LIVE: Kremlin says no request yet from Ukraine to talk to Putin

11:38 PM

Amid Ukraine crisis, Biden considering trip to Europe, say officials

The White House is weighing the possibility of President Joe Biden travelling to Europe in the coming weeks for face-to-face talks with European leaders about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to three U.S. 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 Monday. Another official said the White House was looking at Biden visiting NATO headquarters on March 24, with other potential stops in Europe.

 

All of the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity as none was allowed to comment publicly.

11:35 PM

Kremlin says no request yet from Ukraine to talk to Putin: RIA

The Kremlin has not received any requests in the past week from the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to arrange a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, RIA news agency quoted Putin's spokesman as saying on Monday.

 

The Kremlin has previously said that Putin will not refuse a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart to discuss how to end hostilities in Ukraine.

 

Ukraine has repeatedly called for direct talks between the men, and Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Ukraine's negotiators were trying to secure such a meeting.

11:32 PM

No discussion of possible Putin-Biden summit, says Kremlin

No discussions are taking place about the possibility of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, according to the Tass news agency.

 

A White House spokesperson said on Feb. 22, two days before Russian armed forces entered Ukraine, that a summit was "certainly not in the plans", and that a de-escalation of Russia's conflict with Ukraine would be needed before any such meeting took place.

11:27 PM

Ukraine accuses Russia of blocking aid convoy to besieged port city of Mariupol

Senior Ukrainian presidential official Kyrylo Tymoshenko on Monday accused Russia of blocking a humanitarian aid convoy sent to relieve the besieged port city of Mariupol.

 

Civilians have been trapped in Mariupol by Russian shelling for more than two weeks and have been without heating, electricity and running water for most of this time, the Ukrainian authorities say.

 

However, at least 160 cars left the city on Monday in the first successful attempt to evacuate civilians in a humanitarian corridor after over a week of trying.

 

Around 150,000 people had been evacuated through humanitarian corridors so far, Tymoshenko said.

10:57 PM

'Russia continues to occupy parts of Georgia'

10:53 PM

EU mulls Russia export ban on luxury cars

The EU is discussing a ban on exports of luxury vehicles worth more than 50,000 euros to Russia as part of its latest sanctions package, according to two diplomats familiar with the proposal.

 

The proposed ban, which is set to be approved as early as Monday and could still change, could apply to models from several European car brands, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari and Porsche. The EU measure would also include boats and planes, as well as chairlifts and motorbikes worth more than 5,000 euros.

10:39 PM

EU member states press ahead with new package of sanctions against Russia

European Union member states have agreed on a fourth package of sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, the office of the French EU presidency wrote on Twitter on Monday.

10:35 PM

Russian oligarch Abramovich spotted in Israeli airport

Sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich was seen in Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport on Monday shortly before a jet linked to him took off for Istanbul.

 

A photograph obtained by Reuters showed Abramovich, owner of Britain's Chelsea soccer club, sitting in the airport's VIP lounge with a face mask pulled down over his chin. Reuters could not verify independently that he actually boarded the flight.

 

Abramovich, who also holds Israeli and Portuguese citizenship, was among seven Russian billionaires added to the British sanctions list on Thursday as part of efforts to isolate President Vladimir Putin over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

10:34 PM

Mayor of Ukraine's Kharkiv says Russian forces firing at city non-stop

The mayor of Ukraine's front line city of Kharkiv on Monday said the city had been under constant attack by Russian forces, who had fired at central districts causing an unspecified number of casualties.

 

"They're firing at us constantly," Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on national television.

10:12 PM

IMF says working on bilateral donor trust fund for Ukraine

The International Monetary Fund is working on a new Ukraine trust fund instrument to allow bilateral donor countries to contribute resources to the war-torn country as it battles a Russian invasion, an IMF official said on Monday.

 

A $1.4 billion emergency loan for Ukraine approved by the IMF last week is currently the maximum that Ukraine can borrow directly from the Fund current rules for the IMF's Rapid Financing Instrument, the official said.

 

Any additional near-term IMF-administered funding for Ukraine will come from bilateral donors, the official said, adding that the IMF's emergency loan is having a "catalytic" effect in encouraging donations.

