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Live: U.K. Sanctions Roman Abramovich, Russian And Ukrainian Foreign Ministers Meet In Turkey
Follow real-time updates on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
March 10, 2022 11:05 AM EST
Meeting Between Putin And Zelensky Possible: Russian Foreign Minister
A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky may be possible, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said following his meeting with his counterpart from Kyiv, Dmytro Kuleba.
“I hope that this will become necessary at some point. But preparatory work needs to take place for this,” Lavrov said in a press conference following his meeting.
Responding to a reporter, Lavrov said Russia was not planning to attack other countries. “We didn’t attack Ukraine, either,” repeating Moscow’s claims that it was carrying out a “special military operation.”
When asked about the Russian strike on a maternity hospital—condemned by Ukrainian officials as a war crime—Lavrov claimed without evidence that the building was being used by Ukrainian nationalist militias.
— Siladitya Ray
March 10, 2022 10:49 AM EST
Russia Has No Ceasefire Plans, But Ukraine Will Not Surrender: Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Thursday’s meeting between Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Turkey ended with no progress made on a possible ceasefire.
In a press conference following the meeting, Kuleba said Russia had no plans to establish a ceasefire and was instead seeking a surrender from Ukraine. “This is not what they're going to get. Ukraine is strong, Ukraine is fighting.”
Kuleba said that Ukraine has ensured the failure of Russia’s initial invasion plans and was now seeking a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. “But we will not surrender.” The Ukrainian minister added he spent most the time during the meeting trying to address humanitarian issues, seeking a humanitarian corridor in the port city of Mariupol where a maternity hospital was hit by Russian strikes on Wednesday.
According to Kuleba, Lavrov told him he did not have the authority to agree this measure, but would take the proposal back to the Kremlin. The Ukrainian minister then added: “Lavrov has a different impression of what foreign ministers do in a crisis.”
— Siladitya Ray
March 10, 2022 10:14 AM EST
Between 5,000 and 6,000 Russian Troops Have Been Killed So Far, According To U.S. Estimates
Between 5,000 and 6,000 Russian troops have been killed during the first two weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a U.S. official told various news outlets. That number is significantly higher than the Pentagon’s previous estimate of between 2,000 to 4,000 deaths shared earlier this week.
According to CBS News, the official noted that while accurate casualty numbers are difficult to determine, Russia has suffered “very, very significant casualties,” comparable to some battles from World War II.
While there are no estimates from the number of wounded Russian soldiers, CBS notes that they are generally around three times as many killed, putting that estimate between 15,000 to 18,000.
— Siladitya Ray
March 10, 2022 3:31 AM EST
House Passes $13.6 Billion In Aid For Ukraine
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved $13.6 Billion in aid for Ukraine as part of a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill.
According to the House Committee on Appropriations the aid package includes $4 billion to help displace refugees, $6.5 billion for military assistance and $1.8 billion for any macroeconomic needs.
— Jonathan Ponciano
IMF Approves $1.4 Billion Disbursement To Ukraine
The International Monetary Fund has approved $1.4 billion in emergency financing for Ukraine, the international lender announced Wednesday.
“The war in Ukraine is resulting in tragic loss of life and human suffering,” the IMF said in its release. “While the outlook is subject to extraordinary uncertainty, the economic consequences are already very serious.”
The IMF said it will disburse the loan using its Rapid Financing Instrument, an emergency assistance policy designed to quickly provide funds during a conflict or natural disaster.
The IMF’s emergency funding follows a $723 million support package for Ukraine approved Monday by the World Bank. The bank said another $3 billion package would be sent “in the coming months” for Ukraine and its neighbors, which are receiving millions of refugees.
U.S. lawmakers said it aims to pass a $13.6 billion package that includes military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, unnamed members of Congress and aides told the New York Times Tuesday. The aid is expected to be passed in a larger government spending package that Congress must approve by Friday in order to avoid a government shutdown, following last month’s approval of a short-term spending bill.
‘He Sees That We Are Strong’: Zelensky Thinks Putin Will Eventually End Hostilities In Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Vice News on Wednesday he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin will eventually “stop the war” and “begin to speak,” as Ukrainian forces continue to push back against invading Russian troops.
“I think he sees that we are strong,” Zelensky said in an in-person interview with Vice. “He will [cease fighting]. We need some time.”
Zelensky added that he does not trust Putin: “I only trust my family,” he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba are expected to meet in Turkey on Thursday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose top diplomat has hosted several calls between the two parties since the invasion began, said the meeting could “crack the door open to a permanent cease-fire.” Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have met for several rounds of talks to discuss temporary local ceasefires to allow civilians to evacuate from besieged cities.
Russia has said one of its demands for a permanent ceasefire is that Ukraine remain neutral and not join NATO—a desire Zelensky said he has “cooled down” on recently because “NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine,” according to a translation of an ABC News interview.
Russia has bombarded Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, but its ground forces have struggled to make extensive progress in the country’s north. Western officials say the invasion’s slower-than-expected pace is partly due to stiff resistance from Ukrainians.
Russia ‘Likely’ Deploying Private Mercenaries In Ukraine, U.K. Says
The British Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update Wednesday Russia is “likely deploying” private military companies as part of its invasion of Ukraine.
Mercenaries were reportedly deployed in Ukraine weeks before Russia began its invasion, unnamed security officials told Reuters last month. The U.S. had warned of Russia using private contractors to stage “false flag” operations in Ukraine to justify its eventual invasion.
Mercenaries from the Wagner Group—a secretive Russian contracting organization—appeared to enter regions of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists, the New York Times reported hours before the invasion started two weeks ago. A senior U.S. defense official told reporters last week there are indications the Wagner Group is present in Ukraine, but it’s unclear how many of their staff are participating in the war.
Private military contractors such as the Wagner Group have been accused of committing human rights violations in several countries, including the Central African Republic and Syria. Last year, the United Nations raised concerns the group—operating as security and military personnel in the Central African Republic—committed crimes such as arbitrary detention, torture, disappearances and summary execution, along with reports of rape and sexual violence. Russia has denied ties to the Wagner Group.
—Mason Bissada
March 9, 2022 11:08 PM EST
White House Warns Russia Could Use Chemical Weapons In Ukraine
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted Wednesday the world should "be on the lookout" for Russia possibly using chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, after the Kremlin accused the U.S. of backing a bioweapons program for the Ukrainian government.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed without offering any proof Wednesday that Russia had amassed evidence of a U.S.-backed chemical weapons program in Ukraine, which Psaki called "preposterous."
Psaki said Russia might be setting the stage for a false flag operation to use its own chemical weapons in Ukraine, noting Russia has "long maintained a biological weapons program in violation of international law" and backs the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which has used chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war.
"Russia has a track record of accusing the West of the very violations that Russia itself is perpetrating," Psaki tweeted. "This is all an obvious ploy by Russia to try to try to justify its further premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine."
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said Wednesday there currently isn’t any intelligence indicating that Russia has brought chemical or biological weapons into Ukraine, but he warned “it is … a piece of the Russian playbook to blame others for that which you are about to do.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin justified the invasion of Ukraine by falsely claiming ethnic Russians were facing a genocide in the Donbas region and inconceivably accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, of heading a neo-Nazi government.
March 9, 2022 10:44 PM EST
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