Russia Ukraine Crisis News: Demonstrators march from the Lincoln Memorial to the White House during a 'Stand with Ukraine' rally in Washington. (Reuters)Russia Ukraine Crisis Live: Russia’s FSB security service said on Monday a shell from Ukrainian territory had completely destroyed a border guard post in Russia’s Rostov region but had caused no casualties, the Interfax news agency reported. The incident occurred 150 metres from the border between Russia and Ukraine, Interfax cited the FSB as saying. Sporadic shelling across the line dividing Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the east has intensified since Thursday.
Meanwhile, Kremlin on Monday said that it is too early to organise a summit between Putin and Biden, after Paris announced the possibility of a meeting to calm tensions over Ukraine. “It’s premature to talk about any specific plans for organising any kind of summits,” Kremlin spokesman Peskov said, news agency AFP reported. This came after in a diplomatic gambit brokered by French President Emmanuel Macron, the White House said US President Joe Biden has agreed “in principle” to a meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin as long as he holds off on launching an assault on Ukraine that US officials warn appears increasingly more likely.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration has been clear that “we are committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion begins.” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are set to meet on Thursday in Europe as long as a further invasion doesn’t occur.
A Ukrainian service member touches a dog on the front line near the city of Novoluhanske in the Donetsk region, Ukraine. (Reuters)
The New York Times is reporting that Putin has called an unscheduled meeting of his Security Council. His spokesperson confirmed this to NYT while refusing to elaborate on suggestions of the potential for direct talks between Putin and US President Joe Biden.
UK PM Boris Johnson’s spokesperson says, “Intelligence we’re seeing suggests Russia intends to launch an invasion of Ukraine and in some way Putin’s plan has in effect already begun.” (Reuters)
The EU will not impose sanctions on Russia just yet, the bloc's foreign policy chief said on Monday, rebuffing a call from Kyiv to take such steps now to avert a war rather than wait until after any possible Russian invasion.
Western countries fear a buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine in recent weeks is a prelude to an invasion, which Moscow denies. The United States and European allies have said any attack would trigger "massive" sanctions against Moscow, but Kyiv wants sanctions now.
"We expect decisions," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in Brussels before addressing a regularly scheduled meeting of EU foreign ministers. "We believe that there are good and legitimate reasons to impose at least some of the sanctions now to demonstrate that the European Union is not only talking the talk about sanctions, but is also walking the walk."
The EU ministers backed plans announced last month for a 1.2-billion-euro financial aid loan package for Ukraine, and also agreed in principle to a long-standing Ukrainian request for a small-scale mission of military instructors to help train officers. But the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, as well as some of the assembled foreign ministers, made clear the bloc did not plan to impose sanctions on Russia yet. (Reuters)
More than a hundred people gather in Washington, D.C. to show solidarity with Ukraine and protest against the threat of a Russian invasion.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin by telephone later Monday in a further effort to ease tensions over Ukraine, the German government spokesman said. (AFP)
As Russia and the West led by the US up the rhetoric, a worried international community is watching the situation with concern. But what does the Russia-Ukraine crisis mean for the rest of the world? Watch Dr C Raja Mohan explain
When Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, called on Saturday for talks to resolve the crisis in Europe, he said Ukraine’s sovereignty should be “respected and safeguarded” — but also sided with Russia in saying that NATO enlargement was destabilising the continent.
“If NATO keeps expanding eastward, is it conducive to maintaining peace and stability in Europe?” he said by video at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, which Vice President Kamala Harris was attending in person to rally countries against Russia.
It was the latest instance of what Western officials say is China taking a bold new swing at the United States and its allies by wading into European security issues to explicitly back Russia, which has amassed as many as 190,000 troops around Ukraine for a possible invasion — despite the fact Ukraine is not joining NATO anytime soon. Read more
Russia's FSB security service said on Monday a shell from Ukrainian territory had completely destroyed a border guard post in Russia's Rostov region but had caused no casualties, the Interfax news agency reported.
The incident occurred 150 metres from the border between Russia and Ukraine, Interfax cited the FSB as saying. Sporadic shelling across the line dividing Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the east has intensified since Thursday. (Reuters)
Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov says there is no sign of Russian forces withdrawing from the border and that Moscow-backed rebels continue to shell Ukrainian positions, reports AFP. Interfax Ukraine reported that Reznikov said an invasion could be presented as sending in peacekeepers.
