(Bloomberg) — Ukrainian officials said they will meet Russian counterparts at the Belarus border, shortly after Vladimir Putin has put Russia’s nuclear forces on higher alert. Russian forces on Sunday attacked Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city. Much of Europe has closed its airspace to Russia, and offers of military assistance continue to flow in.
Western nations agreed to exclude some Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system, used for trillions of dollars worth of transactions between banks around the world, further isolating Russia’s economy and financial system.
The nations also said they would act together to impose “restrictive measures that will prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impact of our sanctions.”
Key Developments
- Putin Races Against Clock as Fast Military Advance ‘Frustrated’
- Hackers Destroyed Data at Key Ukraine Agency Before Invasion
- Germany to Lift Defense Spending in Latest Historic Policy Shift
- U.S., EU Cut Some Russian Banks From SWIFT, Target Central Bank
- Russia Invaded Ukraine and Europe Bought More Gas. Here’s Why
All times CET:
Ukraine Agrees to Talks With Russia at Belarusian Border (2:46 p.m)
Ukraine has agreed to talks with Russia on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Facebook post.
“We have agreed that the Ukrainian delegation will meet with Russian without prior conditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, in the area of the Pripyat River,” Zelenskiy said. A delegation has already left Kyiv, Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of Zelenskiy’s party, said in televised comments.
The confirmation came after Russia earlier sent a negotiation team to the southeastern Belarusian city of Gomel, though Zelenskiy said he’d refuse to hold talks in a country from which Russian troops were attacking Ukraine.
Putin Puts Nuclear Forces on Higher Alert on Tensions (2:12 p.m.)
President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s strategic nuclear forces put on higher alert, citing what he called “aggressive” statements from the leaders of NATO countries, Tass reported.
Putin made the comments Sunday at a meeting with his defense minister and military chief, in which he also called newly imposed Western sanctions illegitimate, Tass said.
Russia conducted exercises involving its nuclear forces earlier this month as tensions built, including test launches of missiles. Confusion continued Sunday about whether Ukraine would agree to peace talks in Belarus, which has been a staging post for Russian attacks.
More Than 300,000 Have Fled Ukraine War Into EU, Border States Say (2:20 p.m.)
Well more than 300,000 people fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have crossed into the European Union since fighting began on Thursday, according to the four EU member states bordering Ukraine.
Poland has registered almost 200,000 people in total since Feb. 24, the nation’s border agency said. Hungary counted 66,000 in total, the Foreign Ministry said, while Slovak authorities put the number there at between 15,000 and 20,000. Romania gave a figure of 43,000 who entered the country, though limited the figure to Ukrainian citizens.
EU officials had forecast more than a million refugees in the event of war in Ukraine, while United Nations agencies last week now see as many as 4 million if the invasion continues.
Japan Joins U.S., EU in Imposing SWIFT Restrictions (1:18 p.m.)
Japan will join Western nations in excluding some Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Sunday. The country will also freeze assets held by some Russian government officials including Putin, Kishida said.
U.S., EU Cut Some Russian Banks From SWIFT, Target Central Bank
EU to Propose Bloc-Wide Airspace Ban on Russia (1:09 p.m.)
The EU is expected to propose barring Russian flights from the bloc’s airspace and from landing in the EU, according to an official familiar with the plans, who asked not to be identified because discussions are ongoing. European ministers meeting on Sunday will also discuss blocking Russian ships from EU ports.
More than a dozen European countries including Ireland, Belgium and Germany, have already closed their airspace to aircraft from Russia. The new EU sanctions would apply to all 27 of the bloc’s members.
U.K. Wants G-7 to Set Russian Energy Import Limits (12:59 p.m.)
The U.K. would support the Group of Seven setting limits on the amount of Russian oil and gas its members could import “over time,” said Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, in a potential escalation of the impact of the war in Ukraine on energy markets. It was unclear from her comments if the G-7 was considering the step. The U.K. sources very little of its energy from Russia.
EU Seeks to Approve SWIFT, Central Bank Sanctions Sunday (12:45 p.m.)
