Russia Ukraine war LIVE updates: Stop playing with Russia, end war; Zelenskyy tells West

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the countries, which are attempting to isolate Russia, are primarily only harming their economies. While addressing the plenary session of the First Eurasian Economic Forum on Thursday, Putin said it would simply be unfeasible and impossible to isolate Russia, and "those, who aspire to do so would harm themselves the most", reports Xinhua news agency.

The Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk is the center of fierce fighting in the east. Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk says it’s holding out even though a Russian reconnaissance and sabotage group went into a city hotel.Stryuk said at least 1,500 people have been killed in Sievierodonetsk and about 12,000 to 13,000 remain in the city, where he said 60% of residential buildings have been destroyed.

Russia may escape defaulting on its debt on Friday, but the tightening noose of Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine is inexorably drawing the nation towards a default.A $71 million payment due Friday may have already been made before US authorities removed this week an exception that allowed Russia to pay its debts in dollars using currency it held outside US financial institutions. But with other payments coming due, the world will likely soon have its first case of a country that unwillingly defaults because of international sanctions rather than not having the money to pay.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday complained about divisions inside the European Union over more sanctions against Russia and asked why some nations were being allowed to block the plan. The EU is discussing a sixth round of punitive measures, including an embargo on Russian oil imports. Such a move requires unanimity but Hungary opposes the idea for now on the grounds its economy would suffer too much. "How many more weeks will the European Union try to agree on a sixth package?" Zelenskiy said in a late night address, noting that Russia was receiving a billion euros a day from the 27-nation bloc for energy supplies. "Of course I am grateful to those friends who are advocating new sanctions. But where do the people blocking this sixth package get their power from? Why are they allowed to hold such power?" he asked.

Moscow pressed the West on Thursday to lift sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, seeking to shift the blame for a growing food crisis that has been worsened by Kyiv's inability to ship millions of tons of grain and other agricultural products due to the conflict. Britain immediately accused Russia of “trying to hold the world to ransom,” insisting there would be no sanctions relief, and a top U.S. diplomat blasted the "sheer barbarity, sadistic cruelty and lawlessness” of the invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin told Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi that Moscow “is ready to make a significant contribution to overcoming the food crisis through the export of grain and fertilizer on the condition that politically motivated restrictions imposed by the West are lifted," according to a Kremlin readout of the call. Ukraine is one of the world's largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but the war and a Russian blockade of its ports has halted much of that flow, endangering world food supplies. Many of those ports are now also heavily mined.

resident Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the West to stop playing around with Russia and impose tougher sanctions on Moscow to end its "senseless war" in Ukraine, adding his country would remain independent, the only question was at what price. Zelenskyy's criticism of the West has mounted in recent days as the European Union moves slowly towards a possible Russian oil embargo and as thousands of Russian forces try to encircle two key eastern cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.

The Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk is the center of fierce fighting in the east. Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk says it’s holding out even though a Russian reconnaissance and sabotage group went into a city hotel. Stryuk said at least 1,500 people have been killed in Sievierodonetsk and about 12,000 to 13,000 remain in the city, where he said 60% of residential buildings have been destroyed.

Russia on Thursday made an all-out effort to capture the rest of the industrial region of Lugansk in eastern Ukraine, officials said, as President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of seeking to commit "genocide" across the eastern Donbas. As the fighting intensified, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba aired Kyiv's increasing frustration with the West, accusing allies of dragging their feet on arms deliveries and telling his German counterpart that Ukraine needs heavy weapons "as soon as possible."

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday accused Russia of carrying out "an obvious policy of genocide" in his country's eastern Donbas region. Moscow's offensive in Donbas could end up leaving the region "uninhabited," he said, accusing the Russians of wanting to reduce its cities to ashes. "All this, including the deportation of our people and the mass killings of civilians, is an obvious policy of genocide pursued by Russia," he said in his daily televised address.

Nine people were killed in fresh Russian shelling on Ukraine's second city Kharkiv Thursday, a regional official said, where many have returned after Russia's attempts to capture the eastern city were repelled. "Russian shelling in Kharkiv today left nine civilians dead," regional governor Oleg Sinegubov said on social media.

Moscow pressed the West on Thursday to lift sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, seeking to shift the blame for a growing food crisis that has been worsened by Kyiv’s inability to ship millions of tons of grain and other agricultural products due to the conflict. Britain immediately accused Russia of “trying to hold the world to ransom,” insisting there would be no sanctions relief, and a top U.S. diplomat blasted the "sheer barbarity, sadistic cruelty and lawlessness” of the invasion.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday he was forming a southern military command and sending battalion tactical groups to the area that borders Ukraine. Lukashenko did not give details, but battalion tactical groups typically consist of mechanized infantry including tanks. The territory of Belarus was used for rocket attacks on Ukraine, but the military of Belarus did not take part in the Russian ground operation. Ukrainian authorities have expressed concern that Belarus may agree to a wider participation in the war.

Advancing Russian forces came closer to surrounding Ukrainian troops in the east, briefly seizing positions on the last highway out of a crucial pair of Ukrainian-held cities before being beaten back, a Ukrainian official said on Thursday. Three months into its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has abandoned its assault on the capital Kyiv and is trying to consolidate control of the industrial eastern Donbas region, where it has backed a separatist revolt since 2014.

A Russian court confirmed the dismissal of 115 national guardsmen who challenged their sacking after refusing to take part in Moscow's military operation in Ukraine. The case appears to be the first official confirmation of soldiers refusing to join Russia's military campaign in Ukraine that was launched on February 24