No one in the world is shocked that Chinese President Xi Jinping would criticize actions on his friend “Vlad the Impaler,” that would affect him or Russia negatively, of course the Chinese leader is going to stick by the side of his buddy, their two socialist-style countries look to each other for support. China has largely backed Russia in blaming the U.S. and its allies for provoking the conflict and has abstained in votes at the United Nations over whether to condemn Moscow for its actions. As reported by the AP:
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said Xi expressed ‘anxiety and deep pain’ over the fighting and urged the sides to pursue peace talks
The latest developments on the Russia-Ukraine war:
BEIJING — China says President Xi Jinping has criticized sanctions imposed on Russia over its war against Ukraine as “harmful to all sides,” in a video summit with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
China has largely backed Russia in blaming the U.S. and its allies for provoking the conflict and has abstained in votes at the United Nations over whether to condemn Moscow for its actions.
In its readout of Tuesday’s conversation, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said Xi expressed “anxiety and deep pain” over the fighting and urged the sides to pursue peace talks in which he said China was willing to play a role.
Xi gave no indication on what sort of resolution China was looking for and the only details he gave concerned the impact of sanctions.
“We want to strive together to reduce the negative effects of the crisis,” Xi was quoted as saying. “Regarding the impact of sanctions on global finance, energy resources, transport and supply chain stability, in terms of a world economy already burdened by the pandemic, it is harmful to all sides.”
LONDON — Britain’s defense minister says his staff will help process applications from Ukrainians fleeing war, after criticism of the sluggish U.K. effort to take in refugees.
Britain says it expects to take in as many as 200,000 displaced Ukrainians and has set no upper limit on the number it will accept. But as of Monday night, the government said only 300 visas had been issued.
French officials have accused Britain of turning Ukrainians away at the English Channel port of Calais, telling them to apply for visas at British embassies in Paris or Brussels.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Tuesday that “we can do more, we will do more” to speed up people’s journeys to the U.K.
MOSCOW — Russia says it has summoned the Irish ambassador to Moscow a day after a truck was driven through the gates of the Russian embassy in Ireland during a demonstration against the war in Ukraine.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it told Irish ambassador Brian McElduff that Russia demanded an apology from the Irish authorities and for Ireland to pay compensation.
Russia likened the incident to “a tactic widely used by terrorists” and said Irish law enforcement had not acted to stop it. The Irish Times newspaper reported Monday that the driver of the truck was arrested.
KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the expansion of humanitarian corridors for Ukrainian civilians fleeing war, and more support from the Red Cross.
In a video address Tuesday from an undisclosed location, he said a child died of dehydration in the blockaded southern seaport of Mariupol, in a sign of how desperate the city’s population has become.
He pleaded again with Western countries to provide air support.
He said evacuation buses have been sent to Mariupol but said there was no firm agreement on the route, so “Russian troops can simply shoot on this transport on the way.”
Zelenskyy accused the International Red Cross of “forbidding the use of its emblem on our cars,” but did not give details. Videos of buses heading out of Sumy and toward Mariupol have had signs with a red cross on the side but it’s not clear who pasted them there.
LONDON — Estee Lauder is the latest foreign company to halt its operations in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
The New York-based cosmetics giant said in a statement late Monday that it has decided to suspend all its commercial activity in Russia, “including every store we own and operate.” It’s not clear how many retail outlets it has in Russia.
Estee Lauder also said it’s suspending shipments to its Russian retailers and will provide “compensation and support” to its Russian employees. The company owns more than two dozen brands including Clinique, Bobbi Brown, and MAC Cosmetics.
LONDON — Energy giant Shell says it will stop buying Russian oil and natural gas as well as shut down its service stations and other operations in the country amid international pressure for companies to sever ties over the invasion of Ukraine.
Shell says in a statement Tuesday that it would withdraw from all Russian hydrocarbons, including crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas and liquefied natural gas, “in a phased manner.”
The decision comes just days after Ukraine’s foreign minister criticized Shell for continuing to buy Russian oil.
LONDON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to address Britain’s Parliament — the first time a foreign leader has been allowed to speak in the House of Commons.