The EU will seek to adopt its new sanctions excluding certain Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system and penalizing Russia’s central bank on Sunday, before markets open Monday, according to officials familiar with the plan.
European ministers will try to adopt the package by emergency procedure on Sunday, according to the officials, who asked not to be identified because the process is private. There will also be discussions on extending the SWIFT ban to Belarusian banks.
Russian Forces Attack Ukraine’s Second City (11:35 a.m.)
Russian forces have attacked Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, after a new round of sanctions was announced to punish the Kremlin over its invasion.
Troops are defending the city of 1.8 million, according to Ukrainian military authorities, who provided images of destroyed Russian vehicles in the city’s streets.
The push into Kharkiv, about 54 kilometers (34 miles) from the Russian border, could result in the most intense urban fighting of the invasion so far.
Ukrainian President Wants International Tribunal for Russia (11:07 a.m.)
Russia’s actions during its invasion show “signs of genocide,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Sunday in a video address. He said he had spoken of the subject with the UN Secretary General, calling to deprive Russia of the right to vote in the UN Security Council.
“This is terror, they are going to bomb our Ukrainian cities even more,” Zelenskiy said. “They lied that they won’t touch civilians. They consciously chose tactics to destroy people and everything that makes people’s life just normal.”
Putin’s Ukraine Move Fuels Shock at Home But Little Opposition
Swiss to Decide on Sanctions Approach (10:56 a.m.)
Switzerland’s federal council will meet Monday to consider a tougher position on EU sanctions against Russian individuals, Swiss newspapers reported.
The government is struggling to decide whether such a stance might affect the nation’s perception of neutrality and ability to host any future peace talks, Sonntagszeitung newspaper reported.
The government on Friday said it was blocking Swiss banks from opening new ties with sanctioned Russian individuals and companies in order to prevent them from circumventing EU sanctions. At this point, no current accounts or assets have been frozen.
Ten Ethnic Greeks Killed in Air Strikes, P.M. Says (10:43 a.m.)
Ten ethnic Greeks were killed Saturday by Russian air strikes close to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a Twitter post asking for the bombing to stop. Greece’s foreign ministry has already protested to the Russian ambassador in Athens and summoned him to the ministry on Monday.
Europe and Russia Air Bans Raise Echo of Cold War Disruption
Russia Central Bank Promises Plenty of Rubles (10:08 a.m.)
In its first public comment since the U.S. and EU said they would freeze its massive foreign-exchange reserves, the Bank of Russia said it will provide “uninterrupted” supplies of rubles to banks but made no mention of foreign currency support.
The central bank said Russia’s banking system has adequate resources to keep the system running and prevent any threats to financial stability. Domestic banking transactions can be conducted through Russia’s home-grown financial messaging system, it said, an apparent reference to U.S. and EU plans to exclude some Russian banks from SWIFT.
The U.S. and EU said late Saturday they’re freezing the assets of the Russian central bank. Much of its $640 billion in reserves is held in dollars and euros.
Offers of Military Aid to Ukraine Continue to Roll In (10:00 a.m.)
Offers of military aid to Ukraine continues to roll in. Italy is working on a plan to supply Ukraine with about 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles and 1,000 anti-tank weapons, matching a pledge made by Germany, newspaper La Repubblica reported.
Portugal will provide equipment including helmets, night vision goggles, grenades, various ammunition, portable radios and G3 automatic rifles, its defense ministry said. Greece is also sending arms and ammunition.
The Czech Republic dispatched a train to Ukraine carrying machine guns, assault rifles, pistols, ammunition and artillery ammunition, the Defense Ministry said. Romania will send fuel, ammunition, bulletproof vests, food and medical equipment to Ukraine. Poland is also sending a convoy of munitions.
Germany to Lift Defense Spending in Latest Historic Policy Shift
Ukraine Refugees Flocking to Eastern Europe (9:29 a.m.)
Poland said another 77,300 Ukrainians crossed over its border on Saturday alone, raising the overall number of people heading into the country since the war started last week to 156,000.
