Russia Ukraine War Updates: Moscow says it made progress in negotiations for 'neutral status' in Kyiv

The head of the Russian delegation in talks with Ukrainian officials says the parties have come closer to an agreement on a neutral status for Ukraine.

Vladimir Medinsky, who led the Russian negotiators in several rounds of talks with Ukraine, including this week, said Friday that the sides have narrowed their differences on the issue of Ukraine dropping its bid to join NATO and adopting a neutral status.

“The issue of neutral status and no NATO membership for Ukraine is one of the key issues in talks, and that is the issue where the parties have made their positions maximally close,” Medinsky said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies.

He added that the sides are now “half-way” on issues regarding the demilitarization of Ukraine.

Medinsky noted that while Kyiv insists that Russia-backed separatist regions in Ukraine's east must be brought back into the fold, Russia believes that people of the regions must be allowed to determine their fate themselves.

Russia recognised the separatist regions' independence and used their call for military support as a pretext to launch an attack on Ukraine on February 24.

Medinsky noted that a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is possible after the negotiators finalise a draft treaty to end the hostilities and it receives a preliminary approval by the countries' governments.

Medinsky also bristled at a recent statement by Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Zelenskyy, who called for disrupting railway links to supply Russian troops in Ukraine, saying it could undermine the talks.

 We never said that Ukraine itself has a military biological program, we said that this program is something that the US itself has, & Ukraine is being kept in the dark...

Ukrainian military strengthens defenses around Kyiv. According to Oleksandr Gruzevich, deputy chief of staff of Ukraine’s Ground Forces, the military is working on the third defense line around Kyiv. “The city is preparing like a fortress,” he added

Officials say 130 people have been rescued from the ruins of a theater that served as a shelter when it was blasted by a Russian airstrike Wednesday in the besieged southern city of Mariupol.

Ludmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian parliament’s human rights commissioner, said Friday that 130 people had survived the theater bombing.

“As of now, we know that 130 people have been evacuated, but according to our data, there are still more than 1,300 people in these basements, in this bomb shelter,” Denisova told Ukrainian television. “We pray that they will all be alive, but so far there is no information about them.”

India attaches high importance to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) as a key global and non-discriminatory disarmament Convention, prohibiting an entire category of weapons of mass destruction: R Ravindra, DPR at UNSC briefing

India remains concerned about progressively deteriorating situation in Ukraine.We welcome latest round of diplomatic talks b/w Russia & Ukraine. We believe immediate cessation of hostilities & diligently pursuing path of dialogue & diplomacy is the only way forward: India at UNSC

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said Naveen S G, killed in shelling in Ukraine on March 1, would arrive here on Monday and not on Sunday as was stated earlier.

“The body of Naveen Gyanagouda, who was recently killed in Ukraine in Russian shelling, will be brought to Bengaluru on Monday at 3 AM,” the Chief Minister tweeted on Friday.

He had told reporters that the body would arrive on Sunday. Officials close to him said there was a confusion on the arrival. “It has been clarified now that the body will arrive on Monday and not on Sunday as was stated earlier,” an official close to Bommai told PTI.

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared at a huge flag-waving rally in Moscow and praised his country's troops on Friday as they pressed their lethal attacks on Ukrainian cities with shelling and missiles.

Moscow police said more than 200,000 people were in and around the Luzhniki stadium for the rally and concert marking the eighth anniversary of Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula, seized from Ukraine.

The event included well-known singer Oleg Gazmanov singing “Made in the USSR,” with the opening lines “Ukraine and Crimea, Belarus and Moldova, It's all my country.” As Putin prepared to take the stage, speakers praised him as fighting “Nazism” in Ukraine, a claim flatly rejected by leaders across the globe.

Meanwhile, Russian forces continued to pound the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and launched a barrage of missiles on the outskirts of the western city of Lviv.

The early morning attack on Lviv's edge was the closest strike yet to the center of the city, which has become a crossroads for people fleeing from other parts of Ukraine and for others entering to deliver aid or fight.

In city after city around Ukraine, hospitals, schools and buildings where people sought safety have been attacked. Rescue workers searched for survivors in the ruins of a theater that served as a shelter when it was blasted by a Russian airstrike Wednesday in the besieged southern city of Mariupol.

Ludmyla Denisova, Ukrainain parliament's human rights commissioner, said at least 130 people had survived the theater bombing.

“But according to our data, there are still more than 1,300 people in these basements, in this bomb shelter,” Denisova told Ukrainian television.