Screens and simultaneous translation headsets have been set up in the House of Commons so lawmakers can hear from Zelenskyy at 5 p.m. (1700GMT) on Tuesday.
World leaders have previously addressed British lawmakers elsewhere in Parliament, but not in the House of Commons itself.
Zelenskyy has previously thanked Britain for its support, which includes humanitarian aid and defensive weapons.
GENEVA — The U.N.’s top human rights official is warning that a new Russian law allowing harsh punishment for spreading what is deemed to be fake information about the armed forces adds to concern about repressive legislation in Russia.
High Commission for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet told the U.N. Human Rights Council that “space for discussion or criticism of public policies – including (Russia’s) military action against Ukraine – is increasingly and profoundly restricted.”
Bachelet said some 12,700 people have been “arbitrarily arrested” for holding peaceful anti-war protests and noted that media are required to use only official information and terms.
She said she’s concerned about repressive and vaguely defined legislation, and added that “further legislation criminalizing circumstances of ‘discrediting’ the armed forces continues down this concerning path.”
The new measure, signed into law by President Vladimir Putin on Friday, allows for prison sentences of up to 15 years. It has prompted some foreign media to suspend operations within Russia.
LONDON — Britain’s defense secretary says the invasion of Ukraine will be Vladimir Putin’s downfall as the Russian leader struggles to defeat and occupy a country that has put up unexpectedly staunch resistance to his armies.
Ben Wallace said Russian forces are already “exhausted” after facing logistical problems and suffering thousands of losses in the first 13 days of fighting. He added it’s “an impossible task” to occupy a country of 44 million people that is bigger than France and Germany combined.
“This will be Putin’s end … and so it should be,” Wallace told the BBC.
Putin is already “a spent force” in the wider world because the international community has decided the invasion of Ukraine and the humanitarian catastrophe it has unleashed are unacceptable, Wallace said. The international sanctions imposed on Russia “are reducing his economy to zero,” and Putin is responsible for that, Wallace said.
GENEVA — The number of refugees fleeing Ukraine reached 2 million on Tuesday, according to the United Nations, the fastest exodus Europe has seen since World War II.
“Today the outflow of refugees from Ukraine reaches two million people. Two million,” Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, wrote on Twitter.
The update came as a new effort to evacuate civilians along safe corridors finally got underway Tuesday. The route out of the eastern city of Sumy was one of five promised by the Russians to offer civilians a way to escape the Russian onslaught.
Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, is pressing for all civilians trapped by fighting in Ukraine to be allowed to leave safely. She said Tuesday she is “deeply concerned about civilians trapped in active hostilities in numerous areas.”
Bachelet also told the U.N. Human Rights Council that her office has received reports of pro-Ukrainian activists being arbitrarily detained in areas of eastern Ukraine that have recently come “under the control of armed groups.” She said there have been reports of beatings of people considered pro-Russian in government-controlled areas.
TOKYO — Japan says it has suspended the assets of 32 more Russian and Belarusian individuals as part of international sanctions against Russia.
The additional sanctions announced Tuesday target 20 Russians including head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov, deputy chiefs of staff and a press secretary for President Vladimir Putin’s government, and deputy chairmen of the state parliament. The list also includes business executives with close ties to Putin and his administration such as Volga Group, Transneft, the Private Military Company Wagner and USM Holdings, according to a statement jointly issued by the foreign, finance and trade ministries.
The sanction targets also included 12 Belarusian officials and business executives, including Belarus’ National Olympic Committee President Viktor Lukashenko, as well as 12 organizations in Russia and Belarus.
Officials said Japan is also banning exports of oil refinery equipment to Russia and general-purpose goods to Belarus that could be used to strengthen the country’s military capability.
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s prime minister is calling for even tougher sanctions against Russia in order to dismantle President Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki made his comments as he departed Warsaw for visits to NATO countries Britain and Norway.
He told reporters that strengthening NATO’s eastern flank and pushing for more sanctions would be the main topics of discussion. In particular, Morawiecki wants to urge other European countries to replace Russian crude oil and gas with deliveries from other countries.
