Russia Ukraine News: Kyiv urges citizens to leave Russia 'immediately'

United States told UN General Assembly that the Russian invasion of Ukraine could displace 5 million people. 

A United Nations meeting on Ukraine heard that a full-scale Russian invasion of the country would have a devastating global impact that would likely spark a new "refugee crisis".

Biden administration plans to announce sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG, the company in charge of building Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and would be part of US-imposed penalties against Russia, reports Reuters quoting a source.

EU calls emergency summit for Thursday on Russia's "aggressive actions" against Ukraine, said Council President Michel.

"We've no intention of fighting Russia. We want to send an unmistakable message though, that US, together with our allies will defend every inch of NATO territory. We believe Russia is poised to go much further in launching a massive military attack against Ukraine," US President Biden said.

"I believe that Russia should be among those countries that provide clear security guarantees. I have many times suggested that the President of Russia sit down at the negotiating table and speak," Reuters reported Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy as saying.

A day after US, Europe sanctions, Russia on Wednesday said that new US sanctions will meet 'strong response', 'sensitive for the American side'.

'Future of European security' being decided in Ukraine, said President Zelensky amid tensions with Moscow. Meanwhile, Russia has also started evacuating diplomatic staff from Ukraine, its embassy in Kyiv told AFP, a day after lawmakers in Moscow granted President Vladimir Putin to use force abroad.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow is ready to look for "diplomatic solutions" amid raging tensions with the West over Ukraine but stresses that the country's interests were non-negotiable.

The Ukrainian military has issued an order to mobilise reservists after Russia ordered its forces to prepare to secure rebel-held areas in the country's east. "Reservists aged 18 to 60 will be called up... The call will start today. The maximum service life is one year."

Pope Francis said Wednesday that "increasingly alarming scenarios" were emerging in Ukraine that were threatening "the peace of all" amid fears of a Russian invasion.

Ukraine's top security official says it will introduce a state of emergency in all Ukrainian territory apart from Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Ukraine's top security official says the state of emergency would last 30 days and can be extended for another 30 days, Reuters reported.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said an invasion of Ukraine had been Russian President Vladimir Putins "plan all along", calling the situation a "manufactured crisis", The Guardian reported. In a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Washington, Blinken said: "His (Putin) plan all along has been to invade Ukraine; to control Ukraine and its people; to destroy Ukraine's democracy, which offers a stark contrast to the autocracy that he leads; to reclaim Ukraine as a part of Russia. "That's why this is the greatest threat to security in Europe since World War II." During the press conference, Blinken also added that he will no longer meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Paris on Friday as planned.

Russian legislators have given President Vladimir Putin permission to use armed forces abroad. The decision by the upper house of parliament takes immediate effect - and it could presage a broader attack on Ukraine.

New Zealand’s government summoned Russian Ambassador Georgii Zuev to meet Wednesday with top diplomatic officials who are urging Russia to return to diplomatic negotiations over Ukraine. Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta is currently out of the country but said in a statement that the ambassador was called in “to hear New Zealand’s strong opposition to the actions taken by Russia in recent days, and condemn what looks to be the beginning of a Russian invasion into Ukraine territory.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday afternoon that the meeting had taken place but declined to provide any further details.

Australia has announced additional sanctions on Russia and is warning businesses to prepare for retaliation through Russian cyberattacks. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Wednesday that targeted financial sanctions and travel bans will be a first batch of measures in response to Russian aggression toward Ukraine. Australia and Russia have imposed sanctions on each other since 2014. The sanctions were initiated by Australia in protest of Russian involvement in the Ukraine conflict. The National Security Committee of Morrison’s Cabinet approved sanctions and travel bans that target eight members of the Russian Security Council. They also agreed to expand previous sanctions and to align with the United States and Britain by targeting two Russian banks.

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday cut off Moscow from wester financing and imposed unspecified sanctions on Russian elites in the first tranche of punitive measures in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Speaking at the White House, Biden said there would be more sanctions if Russia moved further into Ukraine, as he expected it would. "If they move further, we have further sanctions ready," he warned, saying everything Russia was doing pointed to a fuller invasion of Ukraine. 

Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi has said dialogue was key to solving the Ukrainian crisis, warning that the European Union (EU) was preparing sanctions against Russia.

His remarks came on Tuesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday announced the recognition of the "Lugansk People's Republic" and the "Donetsk People's Republic" in east Ukraine's Donbass region as independent and sovereign states.

"Dialogue remains crucial," Draghi stressed as he addressed the official opening ceremony of the Council of State's judicial year in Rome, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Chief of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has urged Russia to "choose the path of diplomacy" in the conflict with Ukraine.

"This is the most dangerous moment in European security for a generation," NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg said at the conclusion of an extraordinary meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission in Brussels on Tuesday.

"Europe and North America continue to stand strong together in NATO, committed to defend and protect each other," he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he expects no conflict with Russia.

