Ukraine on edge as Russia continues its assault: Live News | Russia-Ukraine crisis News
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- A miles-long Russian military convoy appears stalled near Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, a senior US defense official says.
- Ukrainian emergency services says an attack by Russian forces on a television tower near central Kyiv killed five people and wounded five others.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to US President Joe Biden, saying it is important to stop “aggressor” Russia.
- At least 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed on Monday in a Russian artillery attack on a military base in Okhtyrka, a local official says.
- Negotiations between delegations from Kyiv and Moscow held at the Ukraine-Belarus border on Monday ended with no agreements except to keep talking.
- EU bans Russian media outlets and “certain” banks from SWIFT bank messaging system.
Here are all the latest updates:
Putin misjudged Western response to Ukraine invasion: Biden
Biden has said Russian President Vladimir Putin had underestimated the powerful response his invasion of Ukraine would illicit from Western nations as sanctions upended Russia’s economy.
“Putin’s war was premeditated and unprovoked,” Biden said in prepared remarks released ahead of his annual State of the Union address.
“He rejected efforts at diplomacy. He thought the West and NATO would not respond. And, he thought he could divide us here at home. Putin was wrong. We were ready. ”
United Airlines suspends flying over Russian airspace
United Airlines has confirmed it has temporarily suspended flying over Russian airspace, joining other major US carriers.
United had been continuing to fly over Russian airspace to operate some flights to and from India in recent days. Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Parcel Service all confirmed this week they had halted flights over Russia as the White House considers following Canada and the European Union in banning overflights of US airspace by Russian carriers.
US’s Yellen says G7 ready to impose further financial pressure on Russia
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the Group of Seven (G7) nations would convene a task force to focus on freezing and seizing assets of Russian elites.
“We stand ready to impose further financial pressure, as necessary,” Yellen said in a statement after a G7 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors on the situation in Ukraine.
World Bank preparing $ 3bn emergency aid package for Ukraine
The World Bank has announced that it is preparing a $ 3bn aid package for Ukraine, which will include at least $ 350m in immediate funds.
The first tranche of aid “will be submitted to the Board for approval this week, followed by $ 200m in fast-disbursing support for health and education,” the World Bank said in a joint statement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). which deplored Russia’s invasion.
The IMF will consider the country’s latest request for emergency financing “as early as next week.”
Russia sees ‘no desire’ from Ukraine to find legitimate solution
Russia sees “no desire on the part of Ukraine” to try to find a legitimate and balanced solution to the problems between the two countries, Gennady Gatilov, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, has told Lebanese television in an interview.
Gatilov said Russia “supports diplomacy based on respect for the positions of all countries and equality, but for now we don’t see that,” the Russian news agency RIA quoted him as saying in the interview.
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators held a first round of talks on Monday but made no substantial progress, merely agreeing to meet again. No date was set for a second round.
World Bank, IMF racing to get aid to Ukraine, warn of ‘treacherous period’
The heads of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have said they were racing to provide billions of dollars of additional funding to Ukraine in the coming weeks and months, and warned that the war threatened to create “significant spillovers” to other countries.
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank President David Malpass warned that commodity prices were rising, which risked further fueling inflation, and disruptions in financial markets would continue to worsen should the conflict persist.
The leaders said they were deeply shocked and saddened by the war, but did not explicitly mention Russia, which is a shareholder in both institutions.
EU banning Russian media outlets, banks from SWIFT: EU presidency
The European Union has banned Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik from broadcasting in the bloc while banning “certain” Russian banks from the SWIFT bank messaging system, the EU’s rotating presidency said.
The moves, due to come into force on Wednesday after publication in the official journal of the EU, come as Brussels intensifies its sanctions regime on Moscow in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
‘Stop the aggressor’, Zelenskyy pleads
Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy has said in a phone call with Biden that it is important to stop “aggressor” Russia “as soon as possible”.
The call comes ahead of Biden’s State of the Union address.
Just had a conversation with @POTUS. The American leadership on anti-Russian sanctions and defense assistance to Ukraine was discussed. We must stop the aggressor as soon as possible. Thank you for your support!
– Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 1, 2022
100,000 Ukrainians join self-defense units: Official
Svitlana Zalishchuk, a foreign policy adviser to Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, told Al Jazeera that Ukrainians are fearful yet determined as fighting has increased across the country.
“We are scared that Putin is not going to stop,” Zalishchuk told Al Jazeera from Beregovo, a city in western Ukraine. She said approximately 100,000 people joined have so-called territorial defense units in recent days in response to Russia’s advance.
“For example, my brother, he is a businessman, he has nothing to do with [the] but he took a gun and went to protect one of the towns at the entrance of Kyiv, ”Zalishchuk said.
Miles-long Russian convoy appears stalled near Kyiv: US official
An enormous Russian military convoy is lumbering towards the capital, Kyiv, raising fears of an imminent uptick in fighting there.
A senior U.S. defense official told reporters the convoy appeared to stall on Tuesday, however, due to a number of factors, including the Ukrainian resistance that the Russian troops have faced.
“We also believe that part of the stall could be – and I emphasize the word ‘could’ – could be a result of their own self-determined sort of pause in operations – that they are possibly regrouping, rethinking, reevaluating,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
Apple says it ‘paused’ all product sales in Russia
Tech giant Apple has announced a halt to all product sales in Russia. “We have paused all product sales in Russia. Last week, we stopped all exports into our sales channel in the country, ”the company said in a statement.
The iPhone maker also announced Apple Pay and other services have been limited, while Russian state-owned media RT and Sputnik are no longer available for download outside Russia.
“We are deeply concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and stand with all of the people who are suffering as a result of the violence,” the statement said.
Ukrainian refugees stream into Hungary
More than 85,000 people have crossed from Ukraine into Hungary since the start of Russia’s invasion.
Along the 135km (84-mile) border, refugees are met with hot chai, locally made sandwiches, and logistical help – embassies can be rung, tickets booked for free, and even children entertained. Read more here.
Welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
Read all the updates from Monday, February 29, here.
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