“In order to hit Russia effectively, our blow must be consistent and long-term if military action continues,” Morawiecki said.
Poland has been building a gas pipeline, Baltic Pipe, meant to import gas from Norway.
He called Baltic Pipe “a symbol of Poland’s sovereignty, of Poland’s independence from Russia, from gas blackmail … everything which has made it possible for Putin to build a war machine.”
TALLINN, ESTONIA — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is wrapping up a short tour of the three Baltic states aimed at reassuring the former Soviet republics that NATO will guarantee their security as Russia’s war with Ukraine rolls on unabated.
Blinken was meeting with senior Estonian officials in Tallinn on Tuesday, a day after hearing appeals from both Lithuania and Latvia for more support and greater U.S. and NATO troop presence to deter a feared Russian intervention.
“We will defend every inch of NATO territory if it comes under attack,” Blinken said Monday in Riga. “No one should doubt our readiness. No one should doubt our resolve.”
Leaders in all three Baltic states have expressed grave concerns about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intentions for former Soviet bloc countries that are now allied or otherwise linked to the West.
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said the Russian invasion of Ukraine had shown the Baltic countries in particular the need to bolster air and coastal defenses. He added Latvia would like its security cooperation with NATO to be “more efficient.”
Lithuanian President Gitanes Nauseda told Blinken in Vilnius that a policy of deterrence was no longer enough, and that “forward defense” was now needed. He predicted that “Putin will not stop in Ukraine if he will not be stopped.”
KYIV, Ukraine — Safe corridors intended to let civilians escape the Russian onslaught in Ukraine could open Tuesday, officials from both sides said, though previous efforts to establish evacuation routes crumbled amid renewed attacks and it was not clear how large the operation would be if it happened.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Tuesday that both sides agreed to a cease-fire from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Ukraine time (0700-1900 GMT) for the evacuation of civilians from the eastern city of Sumy.
The first convoy with evacuated civilians in buses or private cars is to leave at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT), on a single route toward the Ukrainian city of Poltava. She said Russia’s Defense Ministry agreed to this in a letter to the International Red Cross.
Those being evacuated from Sumy include foreign students from India and China, she said. The corridor will also be used to bring humanitarian aid into Sumy, she said.
She reiterated that Russian proposals to evacuate civilians to Russia and Belarus were unacceptable. She didn’t elaborate on the possibility of evacuating Ukrainians toward western Ukraine.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council said that refugees fleeing in Ukraine was “the fastest-growing displacement crisis I have witnessed in my 35 years as a humanitarian worker.”
Jan Egeland, secretary general of the humanitarian group, said that “every second the war forces a person to flee across Ukraine’s borders, and countless are displaced within the country.”
The Oslo-based agency, which has been in Ukraine since 2014, said it was launching an aid plan to support 800,000 people inside Ukraine and neighboring countries.
NRC’s humanitarian response plan calls for $82 million and appealed to donors “to dig deep into their pockets to find new funding” and added do “not take resources from other crises.”
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The head of the World Health Organization’s Europe office says it has confirmed 16 attacks that have affected the provision of health care in Ukraine in the fighting since Russia’s invasion in the country began nearly two weeks ago.
Dr. Hans Kluge also told reporters Tuesday that Ukrainian health authorities have “remarkably” maintained COVID-19 surveillance and response since the invasion began on Feb. 24, though they reported 731 deaths related to the pandemic over the last week.
Kluge warned that “sadly, this number will increase as oxygen shortages continue” — with older people disproportionately affected. Treatment with oxygen is an important part of the response for people whose respiratory systems have been harmed by coronavirus infection.
The WHO Europe chief also said broken supply lines are harming the ability to treat conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and diabetes. Catherine Smallwood, senior emergency officer for WHO Europe, said the attacks on health care in Ukraine have led to at least 9 deaths and 16 injuries.
LONDON — Britain’s defense secretary said Tuesday that there are reports Ukrainian special forces destroyed over 20 Russian helicopters on the ground overnight as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to face logistical problems and fierce resistance.
