Live updates: Russia seeks UN resolution; war not mentioned
UNITED NATIONS — Russia has circulated a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution demanding protection for civilians “in vulnerable situations” in Ukraine and safe passage for humanitarian aid and people seeking to leave the country — but it makes no mention of Russia’s responsibility for the war against its smaller neighbor.
The draft resolution released Tuesday expresses “grave concern” at the deteriorating humanitarian situation and reports of civilian casualties in and around Ukraine. It endorses U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for dialogue and negotiations and calls for a negotiated cease-fire to rapidly evacuate “all civilians,” and underscores “the need for the parties concerned to agree on humanitarian pauses to this end.”
The draft, which never identifies “the parties concerned,” could be put to a vote as early as Wednesday, according to a Russian diplomat who was not authorized to speak publicly because discussions have been private.
The Russian measure was circulated a day after France and Mexico announced that a humanitarian resolution on Ukraine they co-sponsored, which had been discussed for two weeks in the Security Council, was being moved to the 193-member General Assembly for discussion and a vote.
That draft resolution called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and deplored the dire humanitarian consequences of the hostilities in Ukraine, provisions which are not in the proposed Russian resolution. The France-Mexico resolution would almost certainly have led to a Russian veto in the Security Council, but there are no vetoes in the General Assembly.
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters that his country is prepared to support a humanitarian resolution and after Monday’s announcement by the French and Mexican ambassadors Russia thinks “the chances are still there,” so he was putting forward its “roadmap” and will see whether the council adopts it.
___ Associated Press Writer Edith Lederer contributed to this report.
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HERE ARE TODAY’S KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:
— Russia has stepped up its bombardment of Kyiv, as a series of strikes hit a residential neighborhood in the capital city
— The leaders of three European Union countries have planned a bold visit to Kyiv
— Fox News says one of its video journalists was killed in Ukraine when the vehicle he was traveling in was struck by incoming fire
— Mariupol officials say 2,000 civilian cars have managed to leave the besieged Ukrainian port city via a humanitarian corridor leading west
Go to https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine for updates throughout the day.
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING TODAY:
TORONTO — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Canadians to imagine bombs landing in their communities as he told the Canadian Parliament that his people want to live.
Zelenskyy urged Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canadian lawmakers to help enact a no-fly zone over the Ukraine and called for greater economic pressure on Russia.
“Justin, can you imagine you and your children hearing all these severe explosions, the bombing of the airport, the bombing of the Ottawa airport,” Zelenskyy said. “Cruise missiles are falling down and your children are asking you, ‘What happened?’”
Speaking by video from Ukraine to a packed Canadian House of Commons chamber, Zelenskyy said the Russian war is designed to annihilate Ukraine and subjugate its people.
Zelenskyy evoked British wartime leader Winston Churchill as he told the U.K. Parliament last week that his country would fight Russia’s invasion to the end. Zelenskyy will also speak Wednesday to members of the U.S. House and Senate, an event that will be livestreamed for the public.
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MYKOLAIV, Ukraine — In Mykolaiv, a southern Ukraine city bordering the Black Sea, walls of sandbags with mannequins for decoys are placed at checkpoints. A high sandbag wall protects the front of a building serving as a support center for the military.
Rodyin Lavrushin is a volunteer at the center. He lifted a tarp covering plastic crates filled with Molotov cocktails.
“Here we collect everything from food to clothes and military specifics and help our military because the Russian occupiers came here to our home and we will protect it to the end.” Lavrushin said Monday.
Mykolaiv resident Svetlana Gryshchenko said her son was killed Feb. 26 in the Donetsk region.
“He went there to the military command,” Gryshchenko said. “He was a soldier and he’d just turned 24. He went there to work (with the military), not to fight.”
“What is happening now in Mykolaiv cannot be described through words,” Gryshchenko said. “We are bombed during the day and during the night. We are peaceful citizens, and I cannot put it into words. It is impossible to put into words. It’s a nightmare what Russia is doing on the territory of Ukraine.”
Outside the Mykolaiv city morgue, bodies placed in plastic bags lie on the ground because the building had no room for more of the dead.
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NEW YORK — Fox News says one of its video journalists was killed in Ukraine when the vehicle he was traveling in was struck by incoming fire.
