Russia-Ukraine War: Kyiv to Demand 'Immediate' Ceasefire When Talks Resume Tomorrow

Russia and Ukraine launched a fresh round of talks on Monday in an effort to end Moscow’s devastating war, despite deadly air strikes in the capital Kyiv and an eastern pro-Moscow separatist region. As the fourth round of talks to end more than two weeks of fighting began, Russian-backed separatists said fragments from a shot-down Ukrainian Tochka missile landed in the centre of Donetsk, killing 17 civilians, including children.

As thousands of would-be fighters from outside the country volunteer to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s invasion, some may also face legal consequences in their home countries. Citizens of Canada, Georgia, India, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States are among the volunteers, Reuters and other media organizations have reported. Below is a summary of some of the laws governing foreigners who have signed up for Ukraine’s “international legion.” READ MORE

Negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv are due to restart Tuesday, a Ukrainian delegate said after fourth-round meetings over two weeks of fighting concluded without breakthrough earlier in the day. “A technical pause has been taken in the negotiations until tomorrow,” senior Ukrainian negotiator and president aide Mikhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter on Monday after both sides over the weekend raised hopes that an initial agreement would be announced.

A global food crisis looms unless the war in Ukraine is stopped because fertiliser prices are soaring so fast that many farmers can no longer afford soil nutrients, Russian fertiliser and coal billionaire Andrei Melnichenko said on Monday. Several of Russia’s richest businessmen have publicly called for peace since President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion on Feb. 24, including Mikhail Fridman, Pyotr Aven and Oleg Deripaska. The United States and its European allies have cast Putin’s invasion as an imperial-style land grab that has so far been poorly executed because Moscow underestimated Ukrainian resistance and Western resolve to punish Russia.

One of President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies said that Russia’s military operation in Ukraine had not all gone as quickly as the Kremlin had wanted, the strongest acknowledgement yet from Moscow that its invasion is not going to plan. Viktor Zolotov, chief of Russia’s national guard and a member of Putin’s security council, said progress had been slower than expected, blaming what he called far-right Ukrainian forces hiding behind civilians.

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.

Ukraine’s economy could collapse, contracting by as much as 35 percent if the war drags on, and the conflict also could jeopardize global food security, the IMF said Monday. “There is massive uncertainty around the baseline,” but at a minimum the country would see “output falling 10 percent this year assuming a prompt resolution of the war,” the IMF said in an analysis of the economy in the wake of Russia’s invasion.

The EU is to sanction Roman Abramovich and other oligarchs in its latest round of punishment of Russians seen as supporting Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, two diplomats said on Monday.

Ukraine-Russia conflict talks will restart in Tuesday, Kyiv said in a statement. Ukraine and Russia began another round of talks after negotiators said some form of agreement might be in sight, even as fierce Russian bombardments continued, with a shelling of an apartment block in Kyiv killing at least one.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky will deliver a virtual address to Congress on Wednesday as the western ally comes under intense shelling from Russia, Democratic leadership in the US Congress said on Monday.

Several loud blasts have been heard in Ukraine’s Kyiv. The city’s air defense systems are shooting down missiles targeting Kyiv, a report said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Monday sanctions pressure should be increased on Russia and called for a global boycott of international companies that have kept their operations open in Russia. In a briefing on the war between Russia and Ukraine, Kuleba also called for international ports to bar passage to Russian ships and cargo. “International businesses must leave Russia, both for moral and practical reasons,” Kuleba said.

More than 160 cars exit encircled Ukraine city Mariupol via evacuation corridors, officials said.

People fleeing what had been the relative safety of western Ukraine joined thousands crossing into eastern Europe on Monday after Russia attacked a Ukrainian base near the border with NATO-member Poland. Ukraine said 35 people were killed at the base on Sunday. Moscow said up to 180 “foreign mercenaries” died and a large number of foreign weapons were destroyed. Ukraine also reported renewed air strikes on an airport in the west of the country.

The Kremlin said Monday it may still opt to take control of large cities in Ukraine, as Moscow’s military advances steadily towards several major urban hubs in its pro-Western neighbour. “Putin gave orders to hold back on any immediate assault on large cities because the civilian losses would be large,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday said he had spoken to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky about the “dramatic” conditions facing Greece’s ethnic minority in war-hit southeastern Ukraine. The two leaders discussed “the need to open a humanitarian corridor for safe exit and access for humanitarian supplies,” the Greek PM’s office said in a statement.

Two people were killed on Monday as various neighbourhoods of the Ukraine capital Kyiv came under shelling and missile attacks, city officials said. “One person was killed and 10 wounded when a residential building was shelled in the Obolon district” in the north of the city, officials said, adding that later in the morning “missile fragments fell on the street in the Kurenivka district killing one person and wounding six.”

A fourth round of talks between Moscow and Kyiv got underway Monday, a senior Ukrainian negotiator said, amid mutual claims of shelling and civilian deaths earlier in the day. Kyiv’s lead negotiator and presidential aide Mikhailo Podolyak posted a picture on Twitter of video-conference talks with Russian officials describing the negotiations as “hard”, saying that the two sides were outlining their “specific positions”.

Ukrainian President Zelensky on Monday pulled out of the European Union address and informed the Council of Europe that he is now unable to address them due to ‘Very Urgent, Unforeseen Circumstance’.

Tentative hopes of progress in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia lifted European shares and Wall Street equity futures on Monday, despite a sharp slide in Chinese stock markets on the back of renewed COVID lockdowns. Russian missiles hit a large Ukrainian base near the border with Poland on Sunday, but both sides gave their most upbeat assessment yet of prospects for talks, with a Russian delegate quoted as saying there could soon be draft agreements.