A woman holding a child cries after fleeing from Ukraine and arriving at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, on Monday. Visar Kryeziu/Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS — Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia says Russia will carry out a cease-fire on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. Moscow time and open humanitarian corridors to evacuate citizens from Kiev, Chernigov, Sumy and Mariupol.
He took the floor at the end of a UN Security Council meeting on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine on Monday to make the announcement.
“This proposal doesn’t have any demands about the citizens being sent necessarily to Russia, into Russian territory,” he said.
“There’s also evacuation offered towards Ukrainian cities to the west of Kyiv, and ultimately it will be the choice of the people themselves where they want to be evacuated to,” Nebenzia said.
Putin plans ‘to brutalize’ Ukraine, U.S. tells UN
UNITED NATIONS — The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is calling on Russia to honor Ukraine’s proposals “for time-bound humanitarian safe passage in specific, agreed upon locations” and unequivocally commit to immediate humanitarian access in the country.
At a U.N. Security Council meeting on the escalating humanitarian crisis in the country, Linda Thomas-Greenfield also called for the establishment of a system on the ground to facilitate the safe movement of aid convoys and flights so food, medicine and other supplies can get into Ukraine to reach those most in need.
The U.S. envoy urged countries that have pledged over $1.5 billion in humanitarian support for Ukraine to quickly turn the pledges into funds, saying “as long as Russia pursues its relentless and brutal campaign, the need for assistance will only increase.”
Thomas-Greenfield said Russian President Vladimir Putin “has a plan to brutalize Ukraine” and the last two weeks have shown that “the Ukrainian people are not going to give up.”
Thomas-Greenfield said the United States will continue to stand with the Ukrainian people, “but president Putin is clearly willing to sacrifice the lives of thousands of Russian soldiers to achieve his personal ambition.”
Getting more military materiel into Ukraine may get harder
MADRID — U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman says that getting military materiel for Ukrainians to fight a Russian invasion is set to become more difficult for the U.S. and its allies.
“I think that the international community has been tremendously responsive and have found ways to get the materiel in. That may become harder in the coming days, and we’ll have to find other ways to manage this,” Sherman said Monday during a visit to the Spanish capital for meetings with officials.
The Biden administration is considering how to fulfill Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelensky’s request for warplanes, the official said, considering that Ukrainians would only be able to operate soviet-era warplanes provided by Poland.
“People are trying to see whether this is possible and doable,” she said, adding that the warplanes should not be regarded by Moscow as direct involvement in the conflict: “We would expect that this delivery would be seen as all the deliveries have been seen as a right for Ukraine to defend itself.”
Sherman met in Madrid with Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares and other officials. She arrived from Turkey and was on her way to Morocco, Algeria and Egypt for a week of intense diplomatic contacts amid the war in Ukraine.
Zelensky calls for global boycott of all Russian products – including oil
LVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Monday for a global boycott of all Russian products – including oil.
“If the invasion continues and Russia does not abandon its plans against Ukraine, then we need a new sanctions package,” Zelensky said in a video address Monday, including “a boycott of Russian exports, in particular, the rejection of oil and oil products from Russia.”
“The international community must act even more decisively.”
Boris Johnson defends UK’s restrictions on fleeing Ukrainians
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended his government’s treatment of Ukrainians fleeing war, after France accused U.K. authorities of “inhumane” behavior towards the refugees.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, Monday Feb. 21, 2022. Tolga Akmen/Pool via AP
Johnson said Britain was being “very, very generous,” but would not have “a system where people can come into the U.K. without any checks or any controls at all.”
Britain says it expects to take in as many as 200,000 displaced Ukrainians. Very few have managed to reach Britain so far. The Home Office said “around 50” visas had been granted by Sunday.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Sunday that hundreds of Ukrainian refugees in the English Channel port of Calais had been turned away and told by British authorities that they must obtain visas at U.K. embassies in Paris or Brussels.
Calling that “a bit inhumane,” Darmanin urged Britain to “stop the technocratic nit-picking.”