“We pray that they will all be alive, but so far there is no information about them.” At Lviv, black smoke billowed for hours after the explosions, which hit a facility for repairing military aircraft near the city's international airport, 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the center. One person was wounded, the regional governor, Maksym Kozytskyy, said.

Multiple blasts hit in quick succession around 6 am, shaking nearby buildings, witnesses said.

The missiles were launched from the Black Sea, but the Ukrainian air force's western command said it had shot down two of six missile in the volley. A bus repair facility was also damaged, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said.

Lviv lies not far from the Polish border and well behind the front lines, but the area has not been spared Russia's attacks.

In the worst, nearly three dozen people were killed last weekend in a strike on a training facility near the city.

Lviv's population has swelled by some 200,000 as people from elsewhere in Ukraine have sought shelter there.

Early morning barrages also hit a residential building in the Podil neighbourhood of Kyiv, killing at least one person, according to emergency services, who said 98 people were evacuated from the building. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 19 were wounded in the shelling.

Two others were killed when strikes hit residential and administrative buildings in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, according to the regional governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko.

In Kharkiv, a fire raged through a local market after shelling on Thursday. One firefighter was killed and another injured when new shelling hit as emergency workers fought the blaze, emergency services said.

The World Health Organisation said it has verified 43 attacks on hospitals and health facilities, with 12 people killed and 34 injured.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that American officials were evaluating potential war crimes and that if the intentional targeting of civilians by Russia is confirmed, there will be “massive consequences.”

The United Nations political chief, Undersecretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo, also called for an investigation into civilian casualties, reminding the UN Security Council that international humanitarian law bans direct attacks on civilians.

She said many of the daily attacks battering Ukrainian cities “are reportedly indiscriminate" and involve the use of “explosive weapons with a wide impact area.” DiCarlo said the devastation in Mariupol and Kharkiv ”raises grave fears about the fate of millions of residents of Kyiv and other cities facing intensifying attacks.”

About 35,000 civilians left Mariupol over the previous two days, Kirilenko said Friday.

Hundreds of civilians were said to have taken shelter in a grand, columned theater in the city's center when it was hit by a Russian airstrike.

Video and photos provided by the Ukrainian military showed the at least three-story building had been reduced to a roofless shell, with some exterior walls collapsed.

Satellite imagery on Monday from Maxar Technologies showed huge white letters on the pavement outside the theater spelling out “CHILDREN” in Russian — “DETI” — to alert warplanes to the vulnerable people hiding inside.

Russia's military denied bombing the theater or anyplace else in Mariupol on Wednesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said early on Friday that Ukraine's defenses have proved much stronger than expected, and Russia "didn't know what we had for defense or how we prepared to meet the blow.”

Both Ukraine and Russia this week reported some progress in negotiations. Earlier this week, an official in Zelenskyy's office, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, told the AP that Ukraine was prepared to discuss a neutral military status for the country in return, in part, for binding security guarantees.

Russia has demanded that NATO pledge never to admit Ukraine to the alliance or station forces there.

The fighting has led nearly 3.3 million people to flee Ukraine, the UN estimates. The death toll remains unknown, though Ukraine has said thousands of civilians have died.

Three Baltic countries have ordered the expulsion of Russian embassy staff members in a coordinated action taken in solidarity with Ukraine.

Lithuania's foreign ministry said on Friday that four Russian embassy staff are no longer welcome in the country, while in neighboring Latvia, three Russian staff were declared persona non grata.

Russia’s ambassador to Lithuania, Aleksei Isakov, was informed that their activities were incompatible with the status of a diplomat, according to the official statement of the Lithuanian foreign ministry.

“Lithuania has made such a decision in solidarity with Ukraine, which is experiencing unprecedented Russian military aggression” the statement reads.

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said that the expulsion of the embassy staff was a coordinated action of the Baltic States, which include former Soviet republics Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Estonia also announced on Friday that it was ordering three staff of the Russian Embassy in the capital Tallinn to leave the country.

Diplomats of key western countries, including the US on Thursday called upon the Sri Lankan government to join them in extending “vocal support” for Ukraine and put international pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end hostilities in the Eastern European country immediately.

Last month, Sri Lanka said it won’t take sides in the ongoing military conflict involving Russia and Ukraine, even as it admitted that the escalation of violence will have “severe” economic impact on the island nation, which is already facing an acute forex crisis.

“We are watching the situation (in Ukraine), but won’t take sides. Each can have their own reasons…,” Foreign Secretary Jayanath Colombage had said.

He said the economic impact on Sri Lanka would be “severe” from the conflict. “We will have to pay more for our fuel and gas, our tea market will get affected,” Colombage added.