Kremlin says it is too early to organise a summit between Putin and Biden, after Paris announced the possibility of a meeting to calm tensions over Ukraine. "It's premature to talk about any specific plans for organising any kind of summits," Kremlin spokesman Peskov said, news agency AFP reported.
Increasing hostilities with Ukraine and the West is advantageous to Russia given the tattered relationship between the USA and its European allies, the domestic support for such an endeavour and Putin’s need for a popularity boost ahead of the 2024 Russian Presidential elections.
But how do the Ukrainians perceive the current state of affairs, and what they are prepared to do in order to protect their national sovereignty? Read more
Oil prices fell on Monday, reversing course from strong initial gains, as news of fresh diplomatic efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis provided some relief from concerns about crude supply.
Brent crude futures and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose more than $1 a barrel at the start of Asian trade as the Ukraine crisis threatened to disrupt Russian energy exports to Europe.
But prices subsequently swung to a near $1 loss after the office of French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement on Monday that US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed in principle to a summit over Ukraine. (Reuters)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock accused Russia of playing an "irresponsible" game with the civilian population of eastern Ukraine and urged it to return to the negotiating table.
"I urgently call on the Russian government, on the Russian president: Don't play with human lives," Baerbock told reporters after arriving for a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels.
"What we have seen over the last 72 hours in terms of attacks, violent disputes is really concerning," she said. "The responsibility lies with the Russian government which is why I call urgently on the Russian government: Come back to the negotiating table. It is in your hands." (Reuters)
The US warned it has “credible information” that Russia has lists of Ukrainians who will be “killed or sent to camps” in the event of military occupation, according to a letter sent to the UN rights chief quoted by Al Jazeera.
Sources familiar with the intelligence told CNN that the lists are part of a plan to replace the current administration in Kyiv with a Russia-friendly government. "I think for most it will depend on how cooperative these people are when the time comes and the circumstances in which they are captured or taken. "If it's in public, that'll be different from somebody who they corner in the middle of nowhere," a source familiar with the intelligence told the news channel.
Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Russia on February 23-24, the official Russian media has reported, signalling the first visit by a Pakistani premier to Moscow in 23 years.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that preparations for the visit of the Prime Minister Khan were underway, the state-run TASS news agency reported.
"The visit will take place on February 23-24," it quoted a source in diplomatic circles as saying. Khan's visit has not been officially announced by Pakistan and Russia. (PTI)
Satellite images show multiple new field deployments of armored equipment and troops from Russian garrisons near the border with Ukraine, a private US company Maxar said, in what its director said indicated increased military readiness.
Asian shares were mostly lower Monday after a retreat on Wall Street, as investors watched for developments in Ukraine after Russia rescinded earlier pledges to pull tens of thousands of its troops away from Ukraine’s northern border.
Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai declined while Sydney advanced.
Russia is a major energy producer and a military conflict also could disrupt energy supplies and make for extremely volatile energy prices. (AP)
Moscow, in another escalation toward a possible invasion of Ukraine, is issuing a growing drumbeat of accusations, all without evidence, that center on a single word.
“What is happening in the Donbas today is genocide,” President Vladimir Putin of Russia said Tuesday, referring to Ukraine’s east.
Senior Russian officials and state media have since echoed Putin’s use of “genocide.” Russian diplomats circulated a document to the United Nations Security Council accusing Ukraine of “exterminating the civilian population” in its east. Read more
The Ukrainian parliament witnessed an unusual scene recently. A group of representatives gathered around the lectern and held up flags of NATO and allied countries for the cameras — a demonstration of gratitude for foreign support for Ukraine in the confrontation with Russia. The flag of the United Kingdom, the Union Jack, featured twice.
It was also on display in the streets of the Ukrainian capital when the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, visited Kyiv earlier this month. Ukraine is clearly grateful to the beleaguered Johnson, who is under considerable pressure on the domestic front. Read more
As tensions soar in Ukraine’s east and Western leaders issue dire warnings that a wider war could be coming, calm persists along Ukraine’s western border with European Union nation Poland.
People in Poland, which was controlled by Moscow during the Cold War, are following the news of Russia's military buildup with concern. The Polish government last year became embroiled in a migration dispute with another eastern neighbor, Russian ally Belarus.
The U.S. deployed nearly 5,000 more troops to Poland in recent weeks. They come in addition to 4,000 rotational troops the U.S. began sending after Russian actions against Ukraine in 2014. The job of the American soldiers is to reassure NATO ally Poland and to be in place to help evacuate U.S. citizens or Ukrainians should that be necessary. (AP)