From Warsaw to Prague, Eastern Europeans were sending aid packages that include sleeping bags and tents, as a large wave of solidarity with Ukraine sweeps the region.
Russia Renews Offer of Talks But Kyiv Says Not in Belarus (8:14 a.m.)
The Kremlin said it had sent a delegation for talks with Ukraine to Belarus, a day after announcing that Kyiv had rejected that location. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was open to diplomacy but not in the northern neighbor and close ally that was one of the staging points for Russian troops to attack Ukraine.
Moscow has sent officials to Gomel, in southeastern Belarus, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. On Saturday, Peskov said Ukraine had refused diplomacy and that Russia was renewing its military advance.
Zelenskiy said he was willing to negotiate in any country from which missiles weren’t being fired at his. He said he’d offered alternatives, including Warsaw, Budapest, Istanbul and Baku, Azerbaijan.
Putin’s Rapid Military Advance Meets Resistance (8:09 a.m.)
Days after launching its invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s plans face rapidly rising costs due to delays caused by tougher-than-expected resistance from forces on the ground, even as its military retains overwhelming advantages.
A person familiar with Russian planning said the military would have hoped for faster progress. The Kremlin has declined to comment on details of the military operation, and its Defense Ministry says the campaign has been successful.
North Korea Returns to Provocations (7:42 a.m.)
North Korea followed up January’s record barrage of missile tests with the firing of a suspected longer-range ballistic rocket Sunday, ramping up tensions as global attention is focused on Ukraine.
North Korea often times its provocations for political purposes. The latest launch comes less than two weeks before South Korea holds a presidential election, and as the Biden administration is tied up with one of its greatest international challenges — the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Kim Jong Un’s regime last fired a ballistic missile on Jan. 30 to cap its biggest monthly series of rocket tests since he took power a decade ago. Pyongyang then held off while its neighbor and biggest benefactor, China, hosted the Olympics.
Kyiv Still Under Ukrainian Control (6:37 a.m.)
The mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said that as of early Sunday morning the city is still fully controlled by the Ukrainian army.
Meantime, the Kyiv regional governor’s office said that a fire at a petrol storage facility in Vasylkiv, south-west of Kyiv continues to burn. The facility was hit by a missile during fighting for a nearby airfield. The fire is visible from Kyiv, 37 kilometers (23 miles) away. Neither report could be independently verified.
North Korea Resumes Missile Tests (6:20 a.m.)
North Korea followed up January’s record barrage of missile tests with the firing of a suspected longer-range ballistic rocket Sunday, ramping up tensions as global attention is focused on Ukraine.
North Korea often times its provocations for political purposes. The latest launch comes less than two weeks before South Korea holds a presidential election and as the Biden administration is tied up with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Kim Jong Un’s regime last fired a ballistic missile on Jan. 30, culminating its biggest monthly series of rocket tests since he took power a decade ago. Pyongyang then held off on missile tests while its neighbor and biggest benefactor, China, hosted the Beijing Olympics.
Some Russian Banks Cut From SWIFT (1 a.m.)
Western nations agreed to unleash new sanctions to further isolate Russia’s economy and financial system after initial penalties failed to persuade President Vladimir Putin to pull out of Ukraine.
A decision by Western nations to exclude some Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system, used for trillions of dollars worth of transactions between banks around the world, was announced Saturday. The move is aimed at Russian banks that have already been sanctioned by the international community, but can be expanded to other Russian banks if necessary, according to a spokesman for the German government.
In addition, the nations said they would act together to impose “restrictive measures that will prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impact of our sanctions.”
Russia Government-Services Site Hit With Cyberattack, Tass Says (10:14 p.m.)
Russia’s main government-services website came under a DDOS attack of unprecedented scale, the Digital Ministry said Saturday, according to Tass. The attacks were repulsed and service restored, it said.
A number of official and state-company websites appeared to be suffering disruptions Saturday as international hacker groups threatened to target Russian sites over the Ukraine invasion.
Canada Looks for Ways to Pull Plug on Russian State Television
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