Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
Zelensky posts a video with top aides + his prime minister, apparently from above ground in Kyiv.
“We are all here, our soldiers are here … we are defending our independence” pic.twitter.com/CX7s7Rq0ED
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
Russia does not plan to “occupy” Ukraine and is ready to hold negotiations soon after the Ukrainian forces “lay down their arms” in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.
The Russian top diplomat made the remarks following talks with Deputy Foreign Minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Sergey Peresada and Foreign Minister of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) Vladislav Deinego, the state-run TASS news agency reported.
“No one is going to occupy Ukraine. The aim of the operation has been openly declared: demilitarising and denazifying, he said, a day after Russian troops launched a massive military operation against Ukraine.
President Putin signed treaties with leaders of DPR and LPR on 21 February, recognising the two regions of Ukraine as independent.
– PTI
PTI
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
Received call from Ukrainian FM @DmytroKuleba.
He shared his assessment of the current situation.I emphasized that India supports diplomacy & dialogue as the way out.
Discussed predicament of Indian nationals, including students. Appreciate his support for their safe return.
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
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Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
The Kremlin says prospects for possible peace talks between Russia and Ukraine look uncertain due to apparent differences over a venue.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to send a delegation for talks with Ukrainian officials in Minsk, Belarus, where President Alexander Lukashenko runs a pro-Russian government.
That agreement came in response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s offer earlier in the day to discuss non-aligned status for Ukraine.
Peskov told reporters that after the parties discussed Minsk as a possible venue, Ukrainian officials changed course and said they were unwilling to travel to Minsk and would prefer to meet in NATO member Poland. They then halted further communication, Peskov said.
– AP
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
Major retail chains in Lithuania started to remove Russian and Belarusian products from shelves, a move joined by online shops and widely applauded by the public as a protest against Moscow’s decision to invade Ukraine.
Maxima LT, the largest chain in the Baltic nations, said Friday the Russian goods it sells are mainly alcohol, dried products and candy, amounting to millions of euros (dollars) in sales.
Other retailers like drug stores and home suppliers made similar announcements. The Lithuanian postal service said it will not be distributing any more Russian periodicals.
International companies such as IKEA are facing pressure to remove Russian-made goods from sale in the small Baltic country, which fears Russian aggression.
– AP
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
France on Friday expressed fear that Belarus could become a vassal state of Russia, after autocratic leader Alexander Lukashenko allowed Russian troops to use its territory for the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia, which had grouped some 30,000 troops in Belarus ostensibly for exercises in the last weeks, sent the troops deployed in the country across its southern neighbour’s border.
“Belarus and its people deserve better than to become the accomplices and vassals of a brutal regime that has chosen to wage war,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
– AFP
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
.@MorawieckiM wydal polecenie przygotowania uchwaly Rady Ministrow, ktora doprowadzi do zamkniecia przestrzeni powietrznej nad Polska dla rosyjskich linii lotniczych.https://t.co/3hwXBuu0fL pic.twitter.com/VSgrjWFTPd
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
President Joe Biden joined an emergency NATO summit Friday to strengthen the frantic Western response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and fears for the security of Europe.
The US president, who has spent weeks trying to lead a united trans-Atlantic response to Russia’s aggression against its neighbour, was meeting “with fellow NATO heads of state and government in an extraordinary virtual summit to discuss the security situation in and around Ukraine,” the White House said.
The meeting, with Biden joining from the White House Situation Room, was not open to the media.
– AFP
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
This is the moment a Russian tank swerves and crushes a civilian’s car on a highway in Kyiv.
Ukrainians battle to free the driver who was miraculously still alive. pic.twitter.com/F9n7y4JVYQ