U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel denied Britain was turning anyone away. The British government confirmed Monday that it did not have a visa center in Calais.
EU hopes China can convince Russia to end war
BRUSSELS — European Commission spokesman for foreign affairs Peter Stano said the EU would like to see China play a mediation role and convince Russia to stop its war in Ukraine.
“China has the potential to reach out to Moscow because of their relationship obviously and we would like China to use its influence to press for a cease-fire and to make Russia to stop the brutal unprecedented shelling and killing of civilians in Ukraine.”
Russian banks may issue cards on Chinese payment system
LONDON — Leading Russian banks are looking into issuing cards that operate on a Chinese payment system after Visa and Mastercard said they would cut their services in Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
Sberbank and Tinkoff Bank said Sunday that they are considering the possibility of payment cards powered by China’s UnionPay system. They told users that Visa and Mastercard will work within Russia but will stop working for payments outside of the country after Wednesday.
Russian banks are scrambling to find new ways to facilitate cross-border payments after a host of foreign companies suspended financial services, part of a larger move by the West to isolate Russia and cut it off from the global financial system.
Czech convoys on their way to aid refugees coming into Slovakia
PRAGUE — Two Czech army convoys are on the way to neighboring Slovakia to help the NATO and European Union ally cope with the wave of refugees from Ukraine
“We didn’t have to think twice and immediately met the Slovak request,” Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said on Monday.
Over 128,000 refugees from Ukraine have arrived in neighboring Slovakia since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia have remained close allies following the peaceful split of Czechoslovakia in 1993.
Ernst & Young cuts ties with Russia
NEW YORK — Ernst & Young has joined global accounting firms KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers by cutting ties with its operations in Russia over what it calls the “shocking and abhorrent war in Ukraine.”
That leaves Deloitte as the only one of the so-called Big Four accounting firms with a presence in Russia.
Ernst & Young said in a statement Monday that “in light of the escalating war, the EY global organization will no longer serve any Russian government clients, state-owned enterprises or sanctioned entities and individuals anywhere in the world.”
The three global accounting firms have each said they will end their relationships with member firms in Russia.
The dead bodies of people killed by Russian shelling lay covered in the street in the town of Irpin, Ukraine, Sunday, March 6, 2022. AP Photo/Diego Herrera Carcedo
UN confirms at least 406 civilians dead in Ukraine
GENEVA — The U.N. human rights office says it has been able to confirm the deaths of 406 civilians in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
It said that another 801 injured civilians had been confirmed as of midnight Sunday. The rights office uses strict methodology and only reports casualties it has confirmed.
It says it believes the real figures are considerably higher, “especially in government-controlled territory and especially in recent days.” Fighting has delayed its receipt of information and many reports still need to be corroborated.
Ukrainian officials have presented far higher numbers.
German chancellor says Russian energy should be exempt from sanctions
BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is making clear that he stands by exempting Russian energy deliveries from an increasing raft of sanctions against Russia.
Scholz said in a statement on Monday emphasizing Germany’s support for tough measures against Russia that Europe has deliberately exempted energy deliveries.
He added: “Europe’s supply with energy for heating, for mobility, power supply and for industry cannot at the moment be secured otherwise.” That, he said, is of “essential significance” for people’s daily lives.
The chancellor added that Germany has been working with its partners in the European Union and beyond for months to “develop alternatives to Russian energy.” But he said that that can’t be done overnight, “so it is a conscious decision on our part” to allow companies to continue their involvement with Russian energy supplies.
On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the U.S. and its allies are having a “very active discussion” about banning the import of Russian oil and natural gas.
Poland OKs legislation to give refugees financial aid, let them stay legally
WARSAW, Poland — Poland, the country receiving the largest numbers of refugees from Russia’s war against Ukraine, on Monday approved legislation offering financial help to refugees and allowing them to stay legally in the country for 18 months.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described helping the Ukrainians as the most important challenge Poland has faced in decades, and he argued that the efforts “cannot be only spontaneous.”
Poland has accepted more than 1 million refugees since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, more than half of the 1.7 million to flee.