The network said Tuesday that videographer Pierre Zakrzewski was killed in an incident that also injured reporter Benjamin Hall, who remains hospitalized. Their injuries occurred Monday in Horenka, outside of Kyiv.
Zakrzewski was a veteran journalists who had covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria for Fox. Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media, said in a memo to staff members on Tuesday that “his passion and talent as a journalist were unmatched.”
He won an internal award at Fox for helping to get freelancers and their families out of Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal last year.
He was the second journalist killed in Ukraine in two days, following the death of documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud.
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BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the 30-nation military alliance is set to radically change its security posture in Europe in the future in response to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and its military integration with Belarus, create a new security reality on the European continent,” Stoltenberg said Tuesday, on the eve of a meeting of NATO defense ministers.
“We need to reset our military posture for this new reality,” he told reporters. Stoltenberg said the ministers, led by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, would discuss possible changes on Wednesday.
“On land, this could include substantially more forces in the eastern part of the alliance, at higher readiness, and with more prepositioned equipment,” Stoltenberg said.
In recent years, NATO has deployed a relatively small force of around 5,000 troops to the Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – and Poland on a rotating basis to deter Russia from invading.
Stoltenberg says he expects the ministers will task NATO military commanders to come up with options for boosting security in eastern Europe for the alliance’s leaders to choose among at their June summit.
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NEW YORK — Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin says the country aims to spend around 1 trillion rubles ($9 billion) on measures to support an economy hit by international sanctions.
Mishustin said the government would work with other ex-Soviet countries to reshape their trade relationships with a focus on helping Russia to get the imports it needs.
Mishustin said the measures aim to “ensure the maximum flexibility for the economy, remove internal restrictions on business and give more freedom to entrepreneurs.”
Russia’s economy has been disrupted after foreign companies in a wide range of industries suspended their operations in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
The government’s responses so far have included programs to support lending to businesses, suspending some regulatory processes and restricting exports of grain and sugar.
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VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is praying for the people of Kyiv as Russia steps up its bombardment of the Ukrainian capital.
The Vatican said Tuesday that Francis had received a letter from the Kyiv mayor, inviting him to visit the city as a messenger of peace. The Vatican didn’t say if Francis had responded or was considering a visit.
Such a trip would be highly unlikely given security concerns, Francis’ efforts to maintain relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican’s tradition of quiet, behind-the-scenes diplomacy.
In a statement responding to the Kyiv city invitation, Holy See spokesperson Matteo Bruni said Francis was spiritually close “to the suffering of the city, its people, to those who were forced to flee and those who are called to run it. He prays to the Lord that they are protected from violence.”
The March 8 letter invited Francis to visit Kyiv or to participate in a virtual conference of religious leaders. “We appeal to you, as a spiritual leader, to show your compassion, to stand with the Ukrainian people by jointly spreading the call for peace,” the letter read.
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BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is concerned that Russia might be trying to create a pretext to use chemical weapons in Ukraine.
Stoltenberg said Tuesday that Russia’s “absurd claims” about biological labs and chemical weapons in Ukraine are “an absolute lie.”
“This is just another lie. And we are concerned that Moscow could stage a false flag operation, possibly including chemical weapons,” he told reporters in Brussels.
Stoltenberg says that any use of chemical weapons by Russia would be a violation of international law but he refused to say whether it would be a red line that might draw a military response from NATO.
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MOSCOW — The Russian Foreign Ministry says that U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and other top Biden administration officials have been put on the Russian sanctions list.
The ministry said in Tuesday’s statement that the measure is a response to the U.S. sanctions against the Russian leadership.
At the same time, it noted that Russia may not renounce official contacts with the U.S. officials targeted by the sanctions if such contacts are in the country’s national interests.
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ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s foreign minister says an operation to evacuate the country’s consul general from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol is underway.
The consul general, Manolis Androulakis, was being evacuated along with staff from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and their families, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said. Androulakis had been sheltering in the OSCE building in the city.
Greece had been trying for days to evacuate its consul general from the city, where the siege has left residents desperately short of food, water, medicine and heat. Earlier this month, Greek diplomats arranged an evacuation convoy from the city of more than 20 vehicles and more than 80 people, mostly members of the local Greek community in Mariupol. That convoy reached Moldova after three days.
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PRZEMSYL, Poland — Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children, collected food and snacks on Tuesday from volunteers after arriving at the train station in Przemsyl, Poland.