On February 24, Putin cast aside international condemnation and sanctions and launched an all-out attack on Ukraine.

He also warned other countries that any attempt to interfere would lead to “consequences they had never seen”.

“We urge the government of Sri Lanka to join us in vocal support for Ukraine and international law, including the UN Charter. We will work together with our friends and allies around the world to ensure that the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine is restored. We stand with Ukraine; and for freedom, democracy, and the sovereignty of nations around,” a statement jointly signed by the heads of missions of US, EU and key Western nations called upon Sri Lanka to join them in calling on Russia to end its hostilities immediately.

Over 48,000 Russian and Ukrainian tourists have visited the island nation between January and March 15 this year.

Russia stands behind India as the largest inbound market according to the tourism authority arrival figures.

Tea is the main export item from Sri Lanka to Russia. According to export figures, in 2020, the export value of tea to Russia was over USD 142 million.

Sri Lanka is facing its all-time worst foreign exchange crisis after the pandemic hit the nation’s earnings from tourism and remittances.

By December last, the reserves position had plummeted to just one month’s imports or a little over USD 1 billion.

In recent months, the public has experienced a shortage of many essentials due to the foreign exchange crisis.

Import restrictions to save dollars have threatened cooking gas and fuel supplies in addition to the looming power cuts.

Sri Lanka emphasises the need for concerted efforts by all parties concerned to resolve the crisis through diplomacy and sincere dialogue, the statement added.

Russia’s request to freeze a FIFA ban on its soccer teams ahead of next week’s World Cup qualifying playoffs was denied Friday.

FIFA said the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed the Russian soccer federation’s bid for an urgent interim ruling to freeze the ban pending a full appeal, which could come within weeks.

The CAS decision means Russia will not be able to play Poland in World Cup qualifying on Thursday.

The latest ruling follows a similar CAS refusal on Tuesday to freeze UEFA’s ban on Russian national and club teams in European soccer.

Russian athletes have been banned from competing in multiple sports because of the country's invasion of Ukraine. Belarusian athletes have also been banned because their country has been an ally of Russia.

The Russian soccer federation could still get the FIFA ban overturned before another round of international games in early June. A Russian victory at CAS could then force this month's playoffs to be replayed.

Ukraine is also in the World Cup playoffs, and its scheduled game on Thursday against Scotland was postponed by FIFA until June. Ukraine or Scotland will advance to face either Wales or Austria — who play in Cardiff next week — with a place at this year's World Cup in Qatar at stake. 

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has indicated that her country should consider imposing an oil embargo on Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. In a security policy speech Friday, she said it was important to take a stance and not remain silent due to economic or energy dependency. “Even if it's difficult, including on questions now with regard to oil or other embargoes,” said Baerbock. Germany receives about a third of its oil from Russia and half of its coal and natural gas.

The West Bengal government will roll out the inoculation drive for children in the 12-14 years age group from March 21 even though the programme was launched across the country on Wednesday, an official said. The launch of the vaccination drive for children in the state got delayed as "the administration received the standard operating procedures from the Centre late", he said.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government in Maharashtra will last a full term and retain power in the 2024 Assembly elections, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said here on Friday. Raut's comments came a day after former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that as in neighbouring Goa, the BJP will return to power in Maharashtra on its own in the next elections.

— Rescuers search for survivors at Mariupol theater hit by Russian airstrike; casualties unclear

— World leaders called anew for an investigation of Russia’s repeat attacks on civilian targets

— Russian media reported that the detention of WNBA star Brittney Griner was extended until May 19

— An American man was among many killed in a Russian attack on the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv

— Go to https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine for more coverage

Britain's communications regulator on Friday revoked the licence of the state-funded Russian broadcaster RT amid concern that its coverage of the war in Ukraine was biased.

The decision comes as the regulator, Ofcom, conducts 29 investigations into the impartiality of RT's coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The volume and nature of the issues raised by these inquiries are of “great concern,” the regulator said, particularly because RT had been fined 200,000 pounds for previous violations of impartiality standards.

RT's funding from the Russian state, as well as the fact that Russia invaded its smaller neighbour, were also part of the decision, Ofcom said.

As a result, Ofcom ruled that RT's parent company, ANO TV Novosti, isn't “fit and proper to hold a U.K. broadcast license.” The move is largely symbolic, as the broadcaster is already off the air due to sanctions imposed by the European Union.

“We also note new laws in Russia which effectively criminalise any independent journalism that departs from the Russian state's own news narrative, in particular in relation to the invasion of Ukraine,'' the regulator said in a statement.

