back again on Sunday, a city official told AFP, after the Russians "did not stop firing."
A total of 2,187 residents have now died in days of relentless Russian bombardment, the city council said Sunday. "The enemy is holding the city hostage by performing real acts of genocide," said Ukraine Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.
Zelensky has accused Moscow of both blocking and attacking humanitarian convoys, although he said Sunday that another 125,000 people had been evacuated that way across Ukraine. "Russians are bombing the city even during official negotiations," Defence Minister Reznikov said. "They have no dignity, no honor, no mercy."
Talks between the two sides have yet to yield a ceasefire, but Ukrainian and Russian representatives will meet via video-conference Monday, a Zelensky adviser and a Kremlin spokesman both said.
"And our goal is that in this struggle, in this difficult negotiating work, Ukraine will get the necessary result... for peace and for security," Zelensky said early Monday. "We see significant progress," Leonid Slutsky, a senior member of Russia's negotiating team, told state-run television network RT Sunday.
- Broadening target sets -
Russia's forces had earlier focused on eastern and southern areas of Ukraine -- home to more ethnic Russians -- but in recent days have moved to the country's centre, striking the city of Dnipro, and now to the west with the attack at military base in Yavoriv near Poland, which had been a training centre for Ukrainian forces with foreign instructors. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told ABC that Russia was "clearly, at least from an air strike perspective... broadening their target sets".
An AFP reporter said the wounded from the military training centre -- some limping, some pushed in wheelchairs or carried on stretchers -- were loaded into tens of ambulances that shuttled between Yavoriv and Lviv carrying victims to hospitals. Military trucks brought injured soldiers to the hospital in nearby Novoyavorivsk.
Locals rushed to hospitals to offer help. "I came here to donate blood, but I was put on the waiting list," Mariya Antonyshyn, a school psychologist, told AFP outside the Novoyavorivsk hospital.
Meanwhile in Kyiv, only the roads to the south remain open, according to the Ukrainian presidency. City authorities have set up checkpoints, and people are stockpiling food and medicine.
The northwestern suburb of Bucha is entirely held by Russian forces, along with parts of Irpin, Ukrainian soldiers told AFP. Some blocks in the once well-to-do suburb have been reduced to rubble.
An American journalist, award-winning video documentary maker Brent Renaud, was shot dead, and an American photojournalist with him, Juan Arredondo, was wounded Sunday in Irpin, medics and witnesses said.
- 'Stop this massacre' -
Britain's defence ministry said Saturday that Russian forces were about 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Kyiv and that a column north of the city had dispersed as part of an apparent attempt to encircle it. However, the Russians are encountering resistance from the Ukrainian army to both the east and west of the capital, according to AFP journalists on the scene.
"They have to camp in villages in temperatures of nearly minus 10 Celsius at night. They lack provisions and have to raid houses," said one soldier, Ilya Berezenko, 27. The UN estimates that almost 2.7 million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion, most of them to Poland, which is struggling to provide for the arrivals. Pope Francis on Sunday issued an impassioned plea to the Russians, saying, "In the name of God, I ask you, stop this massacre!"
- Civilian casualties -
Zelensky says the Russians have suffered "heavy losses" of about 12,000 troops -- although Moscow put the number at 498, in its only toll released March 2. About 1,300 Ukrainian troops have been killed, according to Kyiv.
Four people were killed and three injured in a strike on the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv, a strategic hub on the road to Odessa that has been under attack for days, authorities said Sunday. "Those bastards just dropped a bomb from a plane on the school," said Mykolaiv Mayor Vitaly Kim.
Meanwhile, in the eastern Donbas region, a senior Ukrainian police officer accused Russia of using phosphorus chemical bombs around Popasna. Further south, bombs struck the Sviatoguirsk monastery, where nearly 1,000 civilians were sheltering, wounding 30 people, a Ukrainian official said.
In the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, Russian troops fired warning shots after thousands of locals gathered to protest the invasion, local media said. And in Russia itself, more than 800 people were detained during anti-war demonstrations.
