Live blog: EU passes fourth set of sanctions on Russia over Ukraine assault

Monday, March 14, 2022

EU approves fourth set of sanctions on Russia

The European Union has approved a fourth set of sanctions to punish Russia for its military assault on Ukraine.

France, which holds the EU presidency, said in a statement that the bloc approved a package targeting "individuals and entities involved in the aggression against Ukraine," along with sectors of the Russian economy.

Since the military campaign started last month, the EU has adopted tough measures targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia's financial system and the country's oligarchs. Last week, the bloc agreed to slap further sanctions on 160 individuals and added new restrictions on the export of maritime navigation and radio communication technology.

'Ukraine is on fire': UN chief

Ukraine is facing a horrific humanitarian catastrophe as Russia presses its attack that has the potential to spread far beyond the country's borders, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned.

"Ukraine is on fire," he said at the UN's New York headquarters. 

"The prospect of nuclear conflict once unthinkable is now back within the realm of possibility," he said. 

At least 9 Ukranian killed in a TV tower attack

A Russian rocket attack on a television tower in the western village of Antopol killed nine people. 

The village is only about 160 kilometres from the border of NATO member Poland. 

Ukrainian authorities also said two people died and seven were injured after Russian forces struck an airplane factory in the capital of Kiev, and that two people were killed in the northern Obolonskyi district of the capital when Russian artillery fire hit a nine-story apartment building.

Ukraine's Chernobyl loses power again: operator

Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power station, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986, has once again lost its electricity supply, energy operator Ukrenergo said.

Separately, Ukraine's state nuclear operator Energoatom accused the Russian military of detonating ammunition at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in the country's south.

"The power line that supplies the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station and the town of Slavutych was damaged by the occupying forces," Ukrenergo said.

Officials: Biden considering trip to Europe

The White House is weighing the possibility of President Joe Biden traveling to Europe in the coming weeks for face-to-face talks with European leaders about the Russian attack of Ukraine, according to three US officials familiar with the deliberations.

The prospective trip is yet to be finalised. One possible destination for the meetings would be Brussels, which is the headquarters for NATO, one of the officials said. Another official said the White House was looking at Biden visiting NATO headquarters on March 24, with other potential stops in Europe.

 The trip would underscore the Biden administration’s support for NATO allies. 

Ukraine-Russia conflict talks to continue: Kiev

Negotiations between Moscow and Kiev are due to restart on Tuesday, a Ukrainian delegate has said, after fourth-round meetings over two weeks of fighting concluded without breakthrough earlier in the day.

"A technical pause has been taken in the negotiations until tomorrow," senior Ukrainian negotiator and president aide Mikhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter, after both sides over the weekend raised hopes that an initial agreement would be announced. 

Russian assault on Ukraine a 'tactical failure': Poland

Poland's foreign minister has told the United Nations that Russia's incursion into Ukraine had been "a strategic and tactical failure."

During a briefing for the Security Council, Zbigniew Rau said that, as a result, Moscow started to target civilians in attacks that amount to "state terrorism."

"This operation, poorly prepared and executed, turned out to be a strategic and tactical failure," said Rau. "But instead of preventing further unnecessary deaths in its own ranks, the Kremlin changed its tactics. 

Ukraine economy could collapse if conflict drags on: IMF 

Ukraine's government continues to function, the banking system is stable and debt payments are viable in the short term, but the Russian incursion could plunge Ukraine into a devastating recession, the International Monetary Fund has said.

And it warned that the conflict could have broader repercussions, including threatening global food security due to rising prices and the inability to plant crops, especially wheat.

At a minimum the country would see "output falling 10 percent this year assuming a prompt resolution of the war," the IMF said in an analysis of the economy in the wake of the Russian assault. 

EU finalising new round of sanctions against Russia

The European Union’s foreign policy chief has said the 27-country bloc is finalising its new round of sanctions against Russia.

Josep Borrell said that the fourth package of coercive measures would target Russia’s market access, membership in international financial institutions, and steel and energy sectors.

“We are listing more companies and individuals playing an active role in supporting the people who undermine Ukrainian sovereignty,” Borrell said, after talks in Skopje with North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski.

More than 2.8M flee Ukraine war: UN

The number of refugees who have fled Ukraine since the Russian attacks began on February 24 has topped 2.8 million.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has 2,808,792 refugees had now left the country - up another 110,512 from Sunday - making it the largest refugee exodus in Europe since World War II.

UNICEF said more than one million children had fled Ukraine in search of safety and protection. "They need peace NOW," the UN children's agency added. 

Convoy of cars leaves encircled Mariupol: city officials 

A convoy of over 160 cars has left Mariupol, local officials said, in what appeared to be the first successful attempt to arrange a "humanitarian corridor" to evacuate civilians from the encircled Ukrainian city.

