Russia’s military said it would cease fire and open humanitarian corridors in several Ukrainian cities Monday – yet continued 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.
Russia is demanding that 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 of the separatist regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.
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. Some of the evacuation routes, however, 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,”
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.”
Latest developments:
►President Joe Biden will discusses 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 International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said he is “extremely concerned” that Russian forces are beginning to assert authority over operation of Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, Ukraine’s largest, that they seized last week.
►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.
►Netflix said Sunday that it’s suspending service in Russia, joining the growing list of companies shunning the country. Earlier in the day, TikTok and American Express said they would suspend operations in the country, which followed announcements by Visa and Mastercard Saturday. TikTok also said it will start labeling content from accounts used by state-controlled media.
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EU official warns refugee total could reach 5 million
The number of refugees who have fled Ukraine surpassed 1.7 million on Monday, and an EU official warned the number would likely reach 5 million. More than 1 million have crossed the border into Poland, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
EU foreign affairs policy chief Josep Borrell called on mobilizing “all the resources” of the bloc of 27 nations to help countries welcoming the refugee. “If they continue to bomb Ukrainian cities in an indiscriminate manner, we can expect 5 million migrants,” EU foreign affairs policy chief Josep Borrell said. “Not migrants, we can’t call them migrants. These are exiled people.”
36 hours with a team building a field hospital in Ukraine
USA TODAY 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
Secretary of State Antony 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.
French president keeping in touch with Putin
French President Emmanuel Macron is one of the few leaders pressing ahead with diplomatic efforts to end the war. Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin have spoken four times since Russian forces attacked Ukraine on Feb. 24. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is also becoming a mediator, meeting Putin in Moscow on Saturday and speaking with him again by phone on Sunday.
Blinken will go to Paris on Tuesday to hear from Macron, who holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, directly about his latest conversations with Putin.
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 has described Russia and China’s closer relationship as 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.
Morrison said on Monday: “Our missiles are on the ground now.”
Oil prices rise as Rep. Pelosi urges banning imported Russian oil
The price of oil surpassed $10 a barrel as shares fell sharply Monday.
Brent crude oil surged more than 12% during the day in Asia, while benchmark U.S. crude gained about $10 at more than $125 a barrel.
The effects of rising gas prices have been mounting across the world and in the U.S., where the national average price for gas has topped $4 a gallon for the first time in over a decade. U.S. futures also fell, and the contract for the benchmark S&P 500 was down 1.6% and that for the Dow industrials fell 1.3%.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said Sunday evening that Congress is exploring “strong legislation” that would ban the import of Russian oil and energy products into the U.S. If passed, the legislation would almost certainly affect oil and gas prices worldwide.
Russia doesn’t export much oil to the United States, but it’s just enough that the threat of banning its crude from American shores is driving gas prices and leaving some regions – notably the West Coast – facing the prospect of less crude to process at refineries and making costs even higher at the pump, experts say.
– Celina Tebor and Craig Harris
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?
Biden administration requests $10B in support for Ukraine
The Biden administration has requested $10 billion in humanitarian, military and economic support for Ukraine, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced Sunday.
Biden has strongly affirmed that he will not send U.S. troops to fight in Ukraine, but the funds, which will be part of the federal government’s omnibus funding legislation, will likely provide military equipment and support U.S. allies who are supplying airplanes to Ukraine, a news release from Pelosi said.
She also said the U.S. House of Representatives is exploring “strong legislation” that would ban the import of Russian oil and energy products into the U.S., repeal normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus and take the first step in denying Russia access to the World Trade Organization.
– Celina Tebor
Contributing: The Associated Press
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