Russia’s advance toward the capital, Kyiv, continues to face pressure from Ukrainian forces around the nearby towns of Hostomel, Bucha, Vorzel and Irpin, the U.K. Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update released late Monday. In addition, a lengthy Russian column remains stuck on the road north of Kyiv.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Russian forces are becoming more and more desperate in the face of such military and supply holdups, leading to “indiscriminate shelling” of civilians.
WASHINGTON — The World Bank says it has approved more than $700 million in emergency support for Ukraine.
Dubbed FREE Ukraine, it includes nearly $500 million in loans and guarantees and $134 million in grants, with Japan promising another $100 million in financing. The aid is meant to help the Ukrainian government pay wages of hospital workers, pensions and other social programs.
“The World Bank Group stands with the people of Ukraine and the region,” World Bank President David Malpass said. “This is the first of many steps we are taking to help address the far-reaching human and economic impacts of this crisis.”
The World Bank also said it is preparing a $3 billion package of support for Ukraine and the region to help it cope with the flood of displaced people fleeing the fighting.
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan sent an aircraft to Poland on Tuesday to evacuate more than 300 Pakistanis who escaped fighting in Ukraine.
Pakistan International Airlines says most of them are students.
Pakistan has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, even as it denounced war as a solution to differences and called for negotiations and a cease-fire. Prime Minister Imran Khan met with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin just hours after the Russian leader sent tanks into Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Pakistan abstained from last week’s U.N. General Assembly vote condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
TOKYO — Japanese automaker Nissan is planning to halt production at its plant in Russia because of “logistical challenges.”
Nissan Motor Co. did not provide a specific date but said Tuesday production will stop “soon.” Its plant in St. Petersburg produced 45,000 vehicles last year, including the X-Trail sport utility vehicle.
The Yokohama-based manufacturer said the safety of its employees is its top priority.
Nissan earlier stopped exports to Russia.
LVIV, Ukraine — Russian aircraft bombed cities in eastern and central Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian officials said. Shelling pounded suburbs of the capital, Kyiv.
In Sumy and Okhtyrka, to the east of Kyiv near the Russian border, bombs fell on residential buildings and destroyed a power plant, regional leader Dmytro Zhivitsky said. He said there were dead and wounded but gave no figures.
Bombs also hit oil depots in Zhytomyr and the neighboring town of Cherniakhiv, located west of Kyiv.
In Bucha, a Kyiv suburb, the mayor reported heavy artillery fire.
“We can’t even gather up the bodies because the shelling from heavy weapons doesn’t stop day or night,” Mayor Anatol Fedoruk said. “Dogs are pulling apart the bodies on the city streets. It’s a nightmare.”
The Ukrainian government is demanding the opening of humanitarian corridors to allow people to safely leave Sumy, Zhytomyr, Kharkiv, Mariupol and suburbs of Kyiv, including Bucha.
LVIV, Ukraine — The mayor of Lviv said the city in far western Ukraine is struggling to feed and house the tens of thousands of people who have fled here from war-torn regions of the country.
“We really need support,” Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said.
More than 200,000 Ukrainians displaced from their homes are now in Lviv, filling up sport halls, schools, hospitals and church buildings. The historical city once popular with tourists had a population of 700,000 before the war.
The mayor said the city needs big tents equipped with kitchens so food can be prepared.
Hundreds of thousands more people could arrive if humanitarian corridors are opened up from cities now under siege from Russian troops.
The embassies of the U.S. and EU countries also moved to Lviv from Kyiv before the invasion.
Lviv is the main transit point for those fleeing just across the border to Poland. Many of the 1.7 million Ukrainians now abroad passed through the city.
LVIV, Ukraine — A Russian general was killed in the fighting around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, which Russian forces have been trying to seize since the invasion began, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency said.
It identified him as Maj. Gen. Vitaly Gerasimov, 45, and said he had fought with Russian forces in Syria and Chechnya and had taken part in the seizure of Crimea in 2014.
It was not possible to confirm the death independently. Russia has not commented.
Another Russian general was killed earlier in the fighting. A local officers’ organization in Russia confirmed the death in Ukraine of Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, the commanding general of the Russian 7th Airborne Division.
Sukhovetsky also took part in Russia’s military campaign in Syria.
Source AP