“We consider that given these constraints it appears impossible for RT to comply with the due impartiality rules of our Broadcasting Code in the circumstances.''

RT said in a statement that the regulator had robbed the U.K. public of access to information and ignored its “clean record'' of four consecutive years.

RT deputy editor-in-chief Anna Belkina said that with its decision Ofcom “has shown the U.K. public, and the regulatory community internationally, that despite a well-constructed facade of independence, it is nothing more than a tool of government, bending to its media-suppressing will.”

Government minister James Heappey said Ofcom's decision was “very welcome.” But he stressed that “it was the regulator that took the choice rather than government.”

Russian forces pressed their assault on Ukrainian cities Friday, with new missile strikes and shelling on the edges of the capital Kyiv and the western city of Lviv, as world leaders pushed for an investigation of the Kremlin's repeated attacks on civilian targets, including schools, hospitals and residential areas.

The early morning barrage of missiles on the outskirts of Lviv were the closest strike yet to the centre of the city, which has become a crossroads for people fleeing from other parts of Ukraine and for others entering to deliver aid or fight.

Black smoke billowed for hours after the explosions, which hit a facility for repairing military aircraft near the city's international airport, only six kilometers (four miles) from the centre.

One person was wounded, the regional governor, Maksym Kozytskyy, said.

Multiple blasts hit in quick succession around 6 am, shaking nearby buildings, witnesses said.

The missiles were launched from the Black Sea, but the Ukrainian air force's western command said it had shot down two of six missile in the volley. A bus repair facility was also damaged, Lviv's mayor Andriy Sadovyi said.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre wants an extra allocation of 3.5 billion kroner ($400 million) for 2022 to strengthen NATO member Norway’s Armed Forces and civil preparedness.

Gahr Støre told Norway's parliament that the money will be used to “strengthen our ability to prevent, deter and deal with digital attacks.”

“These are necessary measures because we are facing a more unpredictable and aggressive Russian regime,” Gahr Støre said, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin “has raised the alert of his nuclear weapons forces. It contributes to more uncertainty in an already tense situation.”

He said Norway “is NATO’s eyes in the north.”

In a speech to the Scandinavian country’s parliament about Ukraine, Gahr Støre said Norway was gearing up “to handle an extraordinary situation with up to 100,000 refugees.”

“We do not know how long the war will last, or how many will come here. But in any case, it will put us to a historical test,” he said.

As the conflict in Ukraine rages, residents of a region in northern Poland that will house a US missile facility worry they could become Russian targets in case of a wider conflict, reports AFP.

U.S. President Joe Biden will speak with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at 1300 GMT (around 6:30 PM IST) over Ukraine war.

Russian forces in Ukraine are blasting cities and killing civilians but no longer making progress on the ground, Western countries said, as a war Moscow was thought to have hoped to win within days entered its fourth week, Reuters reported.

Fourteen Russian aerial units destroyed on March 17. According to Ukraine’s Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ukraine’s air defense destroyed seven aircraft, one helicopter, three UAVs, and three cruise missiles.

Government 5-7-9% loan program will have 0% interest rate for duration of martial law. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 17 that businesses can now take loans up to Hr 60 million, to allow a wider range of businesses to take advantage of the program.

We will continue to increase the costs on Russia until it ends this war of choice. And we will continue to provide life-saving aid to the Ukrainian people, said US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken.

United States has warned China that it will make Beijing pay for any support given to Moscow's invasion bid of Ukraine.

Amid Russia's war with Ukraine, US House of Representatives has approved a bill to suspend normal trade relations with Moscow and Belarus.

US lawmakers urge India "to speak out against Vladimir Putin's targeting of civilians in #Ukraine," following a bipartisan call with Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Ambassador of India to the US.

We urge UNSC to work for immediate ceasefire & a political solution... This is the only life saving medicine we need right now. We call on all donors to fully fund the UN appeal to support humanitarian needs in #Ukraine, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

In every case, the only solution is peace...as if COVID is not enough...I urge you not to lose sight of other crises such as malnutrition, measles surge in Afghanistan. Health assistance needed in Syria with half of them being children, he added.

Although Ukraine is the focus of the world, I urge you not to lose sight of other crises such as malnutrition, measles surge in Afghanistan. Health assistance needed in Syria with half of them being children...Over 20 million needing health assistance in Yemen, Tedros said.

As tense situation continues amid Russia-Ukraine war, Moscow has put UNSC Ukraine Resolution on hold and called for for emergency meeting on US biolabs.