Russia reveals harsh demands for ending war; Ukraine calls evacuation routes ‘unacceptable’: Live updates
cease fire and open humanitarian corridors in several Ukrainian cities Monday while continuing to pound residential areas of battered cities with rocket attacks.
A third round of talks were planned for Monday after two previous negotiations proved fruitless.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Russia demands Ukraine halt its military activity, change its Constitution to include neutrality so it can’t join the EU or NATO, recognize Crimea as Russian territory and recognize independence for the separatist regions of Donetsk and Lugansk.
Russia had promised a cease-fire to allow safe passage for evacuees from the capital of Kyiv, the southern port city of Mariupol, and the cities of Kharkiv and Sumy. Ukraine Defense Secretary Aleksey Danilov said Russia “violates the agreements reached, blocks the opening of green corridors, does not allow humanitarian supplies –but at the same time tries to create a false picture of a ‘joyful meeting’ of the occupiers by local residents.”
Some of the evacuation routes actually would funnel civilians toward Russia or its ally Belarus, a plan that Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk called unacceptable. U.K. Europe Minister James Cleverly agreed, saying that “evacuation routes into the arms of the country that is currently destroying yours is nonsense.”
Latest developments:
►The U.S. is among 48 nations whose governments have committed “unfriendly actions” against Russia, the Kremlin says. Russian citizens, companies and government bodies that owe money to those countries can pay them in rubles, the decree says.
►Russian banks are looking into issuing cards that operate on a Chinese payment system after American Express, Visa and Mastercard cut off services in Russia citing the invasion.
►Italian Premier Mario Draghi expressed little hope that peace talks will result in an end to the war. Russia will continue to pound Ukraine until “the country has surrendered, probably installs a friendly government and defeats the resistance. That’s what the facts demonstrate.”
►President Joe Biden was discussing the latest developments in a secure video teleconference today with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
►The death toll of the conflict has been difficult to measure. The U.N. human rights office said at least 364 civilians have been confirmed killed since the Feb. 24 invasion, but the true number is probably much higher.
Quick links:
GET UKRAINE UPDATES:We’ll email you the latest news once a day
VISUALS:Mapping and tracking Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
the process placed on hold because Ukrainian courts are closed. Daniel Nehrbass from Nightlight Christian Adoption said his agency had 11 families waiting to adopt 20 children from Ukraine, but that process has now halted. The State Department says it has asked the Ukrainian government to expedite new birth certificates and passports for all adopted children that require them. Read more here.
– Marina Pitofsky
spent 36 hours with a team of overseas nurses, engineers and logistics personnel invited by Ukraine’s authorities to build a field hospital for emergency and specialized trauma care in Lviv. It is being established to serve an expected wave of people – military and civilian – impacted by Russia’s assault on Ukraine as Moscow counters resistance to its invasion with more firepower. The location of the planned hospital is on the fringes of Lviv in western Ukraine – identified as a potential capital if Kyiv falls to the Kremlin.
“I’ve set up hospitals in war zones, and we’ve deliberately marked ones that have been bombed and we’ve left them unmarked and gotten bombed,” said Ken Isaacs, the American who is leading the effort to construct the hospital. “When an airplane wants to bomb you, they bomb you.” Read more here.
– Kim Hjelmgaard and Jessica Koscielniak
Russia snubs UN court hearings in case brought by Ukraine
Russia has snubbed a hearing at the United Nations’ top court into a legal bid by Kyiv to halt Moscow’s devastating invasion of Ukraine. A row of seats reserved for Russian lawyers at the International Court of Justice was empty Monday morning as the hearing opened. The court’s president, American judge Joan E. Donoghue, said Russia’s ambassador to the Netherlands informed judges that “his government did not intend to participate in the oral proceedings.” The hearing went ahead without the Russian delegation.
The International Court of Justice is opening two days of hearings at its headquarters, the Peace Palace, into Ukraine’s request for its judges to order Russia to halt its invasion. Ukraine is scheduled to present its arguments Monday morning and Russia has the opportunity to respond on Tuesday.
A decision is expected on the request within days, though that does not mean Russia would abide by any order the court might issue.
Blinken travels to Baltic states
Blinken has begun a trip to the three Baltic states that are increasingly on edge as Russia presses ahead with its invasion of Ukraine. The former Soviet republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are all members of NATO and Blinken aims to reassure them of the alliance’s protection. Since the invasion of Ukraine last month, NATO has moved quickly to boost its troop presence in its eastern flank allies.
Blinken’s Baltic tour opened Monday in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, where support for Ukraine’s resistance to the invasion government is palpable with signs of solidarity with Ukrainians in many businesses and on public buildings and buses.
New Zealand will rush through a new law to sanction Russia
New Zealand’s government said Monday that it plans to rush through a new law that will allow it to impose economic sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Unlike many countries that have already introduced sanctions, New Zealand’s existing laws don’t allow it to apply meaningful measures unless they’re part of a broader United Nations effort. Because Russia has U.N. Security Council veto power, that has left New Zealand hamstrung.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the new legislation would allow it to target people, companies and assets connected to those in Russia associated with the invasion, including oligarchs. It would allow New Zealand to freeze assets and stop superyachts or planes from arriving.
The bill will be specific only to the Ukraine invasion but could allow New Zealand to impose sanctions on countries seen to be helping Russia, such as Belarus.
Australian missiles on the ground in Ukraine
Australia’s prime minister says Russia and China’s closer relationship is opportunistic rather than strategic. Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday labeled the alliance an “Arc of Autocracy” and said Russia and China would prefer a new world order to the one that has been in place since World War II.
Morrison has criticized Beijing’s failure to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s expansion of trade in Russian wheat while other countries are imposing sanctions. Australia last week promised Ukraine $50 million in missiles, ammunition and other military hardware to fight Russian invaders.
“Our missiles are on the ground now,” Morrison said Monday.
OIL FROM RUSSIA:How much oil does the US buy from Russia? Not much, but gas prices are rising amid Ukraine invasion
GAS PRICES ARE RISING:What can Biden do to lower costs at the pump amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
Contributing: The Associated Press
More Ukraine-Russia news
- Ukraine’s Azov Regiment:Founded by white supremacists, now it’s battling Russia on the front lines
- ‘We will fight and win’:Ukrainian civilians find ways, big and small, to resist Putin’s invasion
- Refugee crisis:Here is where refugees are going.
- Pension funds:They’re divesting from Russia over Ukraine invasion and may be a new weapon in sanctions war
- Celebrities speak out:Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher strive to raise $30 million to help Ukrainians, more stars speak out
- He ‘drove for 12 hours to save us’:One man’s efforts to transport Ukrainian refugees to safety