After several days of failed attempts to deliver supplies to Mariupol and provide safe passage out for trapped civilians, the city council said a local ceasefire was holding and the convoy had left for the city of Zaporizhzhia.

"It is known that as of 1300 (1100 GMT) more than 160 private cars managed to leave," it said in an online post.

NATO: Military drills not linked to Russia

A planned NATO exercise with about 30,000 troops from more than 25 countries from Europe and North America began in northern Norway.

NATO said that the drill, named Cold Response that includes 200 aircraft and 50 vessels, was not linked to Russia’s "unprovoked and unjustified" attacks on Ukraine.

The drill in NATO-member Norway, which shares a nearly 200-kilometre land border with Russia, will be held just a few hundred kilometres from the Russian border and was planned long before the conflict.

Zelenskyy to address US Congress

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will deliver an address via video to the US Congress.

Zelenskyy will speak on 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.

Germany not to provide details of arms supplies to Ukraine

The German government has said it won’t provide any further details about weapons supplies to Ukraine.

Government spokesperson Wolfgang Buechner told reporters that “to avoid security risks” Germany would not divulge any more information on what arms are supplied to Ukraine or how.

Defense Ministry spokesperson Arne Collatz added that “it is the goal of the Russian aggressors to cut Ukraine’s supply routes and make (their) defence harder, and we don’t want to facilitate this.”

Russia can take full control of major Ukrainian cities: Kremlin

The Kremlin has said 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.

Russian, Qatari foreign ministers discuss Ukraine in Moscow

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has met with his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Moscow to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

Opening the meeting, Lavrov said he is going to inform Thani about "efforts that Russia is taking in to resolve all the issues that have arisen and accumulated over the years" in Ukraine.

"We are also constantly interested in your assessments, your observations regarding the efforts that can be made to move towards solving numerous conflicts and crises in the Middle East and North Africa," he said.

Ukraine war has been slower than expected: Putin ally 

One of President Vladimir Putin's closest allies said Russia's military operation in Ukraine had not all gone as quickly as the Kremlin had wanted.

National Guard chief Viktor Zolotov, speaking at a church service led by Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, blamed the slower than expected progress on what he said were far-right Ukrainian forces hiding behind civilians.

"I would like to say that yes, not everything is going as fast as we would like," Zolotov, once in charge of Putin's personal security, said in comments posted on the National Guard's website.

Ukraine: Talks with Russia are hard but ongoing

Fourth round of talks between Russia and Ukraine have started and communication between the two sides is hard but ongoing, Ukrainian presidential adviser and negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter.

Tweeting a photo of the talks, which are being conducted via video conference, Podolyak said: "The parties actively express their specified positions. Communication is being held yet it's hard. The reason for the discord is too different political systems."

Ukraine to demand 'immediate' ceasefire at talks

Ukraine has said it would demand an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops during the fourth round of negotiations to end more than two weeks of fighting.

"Peace, an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of all Russians troops -- and only after this can we talk about regional relations and about political differences," Kiev's lead negotiator Mikhailo Podolyak said in a video statement posted to Twitter.

At least two dead, a dozen wounded after building hit in Kiev

At least two people have died and 12 were wounded following an air strike on a residential building in Ukraine's capital Kiev, the country's emergency service said.

"As of 07:40, the bodies of two people were found in a nine-storey apartment building, three people were hospitalised and nine people were treated on the spot," the emergency service said on Facebook, adding that the building was in Kiev's Obolon district.

Rescue teams saved 63 people from the building, the emergency service said on Telegram.

Antonov aircraft plant in Kiev shelled by Russian forces

The Antonov aircraft plant in Kiev has been shelled by Russian forces, the Kiev city administration said.

"According to a preliminary toll, two people are dead and seven wounded," city hall said in a message on its Telegram account.

Separatists say 20 dead in Donetsk after Ukraine attack

Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have reported that a strike by Kiev's forces on the rebel de facto capital Donetsk left at least 16 people dead, ahead of talks to resolve the conflict.

Rebel officials said fragments from a Ukrainian Tochka missile that was shot down had landed in the centre of the city leaving more than two dozen dead with many more injured.

"Sixteen deaths have been recorded" the self-proclaimed region's health ministry said, adding that another 23 people had been injured.

Chernobyl nuclear plant power line damaged by Russian forces

A high-voltage power line to Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear plant has been damaged by Russian forces not long after electricity supplies were restored to the facility, grid operator Ukrenergo said in a statement.

It did not say if all external power supply to the plant had been lost as a result of the damage, but demanded access to the area to carry out repairs.