The Ukraine president -- who has maintained an extraordinarily high profile through the conflict -- visited wounded soldiers at a hospital outside Kyiv, which was shown in a video released Sunday.
"Feel better, stay strong," a visibly moved Zelensky told them. "You are doing a great job." He referred to his visit during his address early Monday, praising Ukrainian doctors for treating wounded Russians at the same facility. "Because they are people, not beasts," he said. "And we have to go through this war so that we all remain human."
The live blog session has concluded. For more news, views and updates, stay tuned with Moneycontrol.com.
Ukraine war: SBI sees Rupee at 77.5 by June; CAD at 3.5% if crude boils; GDP growth at 7.1%
During the last global financial crisis, the rupee continued to decline and lost around 13 per cent during January 2008 to July 2011.... Read More
Russia-Ukraine Crisis LIVE | US options remain toward Russia, including full trade embargo: CNBC
Options the United States could still take toward Russia amid Moscow's invasion of Ukraine include a full trade embargo and blocking Russia's access to international waterways, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told CNBC on Monday.Possible U.S. options remaining on the table also include prohibitions on nickel, uranium and titanium as well as on Russian entities' crypto assets, CNBC reporter Kayla Tausche said in a post on Twitter, citing an interview with Adeyemo. (Reuters)
Russia-Ukraine Crisis LIVE | Ukraine economy could shrink by a third due to Russia invasion, IMF report says
Ukraine's economy is expected to contract by 10 percentin 2022 as a result of Russia's invasion, but the outlook could worsen sharply if the conflict lasts longer, the International Monetary Fund said in a staff report released on Monday.
The report, prepared ahead of the IMF's approval of $1.4 billion in emergency financing, said Ukraine's economic output could shrink by 25to 35 percent, based on real wartime gross domestic product data from Iraq, Lebanon and other countries at war. The report said Ukraine has an external financing gap of $4.8 billion, but its financing needs were expected to grow and it would require significant additional concessional financing.
The country's public debt was expected to spike to 60 percentof GDP in 2022 from around 50% in 2021, the report said. (Reuters)
Russia-Ukraine Crisis LIVE | Dollar edges lower as traders eye Moscow-Kyiv talks
The dollar edged lower against a basket of currencies on Monday, but held near a 21-month high hit last week, as investors eyed Russia-Ukraine peace talks, while major central bank meetings this week kept a lid on large moves in foreign exchange.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.2% at 98.808, not far from the near two-year high of 99.415 touched a week-ago.
Tentative hopes of progress in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia whetted the appetite for riskier currencies on Monday, though upcoming central bank meetings and another COVID-linked lockdown in China curbed risk-taking. (Reuters)
Russia-Ukraine Crisis LIVE | Russia accuses Ukraine of missile strike on Donetsk that 'killed 20 civilians'
Russia's defence ministry said on Monday that 20 civilians had been killed and 28 wounded when a Ukrainian missile with a cluster charge exploded in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. The ministry provided no evidence and Ukraine denied launching an attack, which came as Russian forces were shelling the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other cities more than two weeks after invading. Reuters could not independently verify the statements by either side. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" its southern neighbour. Ukraine and its Western allies call this a baseless pretext for a war of choice. (Reuters)
Russia-Ukraine Crisis LIVE | Zelenskyy to deliver virtual address to US Congress on March 16
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will deliver a virtual address to the U.S. Congress as the Russian war on his country intensifies. Zelenskyy will speak Wednesday to members of the House and Senate, the Democratic leaders announced.
The Congress, our country and the world are in awe of the people of Ukraine, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a statement Monday. They said all lawmakers are invited to the talk that will be delivered via video at the U.S. Capitol. It comes as Congress recently approved $13.6 billion in emergency military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine. (AP)
Russia-Ukraine Crisis LIVE | UN says at least 636 civilians killed in Ukraine so far
The U.N. human rights office (OHCHR) said on Monday it had confirmed the deaths of at least 636 civilians in Ukraine through to March 13, including 46 children.The actual toll is likely much higher, it said, since there have been delays receiving and corroborating reports from places with intense hostilities such as Kharkiv and Mariupol.OHCHR has some 50 staff members involved with human rights monitoring in the country. (Reuters)
Russia-Ukraine Crisis LIVE | Ukraine peace hopes lift stocks, smack oil prices lower
Tentative hopes of progress in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia lifted European shares and Wall Street equity futures on Monday, though upcoming central bank meetings and another COVID-linked lockdown in China eroded some of the early gains.