Marina Solonenko, 35, arrived with her children from the eastern city of Kharkiv. She said they are headed to Germany but want to eventually return home “only when it gets quiet.”
“It is very scary in Kharkiv,” she said, struggling to maintain her composure. “Everything is bombed. The city is destroyed. There are no buildings or houses. The center of the city has been destroyed. They hit the residential districts. Everything has disappeared. Many people are leaving. In Kharkiv, only quarter of the population remains.”
Natalia Zhelazna, a refugee from Ternopil in western Ukraine, said, “We live near the airport and it is a little bit scary. Nobody knows when something will happen. That’s why we decided to leave, some people will find shelter for us. Children need good sleep and normal education.”
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the country realizes that it can’t join NATO.
Speaking Tuesday to representatives of the U.K.-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), Zelenskyy said that “we heard for years about the allegedly open doors” of NATO, but “we have already heard that we won’t be able to join.” He added that “it’s the truth we must recognize, and I’m glad that our people are starting to realize that and count on themselves and our partners who are helping us.”
The JEF may consist of Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.
Zelenskyy again urged Western allies to provide Ukraine with warplanes.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s parliament has voted to extend martial law for another month.
Acting on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request, Ukrainian lawmakers voted Tuesday to extend the martial law for another 30 days starting March 26.
Under the measure, men between 18 and 60 are barred from leaving the country so they can be called up to fight in the war against Russia. Lawmakers approved a draft bill Zelenskyy sent to parliament prolonging the measure, which was set to expire March 26.
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KYIV, Ukraine — An adviser to the Ukrainian president says that the Ukrainian and Russian negotiators are discussing a cease-fire and Russian troops’ withdrawal during their talks.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is taking part in Tuesday’s talks via video link, said on Twitter that “the talks are continuing,” adding that “general issues related to a settlement, a cease-fire and troops withdrawal from the country’s territory” are on the table.
Earlier Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow was pressing its demands for Ukraine to drop its bid to join NATO, take a neutral status and “demilitarize.”
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BERLIN — Activists from the environmental group Greenpeace have blocked access to a Russian-owned oil refinery in Germany in protest at the war in Ukraine.
Dozens of activists attached themselves to railroad tracks at the PCK refinery Schwedt, northeast of Berlin, early Tuesday to stop the transport of oil they said originates from western Siberia.
The activists carried banners reading “Peace Not Oil” — a reference to Germany’s continued import of fossil fuels from Russia despite the Russian attack on Ukraine.
The refinery is estimated to account for 90% of the gasoline consumed in Berlin and the surrounding region of Brandenburg.
PCK is majority-owned by Russian oil giant Rosneft.
The German government has pledged to wean itself off Russian coal and oil by the end of the year.
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STOCKHOLM — The Swedish government wants to reintroduce identity checks at borders because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has led to Europe’s “biggest and fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II.”
“The situation may become so serious that immediate measures need to be taken to maintain law and order and protect national security,” Infrastructure Minister Tomas Eneroth said Tuesday.
Officials have therefore supported a proposal for a new temporary law that would enable authorities to check identities when traveling by bus, train and passenger ship to Sweden.
Sweden is haunted by a 2015 migration crisis and wants to avoid another large-scale influx of migrants. The Scandinavian nation then took in a record 163,000 people — the highest per capita of any European country.
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PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron said France is offering protection from the French embassy and asylum to the anti-war activist who interrupted a news program on Russia’s state television, holding a poster protesting the war in Ukraine.
An independent human rights group that monitors political arrests identified the woman as Marina Ovsyannikova. The group, OVD-Info, posted on its website that Ovsyannikova, who identified herself as an employee of the station, was taken into police custody.
Macron said he will “propose this solution in a direct and very concrete manner” to Russian President Vladimir Putin in their next phone call.
He condemned any detention of journalists and hoped that Ovsyannikova’s situation will be clarified “as soon as possible.”
Macron spoke Tuesday after visiting a facility housing Ukrainians fleeing war in western France. The country is getting ready to welcome “at least” 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war, he said.
Government officials said about 15,000 Ukrainians have arrived in France so far.
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MARIUPOL, Ukraine — The city council of Mariupol says 2,000 civilian cars have managed to leave the besieged Ukrainian port city via a humanitarian corridor leading west.