"We believe that there will be no large-scale war against Ukraine, and there won't be a wide escalation from the side of the Russian Federation," Zelensky said on Tuesday, adding that Kiev stands ready to impose a martial law if there is aggression against Ukraine.

Earlier on Tuesday, Zelensky said he was weighing a request from the Foreign Ministry to sever diplomatic ties with Russia, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Russian Federation Council, or the upper house of parliament, has approved Russian President Vladimir Putin's request for the use of military abroad.

"Senators unanimously supported the adoption of the relevant Resolution," said a statement published on the website of the Federation Council on Tuesday.

Putin on Tuesday submitted a proposal that the Federation Council approve a resolution authorising the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation abroad on the basis of the generally accepted principles and norms of international law, according to the Kremlin.

Ukraine's president on Tuesday night announced he was calling up some of the country's military reservists as the threat of a Russian invasion grew, but he added there was no need for a full military mobilisation.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address to the nation his decree applies only to those assigned to the so-called operational reserve, which is typically activated during ongoing hostilities, and covers “a special period of time,” without clarifying what that means.

He said: “Today there is no need for a full mobilisation. We need to quickly add additional staff to the Ukrainian army and other military formations.”

There are about 250,000 troops in Ukraine's armed forces, and some 140,000 reservists. 

Germany made the first big move, taking steps to halt certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia — a massive, lucrative deal long sought by Moscow but criticized by the US for increasing Europe's reliance on Russian energy supplies.

And in Washington, US President Joe Biden announced financial sanctions as punishment for what he called “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.” The sanctions will hit Russian financial institutions and oligarchs. He said the US would impose “full blocking” on two large Russian financial institutions and “comprehensive sanctions” on Russian debt.

The European Union announced sanctions taking aim at the 351 Duma legislators who voted in favor of recognizing separatist regions in Ukraine, as well as 27 other Russian officials and institutions from the defense and banking world. They also sought to limit Moscow's access to EU capital and financial markets.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is sending hundreds more troops to eastern Europe and imposing new sanctions on Russia in response to the deployment of forces into Ukraine.

The prime minister says up to 460 additional Canadian Armed Forces members are being sent to Latvia and the surrounding region to bolster NATO in the face of Russian aggression.

He also says Canada is taking a number of steps alongside its allies to isolate Russia financially.

The United Nations chief says the world is facing “the biggest global peace and security crisis in recent years” and is calling Russia's declaration of the “so-called `independence'” of separatist areas in eastern Ukraine a violation of its territorial integrity and accusing Moscow of “the perversion of the concept of peacekeeping.”

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters Tuesday he is proud of the achievements of the UN's far-flung peacekeepers, but when troops of one country enter the territory of another country without its consent, as Russian forces have done, “they are not impartial peacekeepers -- they are not peacekeepers at all” as Moscow has called them.

Guterres said Russia's unilateral actions also “conflict” with the UN Charter and are “a death blow to the Minsk Agreements” aimed at restoring peace to eastern Ukraine.

The East-West faceoff over Ukraine escalated dramatically Tuesday, with Russian lawmakers authorising President Vladimir Putin to use military force outside his country and US President Joe Biden and European leaders responding by slapping sanctions on Russian oligarchs and banks. Both leaders signaled that an even bigger confrontation could lie ahead. Putin has yet to unleash the force of the 150,000 troops massed on three sides of Ukraine, while Biden held back on even tougher sanctions that could cause economic turmoil for Russia but said they would go ahead if there is further aggression.

The measures, accompanied by the repositioning of additional US troops to the Baltic nations on NATO's eastern flank bordering Russia, came as Russian forces rolled into rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine after Putin said he was recognizing the independence of the separatist regions in defiance of US and European demands.

Indian-American economic advisor Daleep Singh is leading the efforts of the Biden administration to impose punitive sanctions on Russia over its actions against Ukraine. Singh, who is Deputy National Security Advisor for international economics and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, made his second appearance in the White House Press Room in a matter of days.

“Russia's long previewed invasion of Ukraine has begun and so too has our response. Today, the president (Joe Biden) responded swiftly and in lockstep with allies and partners. The speed and coordination were historic… It took weeks and months to mount a decisive response,” Singh told reporters in his opening remarks.

"We're implementing sanctions on two large financial institutions, VEB and Russia’s military bank. Sanctions on Russia's sovereign debt," says US President Joe Biden

US Secy of State Antony J Blinken says he will not meet Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this week

"Not that we see the invasion [of Ukraine] is beginning & Russia has made clear its wholesale rejection of diplomacy, it does not make sense," Blinken said a presser

"There's no such thing as a minor, middle or major invasion. Invasion is an invasion. Plan A is to utilize every tool of diplomacy. Plan B is to fight for every inch of our land and every city and every village. To fight until we win, of course," says Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba

"The door to diplomacy still remains open. We're never going to completely close the door to diplomacy. Diplomacy can’t succeed unless Russia changes course," says White House Press Secy Jen Psaki

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced a first round of economic sanctions on Russia a day after Moscow recognised the Ukraine separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent