Here’s what you need to know about the Ukraine crisis so far:
March 14 (Reuters) – Ukraine said it wants to discuss a ceasefire, immediate withdrawal of troops and security guarantees with Russia on Monday after both sides reported rare progress at the weekend, even as fierce Russian bombardments continued.
FIGHTING
* A weekend Russian strike at an army base in western Ukraine brought the fighting close to its border with NATO member Poland. A British minister said it was “very unlikely” Russian missiles would land on NATO territory.
* Ukraine reported more air strikes on an airport in the west, heavy shelling on Chernihiv northeast of Kyiv and attacks on the southern town of Mykolayiv, where officials said nine people were killed. Ukraine’s forces counter-attacked in Mykolayiv and the eastern Kharkiv region, an Interior Ministry official said.
DIPLOMACY
* Speaking ahead of a new round of talks, Russian and Ukrainian officials suggested there could be positive results within days.
* Top diplomats from the United States and Ukraine said they agreed more action was needed to stop Russian aggression.
* According to several U.S. officials, Russia asked China for military equipment after invading Ukraine. Beijing called the reports “disinformation”.
* U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Beijing would “absolutely” face consequences if it helped Moscow evade sanctions. Sullivan is due to meet China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Rome on Monday.
PLIGHT OF CIVILIANS
* More than 2,500 residents of the besieged port of Mariupol have been killed since the start of the invasion, according to Ukrainian presidential adviser.
* Ten evacuation “corridors” have been agreed on Monday, but aid again failed to reach Mariupol because of Russian shelling, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said.* Kyiv authorities said they were stockpiling two weeks worth of essential food items for the 2 million people who remain in the capital.
REFUGEES
* Nearly 2.7 million people have fled Ukraine, almost 1.7 million of them to Poland, according to the latest tally from the UN refugee agency.
ECONOMY AND MARKETS
* Stock markets firmed and oil prices eased on hopes for progress in Russian-Ukraine peace talks. MKTS/GLOB
* The war in Ukraine must be stopped to prevent a global food crisis, Russia’s coal and fertiliser king Andrei Melnichenko said.
* Russia’s finance ministry approved a temporary procedure for repaying foreign currency debt, but warned payments would be made in roubles if sanctions prevent banks from honouring debts in the currency of issue.
U.S. JOURNALIST KILLED
* A U.S. journalist was shot and killed by Russian forces in the town of Irpin near Kyiv and another journalist was wounded, regional police chief said.
QUOTES
* “As a Russian by nationality, a Belarusian by birth, and a Ukrainian by blood, I feel great pain and disbelief witnessing brotherly peoples fighting and dying,” said Andrei Melnichenko, founder or Russia’s top fertiliser and coal companies.
Photo – An armed man seen riding an electric scooter in a nearly empty street in Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine. EPA-EFE/MIGUEL A. LOPES
