Russia Ukraine War

Kuleba briefed Wang about the first round of Ukraine-Russia talks, saying that the end of the fighting is the top priority for Ukraine, Xinhua news agency reported. Ukraine stays open to a negotiated settlement to the current issue and treats the talks with Russia with positive sincerity, said Kuleba, adding that despite current difficulties, the Ukrainian side remains calm and willing to push forward the talks.

The Hebrew-language Ynet news site reported that Scholz landed at the Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv for a trip that was planned to span three days and shortened to one day amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Xinhua news agency reported. On Wednesday morning, Scholz and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will visit Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, and then hold a private meeting.

"I can confirm that the US Mission to the United Nations informed the Secretariat on Feb 28 (of) its decision to take action under Section 13b of the UN-UN Headquarters Agreement with respect to a staff member in the Secretariat," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Initially, they plan to disconnect communications. After that, there will be a lot of fake reports that the Ukrainian military and political leadership seems to have agreed to surrender. "So-called confirmation of this fake news will be distributed by allegedly signed documents, as well as filmed fake videos," the Defence Minister of Ukraine, Alexei Reznikov, had warned, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

The Ukrainian leader "could order troops to lay down arms, and there would be no casualties", he suggested, RT reported. Asked about the post-invasion status of Ukraine and what Russia would expect from its future elections, Peskov said the issue had nothing to do with the Russian government. "The Kremlin cannot play a role in holding elections in Ukraine. It's a foreign country," he said.

He reiterated India's appeal for cessation of hostilities and a return to dialogue. The Prime Minister stressed that the contemporary global order is anchored on international law, UN Charter and respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of all the nations. Modi also stressed upon the importance of ensuring free and uninterrupted humanitarian access and smooth movement of people.

An ICC prosecutor said on Monday that there is "a reasonable basis to believe that both alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity" are being committed in Ukraine.Accusations against Russia were filed with the ICC by Kiev. The Russian official branded such claims as "hoaxes", the report said.

At least two large blasts were seen near the foot of the tower, around three miles from central Kiev, at around 5.30 pm local time. It was not immediately clear whether the tower had been the target of the strikes, or whether they had been targeting nearby buildings. The tower remained standing, but several state broadcasts went off air, the report said.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that his country will import about 2 million tonnes of wheat and supplies of natural gas from Russia after meeting Russian President Putin last Thursday - the day the latter launched a military attack against neighbouring Ukraine.

"The Ukrainian authorities and common citizens are not treating Indian students and Indian people in the right manner. It is a kind of racial approach towards them. They are not allowing many students to board the trains and buses from their big cities like Kiev and Kharkiv," Singh, who is a member of the ruling Yedinaya Rossiya (United Russia) party, told IANS over phone.