The council said another 2,000 cars are in the city but waiting to leave along the route, which runs for more than 260 kilometers (160 miles) to the Ukraine-held city of Zaporizhzhia.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on social media the corridor would be open from 8 p.m. Tuesday to 7 a.m. Thursday.
The council advised drivers to spend the night somewhere along the route rather than drive straight through, unless they are already close to Zaporizhzhia by evening.
It was not immediately clear if the total number of cars which had left was for Tuesday only, or if it included 160 cars which left the day before. The city council said nearly 300 people had arrived in Zaporizhzhia as of Tuesday morning, fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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BERLIN — Germany’s IT security agency is warning people not to use antivirus software made by the Russian company Kaspersky.
The agency said Tuesday that the current activities by Russian military and intelligence agencies due to the war in Ukraine pose a “considerable threat” to cybersecurity in the European Union and NATO member states.
The Federal Office for Information Security said that IT companies could carry out attacks, be forced to do so by state authorities or become victims of hacking operations themselves.
The agency urged individuals, companies and organizations to switch to alternative software.
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LONDON — Britain has announced new sanctions against 350 Russian individuals and entities, hours after Parliament approved legislation allowing the government to take action against people already sanctioned by the U.S., European Union and Canada.
Those sanctioned include a number of Russian oligarchs, including Alfa Group co-founders Mikhail Fridman and German Khan, as well as former Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, and some of the top governmental spokespeople who have been instrumental in spreading President Vladimir Putin’s propaganda.
Parliament met into the early hours of Tuesday morning to pass a new economic crime bill that made it easier for the government to impose sanctions on those linked to the invasion of Ukraine.
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ROME — The Italian premier and U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser have agreed on the need to continue “a decisive and unified response” to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Premier Mario Draghi’s office said he met with U.S. adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday, a day after Sullivan met with a top Chinese official in Rome and warned him about China’s support for Russia in the war.
Draghi’s office said the premier and Sullivan both condemned the “unjustified aggression by Russia and the need to continue pursuing a decisive and unified response to Moscow.” Both men also agreed to intensify bilateral contacts, the statement said.
NATO member Italy has backed sanctions against Moscow after initially seeking to avoid targeting the energy sector. Italy imports some 43% of its natural gas needs from Russia, up from 27% a decade ago.
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LONDON — Ukraine’s president has told northern European leaders that they could “help yourself by helping us,” as he appealed for more weapons to counter Russia’s invasion of his country.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking to leaders of the Joint Expeditionary Force via videolink Tuesday, said the Ukrainian military is rapidly using up weapons and other hardware that western nations have shipped to his country.
He also appealed for a full trade embargo on Russia, saying sanctions have not been enough to counter the Russian military advance.
“We have to acknowledge Russia as a rogue state and there has to be a trade embargo with Russia,” Zelenskyy said. “This is something that we need and you need as well, just like the rest of the world, to make sure there is peace in Europe and Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy also repeated his frustration with NATO over its refusal to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine as he addressed JEF leaders meeting Tuesday in London.
The United Kingdom-led JEF is a grouping of 10 north Atlantic countries designed to react quickly to international crises. It includes NATO members such as Britain and the Baltic states, as well as non-NATO countries such as Sweden and Finland.
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LONDON — The British government says it will raise import duties on vodka and other Russian products and ban the export of luxury goods to Russia.
The measures announced Tuesday are the latest round of economic sanctions designed to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The U.K. Department for International Trade said the measures are designed to hamper Putin’s war machine by depriving Russia of the preferential tariff treatment it receives from membership in the World Trade Organization.
Russian and Belarusian products ranging from vodka and white fish to iron, oil seeds and grain will face additional import tariffs of 35%.
In addition, the U.K. said it would join with other Group of Seven industrialized countries to ban the export of luxury goods, including luxury vehicles, high-end fashion and works of art, to Russia.
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LONDON — Britain’s government says almost 89,000 households have signed up to a program to provide a home for Ukrainian refugees, with so much interest that the registration website crashed within the first few minutes of its launch.
Britain launched its “Homes for Ukraine” program Tuesday. It allows Britons to host a named person from Ukraine for a minimum of six months in their own homes or in rent-free separate housing. In exchange, the government will pay each sponsor 350 pounds ($456) a month.
Officials said there will be no limit on how many Ukrainians can enter the U.K. under the program.