10:06 PM

Russia's attack on Ukrainian base launched from Russian airspace: US official

Russia's carried out its weekend attack on a large Ukrainian base on Sunday using air-launched cruise missiles fired from Russian airspace by long-range bombers, a senior U.S. defense official said on Monday.

 

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the strike on the Yavoriv International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security near the border with NATO member Poland would not affect the West's military resupply effort for Ukraine.
 

The official said there were no U.S. troops, contractors or civilian government workers at the base.

10:06 PM

Nine killed in air strike on TV tower in northern Ukraine, says governor

At least nine people were killed and nine more wounded in an air strike on a television tower in Ukraine's northern Rivne region on Monday, Governor Vitaliy Koval said.

 

"There are still people under the rubble," he said in an online post.

9:55 PM

Russia's attack on Ukrainian base launched from Russian airspace: US official

Russia's carried out its weekend attack on a large Ukrainian base on Sunday using air-launched cruise missiles fired from Russian airspace by long-range bombers, a senior U.S. defense official said on Monday.

 

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the strike on the Yavoriv International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security near the border with NATO member Poland would not affect the West's military resupply effort for Ukraine.

 

The official said there were no U.S. troops, contractors or civilian government workers at the base.

9:46 PM

Russians' demand for VPNs skyrockets after Meta block

As Russia blocked access to Meta Platforms Inc's flagship social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, demand from internet users for tools to skirt the restrictions skyrocketed, data from a monitoring firm showed.

 

Instagram access in Russia was cut from Monday in response to Meta's decision last week to allow social media users in Ukraine to post messages such as "Death to the Russian invaders". Facebook was already banned over what Moscow said were restrictions on access to Russian media there.

 

On the eve of the Instagram ban, demand for Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) that encrypt data and obscure where a user is located spiked 2,088% higher than the daily average demand in mid-February, data from monitoring firm Top10VPN showed.

9:10 PM

Ukraine economy could shrink by a third due to Russia invasion, IMF report says

Ukraine's economy is expected to contract by 10% in 2022 as a result of Russia's invasion, but the outlook could worsen sharply if the conflict lasts longer, the International Monetary Fund said in a staff report released on Monday.

 

The report, prepared ahead of the IMF's approval of $1.4 billion in emergency financing, said Ukraine's economic output could shrink by 25% to 35%, based on real wartime gross domestic product data from Iraq, Lebanon and other countries at war.

 

The report said Ukraine has an external financing gap of $4.8 billion, but its financing needs were expected to grow and it would require significant additional concessional financing.

 

The country's public debt was expected to spike to 60% of GDP in 2022 from around 50% in 2021, the report said.

8:58 PM

Bayer stops non-essential health and agriculture business in Russia

Germany's Bayer on Monday stopped all spending in Russia and Belarus not related to essential products in health and agriculture, citing Russia's "brutal aggression" against Ukraine.

 

Bayer said in a statement it was suspending advertising, promotional activities, investment projects and new-business development but added it would continue to deliver essential products.

 

"Withholding essential health and agriculture products from the civilian populations – like cancer or cardiovascular treatments, health products for pregnant women and children as well as seeds to grow food – would only multiply the war's ongoing toll on human life," the company said.

8:48 PM

EU finalising new round of sanctions

The European Union's foreign policy chief says the 27-country bloc is finalising its new round of sanctions against Russia for its “barbaric” invasion of Ukraine.

 

Josep Borrell said Monday 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 on Monday with North Macedonia's Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski.

 

“This would be another major blow (to the) economic and logistic base upon which the Kremlin is building the invasion.”

8:39 PM

Ukraine says Russian shelling is still preventing aid delivery to Mariupol

Shelling by Russian forces was still preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Black Sea port city of Mariupol on Monday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

 

She said a convoy had been trying to reach the encircled city on Monday to deliver aid and help evacuate women and children, but, as with similar attempts over the past week, it had not been able to reach the city.

 

She confirmed that some civilians had managed to leave Mariupol in a convoy of cars on Monday.

8:11 PM

Russia may suspend grain exports until June 30: Interfax

Russia may suspend exports of wheat, barley, maize (corn) and rye starting from March 15 until June 30, the Interfax news agency reported on Monday, citing the agriculture ministry.

 

Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter.