Some of the early positive sentiment ebbed, with a pan-European equity index and German shares ceding some earlier gains to stand 0.7% and 1.7% higher respectively by 1200 GMT.
S&P 500 futures which had earlier gained almost 1% were up around 0.3%, while Nasdaq futures slipped into the red. Brent crude futures fell $4 a barrel and European gas prices were at 120 euros per megawatt hour, almost 100 euros below recent peaks. The rouble gained 12% in thin-volume offshore trade, to 118 to the dollar. (Reuters)
Russia-Ukraine Crisis LIVE |
US drugmaker Pfizer Inc said on Monday it would maintain humanitarian supply of medicines to Russia and would donate all profits from its Russian unit to causes that provide direct support to the people of Ukraine. (Reuters)
Russia-Ukraine Conflict LIVE | Red Cross chief: Ukraine war 'nothing short of a nightmare'
The ongoing Russian war on Ukraine has become nothing short of a nightmare for those living in besieged cities, a top Red Cross official said Monday, calling for safe passage out for civilians and humanitarian aid to be allowed through the front lines.
Robert Mardini, the director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, also called the war catastrophic for civilians affected by the fighting as people run out of drinking water, food, medical supplies and fuel for heating particularly in the surrounded Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Medical facilities also continue to be targeted in attacks.
And while the Red Cross continues to speak with Russian and Ukrainian leaders, Mardini said there's so far been no established routes for people to safely leave Mariupol and some other areas facing intense warfare. (AP)
Russia-Ukraine Conflict LIVE | Russia could take full control of major Ukrainian cities, says Kremlin
The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia could take full control of major Ukrainian cities and cautioned the West that it had sufficient military clout to fulfil all of its aims in Ukraine without any need for help from China.
"The defence ministry of the Russian Federation, while ensuring the maximum safety of the civilian population, does not exclude the possibility of taking major population centres under full control," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. Peskov said that some of Ukraine's major cities were already surrounded by Russian forces.
When asked by Reuters about remarks by U.S. officials who had said that Russia had asked China for military equipment, Peskov said: "No." "Russia possesses its own independent potential to continue the operation. As we said, it is going according to plan and will be completed on time and in full." (Reuters)
Russia-Ukraine Conflict LIVE | Tentative Ukraine peace hopes lift stocks and bond yields
Tentative hopes of progress in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia lifted European shares and Wall Street equity futures on Monday, despite a sharp slide in Chinese stock markets on the back of renewed COVID lockdowns.
Russian missiles hit a large Ukrainian base near the border with Poland on Sunday, but both sides gave their most upbeat assessment yet of prospects for talks, with a Russian delegate quoted as saying there could soon be draft agreements"If fighting stops that will be a step in the right direction as it will take more negative potential implications off the table," said Mizuho senior economist Colin Asher.
But the backdrop, with geo-political problems and central banks on the rate-rise path, meant that "for stock markets, the downside is the path of least resistance, at least in the near term", Asher added.However, the tentative signals were enough to lift equity sentiment, boosting a pan-European equity index 0.7% while German shares jumped more than 2%.S&P 500 futures added 0.7%, while Nasdaq futures rose 0.5%.