Under the new regulation Ukrainian citizens will have the right to stay legally in Poland for 18 months and will be allowed to work legally. They will receive medical help and get a one-time allowance of 300 zlotys ($66) per person.
Polish citizens will receive 40 zlotys a day to house Ukrainians for up to two months.
Macron slams hypocritical, cynical rhetoric from Russia
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron criticized “hypocritical” rhetoric and “cynicism” from Moscow about offering to open humanitarian corridors to Russia for Ukrainian civilians.
“Humanitarian actors need to be able to intervene, so we must get full cease-fires when they intervene to place under protection women, children, men who need to be protected. And (we must) be able to get them out of the conflict area,” Macron said Monday in an interview on French news broadcaster LCI.
The issue won’t be solved via “corridors which are being threatened right away (by Russia),” he said. Saying that “we are going to protect people by bringing them to Russia” is “hypocritical,” he added. “This is cynicism” that is “unbearable,” he said.
Macron addressed the issue publicly after the Russian task force said the new pledge for humanitarian corridors was announced at his request, following a call with Putin on Sunday. Macron’s office said he asked for a broader end to military operations in Ukraine and protections for civilians.
Polish officials say no fighter jets will go to Ukraine
WARSAW, Poland — Polish government officials on Monday said that Poland has not, and will not, send its fighter jets to Ukraine to support Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
A deputy foreign minister, Marcin Przydacz, said in an interview on Radio Zet that: “We will not open our airports and Polish planes will not fight over Ukraine … Polish planes will not fight over Ukraine.”
But separately the government spokesman, Piotr Mueller, indicated a final decision had not been made. He said that a decision on whether to send fighter jets presents risks and is a “very delicate matter.”
The comments come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy begged the United States to help Kyiv get more warplanes to fight Russia’s invasion and retain control of its airspace.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was looking at a proposal under which Poland would supply Kyiv with Soviet-era fighters and in turn receive American F-16s to make up for their loss.
Poland has been less than enthusiastic about the idea, at least publicly, largely because Russia has warned that supporting Ukraine’s air force would be seen in Moscow as participating in the conflict and could create a risk of retaliation.
UN says more than 1.7 million have fled Ukraine
GENEVA — The United Nations’ refugee agency says the number of people who have fled the war in Ukraine has increased to more than 1.7 million.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees on Monday put the number of people who have arrived in other countries since the Russian invasion started on Feb. 24 at some 1.735 million. That’s up from more than 1.53 million on Sunday.
Nearly three-fifths of the total – nearly 1.03 million — arrived in Poland, according to the agency. Over 180,000 went to Hungary and 128,000 to Slovakia.
Ukrainian officials nix Russian proposal for humanitarian corridors to Russia, Belarus
LVIV, Ukraine — A senior Ukrainian official on Monday rejected a Russian proposal to evacuate civilians from besieged Ukraine to Russia and Belarus.
“This is an unacceptable option for opening humanitarian corridors,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said at a briefing.
According to the Russian proposal, the only options for civilians fleeing Kyiv and its suburbs would be to go to Gomel in neighboring Belarus. Civilians in Kharkiv and Sumy in eastern Ukraine would have to flee to the Russian city of Belgorod.
Belarus is a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and served as a launching ground for the invasion.
The Ukrainian government is proposing eight humanitarian corridors, including from the southern port of Mariupol, that would allow civilians to travel to the western regions of Ukraine, where there is no Russian shelling.
China continues to refuse to condemn Russian invasion
BEIJING — China’s Foreign Minister on Monday called Russia Beijing’s “most important strategic partner,” amid its continued refusal to condemn the invasion of Ukraine.
Wang Yi told reporters ties with Moscow constituted “one of the most crucial bilateral relationships in the world,” adding “no matter how perilous the international landscape, we will maintain our strategic focus and promote the development of comprehensive China-Russia partnership in the new era.”
China has broken with the U.S., Europe and others that have imposed sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. It says Washington is to blame for the conflict in Ukraine.
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