Tag: Ukraine

Putin accuses Ukraine of wasting ‘opportunity’ for talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday accused Ukrainian authorities of wasting “an opportunity” to hold talks after Moscow’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbour. The Kremlin said that Putin had briefed Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett about “the course of a special military operation to protect Donbas”. During the call, the statement said, he “also noted that the Russian delegation is in the Belarus city of Gomel and is ready for negotiations with representatives of Kyiv, […]

Japan says joining measures to cut Russian banks from SWIFT

Japan will join Western nations in removing selected Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system, the country’s prime minister said Sunday, piling further pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. “In what was released this morning by the Western nations, steps are taken to isolate Russia from the international financial system and the world economy including exclusion of specific Russian banks from SWIFT,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. “Western nations have requested Japan participate. […]

Zelensky says Russia striking residential areas in Ukraine

  KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that Moscow was bombarding residential areas in Ukraine as its invading forces sought to push deeper into the pro-Western country. “The past night in Ukraine was brutal, again shooting, again bombardments of residential areas, civilian infrastructure,” Zelensky said in an address posted online. “Today, there is not a single thing in the country that the occupiers do not consider an acceptable target. They fight […]

Exclusion from SWIFT: What this could mean for Russia

  PARIS, France (AFP) — Exclusion from SWIFT, a very discreet but important cog in the machinery of international finance, is one of the most disruptive sanctions the West has deployed against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The move had been threatened in recent weeks by the United States, the European Union and other Western allies as a means of escalating punishment of Russia for its aggressions against its ex-Soviet neighbour. On Saturday, as […]

Western allies agree new financial sanctions against Russia

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Western allies on Saturday agreed on a new volley of financial sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, including taking the key step of banishing a number of Russian banks from the SWIFT interbank system. In a joint statement, the White House said the group of world powers were “resolved to continue imposing costs on Russia that will further isolate Russia from the international financial system and our […]

DFA: First group of Filipino evacuees from Ukraine now in Poland

(Eagle News) — The first group of Filipino evacuees from Ukraine arrived in Poland over the weekend, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. The DFA said the evacuees were welcomed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., after attending the European Union Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific in Paris. The department said the DFA chief welcomed the evacuees on board a bus. Food and bottled water were also distributed to the evacuees. According […]

Facebook bans Russia state media from running ads, monetizing

  SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook on Friday restricted Russian state media’s ability to earn money on the social media platform as Moscow’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine reached the streets of Kyiv. “We are now prohibiting Russian state media from running ads or monetizing on our platform anywhere in the world,” Nathaniel Gleicher, the social media giant’s security policy head, said on Twitter. He added that Facebook would “continue to apply labels to […]

Defiant Zelensky vows ‘I’m here’ after Russian attack

After Ukrainian forces said they had repulsed a Russian attack on their capital Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelensky shot a selfie-style video to vow to stay and fight on. “I am here. We will not lay down any weapons. We will defend our state, because our weapons are our truth,” he declared, denouncing as disinformation claims that he had surrendered or fled. “A lot of fake information has appeared on the internet saying that I allegedly […]

Ukrainian and Russian forces fight over capital Kyiv

  by Dave CLARK and Dmytro GORSHKOV Agence France Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukrainian soldiers repulsed a Russian attack in the capital, the military said early Saturday, only hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Moscow would attempt to take Kyiv before dawn. Russian leader Vladimir Putin unleashed a full-scale invasion on Thursday that has killed dozens of people, forced more than 50,000 to flee Ukraine in just 48 hours and sparked fears of […]

Russia blocks Security Council action on Ukraine

UN Photo/Mark Garten Security Council votes on draft resolution on Ukraine, 25 February 2022. Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Friday that would have demanded that Moscow immediately stop its attack on Ukraine and withdraw all troops, a move several Council members said was deplorable, but inevitable. Although Russia, a permanent member of the Council, refused to support the draft resolution, eleven of the 15-member UN body voted in favour while India, China and […]

UN civil aviation council ‘condemns’ Russian violation of Ukraine airspace

  The UN’s civil aviation body condemned on Friday the “violation” of Ukraine’s territory and airspace after Russia invaded. The 36 states on the International Civil Aviation Organization Council (ICAO) “condemned the violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of a United Nations Member State, including its airspace,” the agency said in a statement after a meeting of its governing body. It said the invasion also violated Article 1 of the Chicago Convention, which established […]

NATO deploys response force for first time

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Friday the alliance was deploying its rapid response force for the first time ever to bolster defences in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “It is still a fluid situation. What we have seen is that the Ukrainian forces are fighting bravely and are actually able to inflict damage on the invading Russian forces,” Stoltenberg said after a video summit of NATO leaders. “It is a full invasion of Ukraine. […]