Ukrenergo did not produce evidence of the damage or the actions of the Russian forces and Reuters was unable to independently verify the extent of the damage or the cause of it.

Kiev region towns evacuated for fifth day running

Frontline towns near Ukraine's capital city in the Kiev region are being successfully evacuated for the fifth day in a row, regional governor Oleksiy Kuleba said in a televised interview.

"The ceasefire in our region is holding, albeit it is very conditional," said Kuleba, adding that occasional explosions could be heard in the distance from the place he was stationed.

90 children killed since beginning of Russian operation: Ukraine

Ninety children have been killed and more than 100 wounded in Ukraine since Russia's incursion began on February 24, the Ukrainian general prosecutor's office said.

"The highest number of victims are in the Kiev, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kherson, Mykolayiv and Zhytomyr regions," it said in a statement.

Russia denies targeting civilians in what it calls a "special operation" to demilitarise and "deNazify" Ukraine.

Nearly 147,000 refugees from Ukraine registered in Germany

Nearly 147,000 people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine have registered in Germany so far, said an interior ministry spokesperson.

The spokesperson told a regular news conference that 146,998 people had registered so far and added that the actual number of refugees currently in Germany could be much higher.

'Very unlikely' Russian missiles will land in NATO territory - UK minister

It is not impossible that Russian missiles could land in NATO territory but it is very unlikely, British health minister Sajid Javid has said, adding that the alliance would respond if it did happen.

Asked about the possibility of Russian missiles landing on NATO territory after a weekend attack on a Ukrainian military training base near Poland, Javid told BBC Radio: "It is not impossible ... but I still think at this stage it's very unlikely."

"We've made it very clear to the Russians, even before the start of this conflict, even if a single Russian toecap steps into NATO territory, then it will be considered an act of war."

Israel will not be route to bypass sanctions imposed on Russia

Israel will not be a route to bypass sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and other western countries, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said during a visit to Slovakia.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is coordinating the issue together with partners including the Bank of Israel, the Finance Ministry, the Economy Ministry, the Airports Authority, the Energy Ministry, and others," he said after meeting Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok.

EU members should keep budgets reactive over Ukraine crisis: France

EU governments need to keep their fiscal stances "reactive" in the face of the current Ukraine crisis with targeted measures for households and firms, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has said, ahead of a meeting with his EU counterparts.

EU envoy hails Türkiye’s push to broker peace between Russia, Ukraine

Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, head of the EU Delegation to Türkiye, has praised Ankara for its efforts to mediate between Russia and Ukraine.

“Türkiye was able to invite the two foreign ministers and get them to sit together,” Meyer-Landrut said in an interview with Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF).

He was referring to a meeting between Sergey Lavrov and Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine, hosted by Türkiye’s top diplomat Mevlut Cavusoglu in Antalya last week. The talks were the first high-level interaction between Russia and Ukraine since the conflict began.

Top Putin ally says Ukraine operation has been slower than expected

Russia's National Guard chief Viktor Zolotov, one of President Vladimir Putin's closest allies, has said Russia's military operation in Ukraine had not all gone as quickly as the Kremlin had wanted. 

"I would like to say that yes, not everything is going as fast as we would like," he said in comments posted on the National Guard's website. "...But we are going towards our goal step by step and victory will be for us, and this icon will protect the Russian army and accelerate our victory."

Zolotov blamed the slower than expected progress on what he said were far-right Ukrainian forces hiding behind civilians, an accusation repeatedly made by officials in Russia.

Turkish businessman distributes free food to conflict-weary Ukrainians

A Turkish businessman has been distributing free food to nearly 1,000 Ukrainians every day in Kiev, where he has been living for two decades.

Onur Hekim originally hails from Türkiye's Izmir province and has a restaurant in the Ukrainian capital. He chose to help the victims instead of leaving the city where many shops are closed in the wake of Russia's operation in Ukraine.

Russia: No reason for UN peacekeepers to be sent to Ukraine

Pyotr Ilyichev, director of the Russian foreign ministry's international organisations department, said there was no need for United Nations peacekeepers to be sent to Ukraine as Russia was in control, RIA news agency reported.

Ten humanitarian corridors agreed: Ukraine

Ukraine will try to evacuate trapped civilians through 10 "humanitarian corridors", including from towns near the capital Kiev 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’s stock market to remain closed this week

Russia’s stock market will continue to suspend trading operations this week, from Monday through Friday, according to the Moscow Exchange (MOEX).

Trading sessions on the MOEX equity market will not resume between March 14-18, it said in a statement.

MOEX plummeted a whopping 33.3 percent on February 24 when Russia launched its operation in Ukraine. On February 28, trading was suspended until further notice.