Brent crude futures fell as much as $4 a barrel and European gas prices slipped to 115 euros per megawatt hour, some 100 euros below recent peaksThe rouble gained 9% in offshore trade, to 124 to the dollar.The mood was more subdued in Asia however. Tokyo's Nikkei rose 0.6%, but an MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was dragged down 2% by hefty losses in China. (Reuters)
Russia-Ukraine Conflict LIVE | Over 2,500 Mariupol residents killed so far in war, claims Ukraine
More than 2,500 residents of the Black Sea port city of Mariupol have been killed since Russian invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in a televised interview on Monday. He said he was citing figures from the Mariupol city administration, and accused Russian forces of preventing humanitarian aid reaching the encircled city on Sunday. Russia says it does not target civilians. (Reuters)
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | India considers buying discounted Russian oil, commodities, officials say
India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said. Some international traders have been avoiding Russian oil to avoid becoming entangled in sanctions, but the Indian official said sanctions did not prevent India importing the fuel.
Work was ongoing to set up a rupee-rouble trade mechanism to be used to pay for oil and other goods, the official said. The officials, who both declined to be identified, did not say how much oil was on offer or what the discount was. The finance ministry did not immediately reply to an email seeking comments. Russia has urged what it describes as friendly nations to maintain trade and investment ties. India has longstanding defence ties with Russia and abstained from a vote at the United Nations condemning the invasion, although New Delhi has called for an end to the violence.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Graphic: Ukrainians fleeing the country and where are they taking refuge
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ukraine says Russia talks focus on ceasefire, troop withdrawals and security guarantees
The fourth round of talks between Ukraine and Russia on Monday will focus on achieving a ceasefire, troop withdrawals and security guarantees for Ukraine, one of the Ukrainian negotiators Mykhailo Podolyak said. Ukraine's position remained unchanged in insisting on a ceasefire before talks on future relations could happen, he said in a social media post and accompanying video.
"Negotiations. 4th round. On peace, ceasefire, immediate withdrawal of troops & security guarantees. Hard discussion," he wrote, adding that he believed Russia "still has a delusion that 19 days of violence against (Ukrainian) peaceful cities is the right strategy." Russia denies targeting civilians. The Kremlin describes its actions as a "special operation" to demilitarise and "deNazify" Ukraine. Ukraine and Western allies call this a baseless pretext for a war of choice.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Over 2,500 Mariupol residents killed so far in war: Ukrainian presidential advisor
More than 2,500 residents of the Black Sea port city of Mariupol have been killed since Russian invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in a televised interview on Monday. He said he was citing figures from the Mariupol city administration, and accused Russian forces of preventing humanitarian aid reaching the encircled city on Sunday. Russia says it does not target civilians.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ten humanitarian corridors agreed for Monday: Ukrainian deputy PM
Ukraine will try to evacuate trapped civilians through 10 "humanitarian corridors" on Monday, including from towns near the capital Kyiv and in the eastern region of Luhansk, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereschuk said. "We will, once again, try to unblock the movement of the humanitarian convoy carrying food and medicine to {the port city of Mariupol) from Berdiansk (in southeastern Ukraine)," she said in a video address.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Govt assures Lok Sabha on future of Indian students evacuated from Ukraine, says will look into measures
The government on Monday assured the Lok Sabha it will look into measures that can be taken so Indian students brought back to the country from Ukraine under Operation Ganga can complete their education. Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan also said that Operation Ganga, carried out under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to evacuate Indian students from Ukraine, is proof of the "collective wisdom of 130 crore Indians".
Pradhan was replying to a question by Congress member Gaurav Gogoi who wanted to know if the government was considering working out "any policy or holding talks" with universities in countries neigbouring Ukraine to enable Indian students to complete their studies. "When we have brought them, you remain assured that government will ponder over making arrangements, whatsoever is required, to enable them to become doctors in future," the minister said in response.
"At present, it is time for getting them out of the shock. We are all engaged in that," the minister added. The Congress should congratulate the prime minister for the Operation Ganga, he added. "I was expecting that from his party (Congress) and the House, prime minister will be congratulated for Operation Ganga...," the minister told Lok Sabha during Question Hour.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Australia, Netherlands start legal action against Russia for downing of MH17
Australia said it has begun joint legal action with the Netherlands against Russia at the International Civil Aviation Organisation over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 eight years ago. Russia was responsible under international law for the downing of the flight, and action in the United Nations aviation council was a step forward in the fight for justice for 298 victims, including 38 Australians, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement on Monday.
