Russia-Ukraine conflict: 'Not joining NATO,' says Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that his country should accept that it will not become a member of the US-led NATO military alliance, a key concern Russia used to justify its invasion.

"Ukraine is not a member of NATO. We understand that. We have heard for years that the doors were open, but we also heard that we could not join. It's a truth and it must be recognised," Zelenskyy said during a video conference with military officials, AFP reported.

The remarks also came on the day Kyiv and Moscow resumed talks.

Earlier negotiations held in Belarus were not able to secure a long-lasting ceasefire or a safe passage for civilian evacuation.

Meanwhile, the United States has said that it will continue to assess what other forms of air defence it might be able to provide to Ukraine amid Russia’s military operation, Sputnik reported citing envoy to NATO Julianne Smith.

What are Russia's demands?

Apart from demanding that Ukraine remains neutral, Russia has asked the country to give up its claim on the Crimea peninsula and recognise the independence of Ukrainian separatist regions Donetsk and Lugansk that are controlled by Russian separatists.

Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014.

How has NATO reacted to crisis

NATO members have individually sent military aid to Ukraine but the alliance has ruled out sending troops to Ukraine saying that such a move would "trigger direct confrontation with Russia."

Last week US president Joe Biden warned that a "NATO-Russia confrontation might lead to World War III."

Most notably, NATO has turned down Zelenskyy's request to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

To create a no-fly zone, the alliance will have to deploy its fighter planes to the war-hit country.

Why Russia doesn't want Ukraine to join NATO?

Russia has opposed former Soviet nation and neighbour Ukraine's attempt to join the 30-member US-led military alliance.

Earlier, Russian president Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine's "NATO membership will be the red line for Russia."

Putin said that the move would "threaten Russian national security."

Of major concern for Russia is NATO's Article 5 which says that "if one ally is attacked, then it's an attack on all the members."

US, UK sanctions target Putin's inner cirlce

US sanctions Tuesday targeted more individuals in Russian president Vladimir Putin’s power structure, including senior Russian military officials and the leader of Kremlin-allied Belarus.

Some of the new sanctions were brought under the Magnitsky Act, a 2012 act of Congress that authorises sanctions against those engaged in human rights abuses.

Tuesday's sanctions show the US going after more individual officials after laying down some of the toughest sanctions of modern times against Russian institutions and top figures over Putin's nearly 3-week-old invasion of Ukraine.

UK too imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia that prime minister Boris Johnson said would degrade its economy "for years to come", as he slammed Putin in unusually personal terms by calling him a "dictator."

The sanctions include freezing the assets of Russian bank VTB and arms manufacturer Rostec, sanctions on five more oligarchs close to Putin including his former son-in-law Kirill Shamalov, and banning Aeroflot from British airspace.

Russia imposes sanctions on Biden, Blinken

Russia has imposed sanctions against US President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other US officials, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

"Russia is imposing individual sanctions against US President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other top US officials," Sputnik reported citing the Foreign Ministry.

In addition, Moscow is imposing sanctions against Hunter Biden, the president's son, and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the Russian news ggency reported.

European leaders head to Kyiv

Meanwhile, leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are travelling to Ukraine's capital Tuesday on a European Union mission to show support for the country as Russia's forces move closer to Kyiv.

Czech prime minister Petr Fiala said in a tweet: The aim of the visit is to express the European Union's unequivocal support for Ukraine and its freedom and independence. He will be joined by Slovak Prime Minister Janez Jana, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is Poland's deputy prime minister for security and the leader of the conservative ruling party.

Fighting continues in Ukraine

According to Ukrainian emergency services, at least two people were killed when Russian forces bombed an apartment complex in Kyiv on day 20 of the invasion.

Russia said that it has taken full control of Ukraine's Kherson region.

Ukraine on Tuesday claimed that over 13,500 Russian troops have been killed since the attack began on 24 February. However, Russia has revealed its military casualties only once since the invasion started. On March 2, Moscow said that it lost 498 troops in the fighting.

With inputs from agencies

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