7:54 PM

Oil falls $7 on Russia-Ukraine talk hopes, China lockdowns

Oil prices fell around $7 a barrel on Monday as investors pinned hopes on diplomatic efforts between Ukraine and Russia to end their conflict, while a surge in COVID-19 cases in China spooked the markets.

 

Brent was down by $6.78, or 6%, at $105.89 a barrel at 1358 GMT and U.S. crude fell $7.01, or 6.4%, to $102.32.

Both benchmarks have surged since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and are up roughly 40% in the year to date.

7:49 PM

Ukraine's Zelensky to address US Congress on Wednesday

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will virtually address the U.S. Congress at 9 a.m (1300 GMT) on Wednesday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a joint letter to US lawmakers.

 

"The Congress remains unwavering in our commitment to supporting Ukraine as they face Putin's cruel and diabolical aggression, and to passing legislation to cripple and isolate the Russian economy as well as deliver humanitarian, security and economic assistance to Ukraine," they wrote on Monday.

7:47 PM

Russia says it is in constant contact with US, ready for arms control talks: RIA

Russia is prepared to resume arms control talks with the United States if Washington is, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Saturday, according to RIA news agency.

 

Ryabkov said that Moscow and Washington remain in constant contact, but that the Kremlin sees no signs that Washington is ready to continue a dialogue on Ukraine.

 

However, Ryabkov said proposals on security guarantees that Russia had sent to the United States and NATO before Russian forces entered Ukraine last month were no longer valid as the situation had now changed completely.

6:56 PM

Ukraine's Mariupol says 160 cars have been able to leave besieged city

The city council of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol said on Monday that 160 private cars had been able to leave the city, which is encircled by Russian troops, and were en route to the Russian-occupied town of Berdyansk.

 

"It is known that as of 1300 (1100 GMT) more than 160 private cars managed to leave," it said in an online post. Over the past week, repeated efforts to evacuate civilians trapped in Mariupol - a city of 400,000 in peacetime - have failed.

6:48 PM

Russia accuses Ukraine of missile strike on Donetsk; Ukraine denies

Russia's defence ministry said on Monday that 20 people had been killed and 28 wounded when a Ukrainian missile with a cluster charge exploded in the city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

 

The ministry provided no evidence and Ukraine denied launching such an attack. Reuters could not independently verify the statements by either side.

 

"It is unmistakably a Russian rocket or another munition, there's not even any point talking about it," Ukrainian military spokesman Leonid Matyukhin told a televised briefing.

 

Pro-Russian separatists who control part of Ukraine's Donetsk region said earlier that a child was among those hit in the alleged strike and they accused Kyiv of committing a war crime.

6:17 PM

Russia could take full control of major Ukrainian cities: Kremlin

The Kremlin said on Monday 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.

 

When asked by Reuters about remarks by U.S. officials who had said that Russia had asked China for military equipment, Peskov said: "No."

 

"Russia possesses its own independent potential to continue the operation. As we said, it is going according to plan and will be completed on time and in full."

5:51 PM

Chernobyl nuclear plant power line damaged by Russian forces: Grid operator

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

 

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.

 

Russian forces occupied the plant soon after invading Ukraine on Feb. 24.

5:28 PM

Ukraine finance minister says hryvnia currency will remain stable

Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said on Monday he believed the hryvnia currency rate would remain stable. "Exchange rate stability will be maintained," he said on national television.

5:07 PM

Russia has not asked China for military help for use in Ukraine: Kremlin

Russia has not asked China for military assistance and has sufficient military clout to fulfil all of its aims in Ukraine in time and in full, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

 

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, had said that Russia had asked China for military equipment.

4:25 PM

The fourth round of Ukraine-Russia conflict talks underway

4:16 PM

EU agrees to freeze Roman Abramovich's assets: Diplomats

Top European Union diplomats have agreed to add Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich to the EU list of Russian billionaires sanctioned after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, two diplomatic sources said on Monday.

 

The informal greenlight to Abramovich's listing came in a meeting on Sunday, one source said, and the EU envoys will reconvene at 1100 GMT on Monday to adopt the measure and a further set of economic sanctions against Russia.

 

Sanctions will be effective only after publication on the EU's official journal, which usually happens within hours or the day following formal approval.