The joint action under Article 84 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation is separate to a Dutch murder trial for four suspects over their individual criminal responsibility. MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014 when it was hit over rebel-held eastern Ukraine by what international investigators and prosecutors say was a Russian-made surface-to-air missile.
Moscow has always denied involvement and has promoted a range of alternative theories, which international investigators have rejected as unsupported by evidence. A verdict in the murder trial, involving three Russians and a Ukrainian who remain at large, is expected later this year. None of the defendants have attended the Dutch court. Australia and the Netherlands would rely on evidence MH17 was shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile system transported from Russia to an area of eastern Ukraine under the control of Russian-backed separatists, and it was accompanied by a Russian military crew, the statement said.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Russia sees no reason for UN peacekeepers to be sent to Ukraine
Russia sees no reason for United Nations peacekeepers to be sent to Ukraine, RIA news agency quoted the Russian foreign ministry as saying. Pyotr Ilyichev, director of the minitry's international organisations department, said there was no need for peacekeepers as Russia was in control, RIA reported. A new round of talks between Russia and Ukraine will be held on Monday via video link and will start at 10:30 am Kyiv time (0830 GMT).
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Instagram no longer accessible in Russia
Instagram was no longer accessible in Russia on Monday after its parent company Meta was accused by Moscow of allowing calls for violence against Russians on its platforms. Instagram's app was not refreshing without a VPN connection on Monday, AFP journalists said. The social network also appeared on a list of online resources with "restricted access" published by Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Chinese media echoes Russia on Ukraine war
As Western sanctions on Moscow mount following its invasion of Ukraine, Chinese media tells a story to domestic readers that avoids blaming Russia and portrays sympathy for President Vladimir Putin's perspective. Beijing has refused to support nor condemn its close ally Moscow, while blaming the United States and NATO's "eastward expansion" for worsening tensions.
It is a view that reverberates across state newspapers and television -- as well as social media -- in China's tightly controlled news environment. When Putin announced an assault on Ukraine on February 24, China's official Xinhua news agency maintained it was a "military operation" and Moscow had "no intent" of occupying Ukrainian territory.
Days later, state broadcaster CCTV echoed a false Russian claim that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had left Kyiv -- a story quickly repeated by other domestic outlets. Some Chinese reports also state that there has been a surge of "neo-Nazi" ideology among the Ukrainian army and people, a claim supported by Putin.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Moscow accuses West of wanting to stage an 'artificial default' in Russia
Russia's finance ministry on Monday accused foreign countries of wanting to force Russia into an "artificial default" through unprecedented sanctions over what Moscow calls its "military operation" in Ukraine. "The freezing of foreign currency accounts of the Bank of Russia and of the Russian government can be regarded as the desire of a number of foreign countries to organise an artificial default that has no real economic grounds," finance minister Anton Siluanov said in a statement.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Is it legal for foreigners to fight for Ukraine?
As thousands of would-be fighters from outside the country volunteer to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia's invasion, some may also face legal consequences in their home countries. Citizens of Canada, Georgia, India, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States are among the volunteers, Reuters and other media organizations have reported. Below is a summary of some of the laws governing foreigners who have signed up for Ukraine's "international legion."