Moscow accuses West of wanting to stage an 'artificial default'

Russia's finance ministry has 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.

Australia joins allies in sanctioning Russian oligarchs

Australia has reported it was imposing new sanctions on 33 Russian oligarchs and business people, including Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich and Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller, over the Russian operation in Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia supported moves by the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, the European Union and New Zealand to take action against key Russians.

"Many of these oligarchs have facilitated, or directly benefited, from the Kremlin's illegal and indefensible actions in Ukraine since 2014," Payne said.

Pregnant woman, baby die after Russia bombed maternity ward

A pregnant woman and her baby have died after Russia bombed the maternity hospital where she was meant to give birth, American news agency The Associated Press reported.

Images of the woman being rushed to an ambulance on a stretcher while stroking her bloodied lower abdomen had circled the world, taking its place among the most brutal moments so far in Russia’s now 19-day-old operation in Ukraine.

Instagram no longer accessible in Russia

Russia has cut access to Instagram after its parent company Meta was accused by Moscow of allowing calls for violence against Russians on its platforms.

The social network appeared on a list of online resources with "restricted access" published by Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor.

Gazprom continues gas shipments via Ukraine at same volume

Russian natural gas company Gazprom has said it was continuing gas shipments via Ukraine, with volumes at 109.5 million cubic metres per day, marginally down from 109.6 million a day earlier.

China slams US claims that Russia asked it for military aid as ‘disinformation’

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson has said assertions from US officials that Russia asked Beijing for military equipment for its campaign in Ukraine were “disinformation” from the United States.

The comments came during a regular Chinese foreign ministry briefing in Beijing.

Talks to resume as Russian strikes widen in western Ukraine

Diplomats are due to resume talks today, according to Russian state news agency TASS. Video-conference talks will take place between Ukraine and Russia, Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and part of the negotiating team, has said.

The new round of talks will start at 0830 GMT (1030am Kiev time), Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, said.

Besieged Ukrainians hold out hope that renewed diplomatic talks with Russia might open the way for more civilians to evacuate, a day after Moscow escalated its offensive by shelling areas perilously close to the Polish border.

Zelenskyy vows to keep negotiating with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he will continue negotiating with Russia and is waiting for a meeting with Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy has repeatedly called for a meeting with Putin. But so far, his requests have gone unanswered by the Kremlin.

The Ukrainian delegation in talks with Russia has a “clear task” to do everything to ensure a meeting between the two presidents, Zelenskyy said during his nightly address to the nation.

US, China aides to meet as tensions mount over Russia

The US and China are sending top aides to meet in Rome amid mounting tensions between the two countries over Russia's operation in Ukraine and as the US said Russia has asked China for military equipment to help press its campaign.

In advance of the talks with China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan bluntly warned China to avoid helping Russia evade punishment from global sanctions that have hammered the Russian economy. “We will not allow that to go forward,” he said.

Sullivan will stress the economic penalties Beijing will face if it continues to support Russia, and warn of the isolation China could face globally, US officials say.

Chechen Kadyrov says he is in Ukraine

Ramazan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, has reported that he is in Ukraine alongside Russian forces who are leading an offensive in the country.

Kadyrov, who is accused by international NGOs of serious human rights violations in the tightly controlled Caucasus republic, posted a video on Telegram of himself in military uniform studying plans around a table with soldiers in a room.

"The other day we were about 20 km from you Kiev Nazis and now we are even closer," Kadyrov wrote. He called on Ukrainian forces to surrender "or you will be finished".

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.

Russian prosecutors have issued warnings to several foreign entities via calls, letters and in-person visits. They have threatened to arrest officials who have criticised the government or to seize assets, including intellectual property.

The targeted companies include Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Procter & Gamble, IBM and Yum Brands, the parent company of KFC and Pizza Hut, according to the journal.

Ukraine offensive must end: Russian billionaire

The Russian offensive in Ukraine is a tragedy that must be stopped or there will be a global food crisis as fertiliser prices are already too high for many farmers, Russia's coal and fertiliser king Andrei Melnichenko said.

"The events in Ukraine are truly tragic. We urgently need peace," Melnichenko, 50, who is Russian but was born in Belarus and has a Ukrainian mother, told Reuters news agency in a statement.

Zelenskyy urges Ukraine no-fly zone or 'Russian rockets will fall' on NATO soil

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged NATO to impose a no-fly zone over his country or see its member states attacked by Russia.

"If you don't close our sky, it is only a matter of time before Russian rockets fall on your territory, on NATO territory," Zelenskyy said in a video address released shortly after midnight.

He spoke a day after thirty-five people were killed and more than 130 injured when Russian troops launched air strikes on a military training ground outside Ukraine's western city of Lviv, near the border with NATO member Poland.

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