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Key things to know about the conflict
Russia escalated attacks in western Ukraine on Sunday with a deadly airstrike on a military base where Ukrainian troops had trained with NATO forces, bringing the conflict closer to Poland and prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to renew his pleas for a no-fly zone. Zelenskyy called Sunday a “black day,” and said none of the activities at the military base would have threatened Russian territory. An American journalist was also killed Sunday and another injured when their vehicle came under fire from Russian forces outside Kyiv. Meanwhile, continued fighting in multiple regions caused more misery throughout Ukraine and has provoked international outrage.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | At least one dead, three wounded after residential building hit in Kyiv
At least one person was killed and three injured when a shell hit a residential building in Kyiv on Monday morning, state Ukrainian TV reported. According to Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko, two people were killed and three were hospitalised.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates
| A large number of Indian students in Ukraine were required to be evacuated. It was a very challenging task.Govt of India rose to the occasion in evacuating Indian students as well as some students of other nationalities. These efforts are praiseworthy: Rajya Sabha Chairman VenkaiahNaidu
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ukraine-Russia talks to start via video link today: Ukrainian official
A new round of talks between Russia and Ukraine will be held on Monday via video link and will start at 10:30 am Kyiv time (0830 GMT), Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said on Monday morning
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ukraine says power has been restored to Chernobyl power station
Ukraine's atomic energy ministry on Sunday said power had been restored to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which meant cooling systems would operate normally and not have to use backup power. The ministry made the announcement in an online post. Ukraine had earlier warned of an increased risk of a radiation leak if a high-voltage power line to the plant were not repaired. It had been damaged in fighting.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Russia and Ukraine to hold talks as troops edge closer to Kyiv
Russia and Ukraine were set for a third round of talks Monday as Moscow's invading forces maintain their devastating assaults across the former Soviet state. The discussions come as Russian troops edge closer to Kyiv and keep up their relentless bombardment of the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, where nearly 2,200 people have been killed in the onslaught, according to local officials.
Ukrainian and Russian representatives will meet via videoconference Monday, a Ukrainian presidential adviser and a Kremlin spokesman both said. According to Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia, the talks will begin at 0820 GMT. "And our goal is that in this struggle, in this difficult negotiating work, Ukraine will get the necessary result... for peace and for security," President Volodymyr Zelensky said early Monday, adding that both sides speak every day. He said the aim was "to do everything to ensure a meeting of presidents. A meeting that I am sure people are waiting for."
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar will make a statement on Ukraine in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on March 15
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Nearly 125,000 people evacuated via humanitarian corridors in Ukraine, says president Volodymyr Zelensky
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ukraine is working with Israel and Turkey to set up talks with Russia, says negotiator
Ukraine is working with Israel and Turkey as mediators to finalise a location and framework for peace negotiations with Russia, Ukrainian presidential adviser and negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said on Sunday. "When it is worked out, there will be a meeting. I think it won't take long for us to get there," he said on national television.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | More Ukraine-Russia talks scheduled as attack on base kills dozens
Diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine were stepping up on Monday, with Ukrainian and Russian negotiators set to talk again after both sides cited progress, even after Russia attacked a base near the Polish border and fighting raged elsewhere. A barrage of Russian missiles hit Ukraine's Yavoriv International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security, a base just 15 miles (25 km) from the Polish border that has previously hosted NATO military instructors, killing 35 people and wounding 134, a Ukrainian official said on Sunday.
Russia's defence ministry said up to 180 "foreign mercenaries" and a large number of foreign weapons were destroyed. Reuters could not independently verify the casualties reported by either side. Thousands of people have died since Feb 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he called a special military operation to rid Ukraine of dangerous nationalists and Nazis.
The United States, which had watched Russia's build-up on Ukraine's borders with mounting alarm for weeks, says it was a premeditated, unjustified and unlawful "war of choice". In a telephone call, U.S. President Joe Biden and France's Emmanuel Macron underscored their commitment to holding Russia accountable for the invasion, the White House said. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, also discussed diplomatic efforts to stop Russia's invasion, the State Department said.ywhere."
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | U.S. to warn China of perils of aiding Russia at Rome meet
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan plans to meet China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome on Monday and will stress the economic penalties Beijing will face if it helps Russia in its war in Ukraine, U.S. officials say. Sullivan will warn of the isolation China could face globally if it continued to support Russia, one U.S. official said, without providing details.
Officials of the United States and other countries have sought to make clear to China in recent weeks that siding with Russia could carry consequences for trade flows, development of new technologies and could expose it to secondary sanctions. Chinese companies which defy U.S. restrictions on exports to Russia may be cut off from American equipment and software they need to make their products, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said last week.
It will be Sullivan's first known meeting with Yang since closed-door sessions in Zurich in October that sought to calm tension after an acrimonious public exchange between the two in Alaska a year ago. China is the world's largest exporter, the European Union's largest trading partner, and the United States' top foreign supplier of goods, and any pressure on Chinese trade could have knock-on economic effects for the United States and its allies.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Moscow threatens Western companies with arrests, seizures
Russian authorities, facing potential economic calamity as Western sanctions take hold, have threatened foreign companies hoping to withdraw from the country with arrests and asset seizures, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. Russian prosecutors have issued warnings to several foreign entities -- via calls, letters and in-person visits -- including to Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Procter & Gamble, IBM and Yum Brands, the parent company of KFC and Pizza Hut, according to the business daily, citing sources familiar with the matter.
They have threatened to arrest officials who have criticized the government or to seize assets, including intellectual property. "The warnings have prompted at least one of the targeted companies to limit communications between its Russian business and the rest of the company, out of concern that emails or text messages among colleagues may be intercepted, some of the people (familiar with the matter) said," according to the Wall Street Journal.
Russia has faced unprecedented sanctions imposed by Western governments after the invasion of Ukraine, with a growing list of companies announcing their withdrawals from the country or their plans to suspend activities there. Russian authorities have boosted efforts to prevent money from leaving its borders and to support the ruble, which has already seen a precipitous drop in value against the dollar.
Without using the word "nationalization," Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is in favor of appointing "external" administrators to head such foreign companies in Russia "in order to transfer them to those who want to make them work." The prosecutor's office on Friday meanwhile ordered "strict control" of companies that had announced a suspension of their activities in Russia, warning especially of increased monitoring of labor legislation compliance, under penalty of prosecution. Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Procter & Gamble and Yum Brands did not respond to requests for comments by AFP Sunday.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Tens of thousands protest in Berlin against war in Ukraine
Up to 30,000 men, women and children joined an anti-war demonstration in central Berlin on Sunday, with many waving Ukrainian flags or holding banners with slogans opposing the Russian invasion. Gathering near the Brandenburg Gate, symbol of a divided Germany during the Cold War, protesters - including people in wheelchairs and toddlers in pushchairs - walked through the streets of Berlin, at times chanting and singing.
Slogans on posters and banners included "Stop Putin", "Stop War", "Russian soldiers go home" and "Solidarity with Ukraine!" "Above all, it's extremely important for Ukrainians to see that we will not forget them, not in two weeks and not after that," said protester Helene Krass. "If we take to the streets every other Sunday for a year that's okay too,she said.
Some demonstrators even backed deliveries of weapons to Ukraine. The Russian invasion has prompted Germany to break a post-World War Two taboo of not supplying arms to conflict zones and is now sending Ukraine anti-tank weapons and Stinger surface-to-air missiles from its military stocks. "Sanctions can be introduced which hit the economy and thats important but we should also consider what's of help to the Ukrainian army in times of war and sadly, its weapons," said another protester.
Police said between 20,000 and 30,000 people joined the demonstration, less than half the 100,000 who took to the streets two weeks ago, according to police. It follows a demonstration in the Tuscan city of Florence on Saturday where thousands gathered to show their support for Ukraine. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its neighbour's military capabilities and "de-Nazify" the country.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ukraine says power has been restored to Chernobyl power station
Ukraine's atomic energy ministry on Sunday said power had been restored to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which meant cooling systems would operate normally and not have to use backup power. The ministry made the announcement in an online post. Ukraine had earlier warned of an increased risk of a radiation leak if a high-voltage power line to the plant were not repaired. It had been damaged in fighting.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ukraine says more than 5,550 people evacuated from front-line cities
Ukraine was able to evacuate more than 5,550 people from front-line cities on Sunday via nine humanitarian corridors, deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a video statement. She said 3,950 were evacuated from towns and cities in the Kyiv region.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Diplomacy efforts step up after Russian strike on Ukraine base
Diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine stepped up on Monday, with Ukrainian and Russian negotiators set to talk again after both sides cited progress, even after Russia attacked a base near the Polish border and fighting raged elsewhere. A barrage of Russian missiles hit Ukraine's Yavoriv International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security, a base just 15 miles (25 km) from the Polish border that has previously hosted NATO military instructors, killing 35 people and wounding 134, a Ukrainian official said on Sunday.
Russia's defence ministry said up to 180 "foreign mercenaries" and a large number of foreign weapons were destroyed. Reuters could not independently verify the casualties reported by either side. Thousands of people have died since on Feb 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he called a special military operation to rid Ukraine of dangerous nationalists and Nazis.
The United States, which had watched Russia's build-up on Ukraine's borders with mounting alarm for weeks, says it was a premeditated, unjustified and unlawful "war of choice". In a telephone call late on Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden and France's Emmanuel Macron underscored their commitment to holding Russia accountable for the invasion, the White House said. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, also discussed diplomatic efforts to stop Russia's invasion, the State Department said.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Russia and Ukraine give brightest assessment yet of progress in talks on war
Russian and Ukrainian officials gave their most upbeat assessments yet on Sunday of progress in their talks on the war in Ukraine, suggesting there could be positive results within days. Separately, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Russia was showing signs of willingness to engage in substantive negotiations about ending a conflict in which thousands have died. More than 2.5 million people have fled.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Nearly 125,000 people evacuated via humanitarian corridors in Ukraine, says president Volodymyr Zelensky
Nearly 125,000 people have been evacuated via humanitarian corridors from conflict zones in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on Sunday. "Today the key task is Mariupol," he said, adding that a humanitarian supply convoy was now only 80 kilometres (50 miles) away from the besieged port city where more than 400,000 people are trapped.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ukraine is working with Israel and Turkey to set up talks with Russia, says negotiator
Ukraine is working with Israel and Turkey as mediators to finalise a location and framework for peace negotiations with Russia, Ukrainian presidential adviser and negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said on Sunday. "When it is worked out, there will be a meeting. I think it won't take long for us to get there," he said on national television.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky calls on software giants to stop supporting their products in Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday called on U.S. software firms Microsoft Corp and Oracle Corp and German business software group SAP to halt support services for their products in Russia. "Stop supporting your products in Russia, stop the war!," he said on Twitter.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Chinese embassy says has never heard of Russian requests for Ukraine help
The spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington responded to media reports on Sunday that Moscow had asked Beijing for military equipment since launching its invasion of Ukraine by saying, "I've never heard of that." The spokesperson, Liu Pengyu, said China's priority was to prevent the tense situation in Ukraine from getting out of control.
"The current situation in Ukraine is indeed disconcerting," he said in an emailed response to a query from Reuters. "The high priority now is to prevent the tense situation from escalating or even getting out of control." Earlier the Financial Times and Washington Post cited U.S. officials as saying that Russia has asked China for military equipment since its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation."
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Russia asks China for military aid on Ukraine: US media
Russia has asked China for military and economic aid for its war in Ukraine, US media reported Sunday, hours after the White House warned Beijing would face severe "consequences" if it helps Moscow evade sanctions. US officials told media that Russia had requested military equipment and support from its key ally. Moscow also asked Beijing for economic assistance against the crippling sanctions imposed against it by most of the Western world, the New York Times said, again citing anonymous officials.
The officials declined to explain exactly what Russia had requested, or whether China had responded, according to the reports. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington told multiple outlets "I've never heard of that" when asked about the alleged requests. The reports came just a few hours after the White House announced a high-level US delegation would meet with a top Chinese official in Rome Monday.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Communist Party's chief diplomat, "will discuss ongoing efforts to manage the competition between our two countries and discuss the impact of Russia's war against Ukraine on regional and global security," National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne said Sunday in a statement. Beijing has declined to directly condemn Moscow for launching its invasion, and has repeatedly blamed NATO's "eastward expansion" for worsening tensions between Russia and Ukraine, echoing the Kremlin's prime security grievance.
