“Time To Restore Justice”, Ukraine President On Talks With Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for comprehensive peace talks with Moscow, saying Russia would otherwise need generations to recover from losses suffered during the war. “The time has come to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise, Russia’s losses will be such that it will take you several generations to recover,” Mr Zelensky said.

US President Joe Biden laid out to Chinese leader Xi Jinping the “consequences” of any backing for Russia in its war against Ukraine, the White House said, as Beijing showed no sign of joining Western condemnation of the invasion.

Operations were on to rescue hundreds of civilians feared trapped under the wreckage of a bombed theatre, as local forces battled against Russian troops across the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Kyiv of “war crimes” in a call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, saying that Moscow is doing “everything possible” to avoid civilian deaths in Ukraine. Mr Macron expressed “extreme concern” over the fate of Mariupol, urging “a lifting of the siege and humanitarian access” to the city.

The International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other top world lenders warned of “extensive” economic fallout from the Ukraine war and express “horror” at the “devastating human catastrophe”.

The three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania announced the expulsion of a total of 10 Russian diplomats over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

More than 3.25 million refugees have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, the United Nations said, with more than two million crossing the border into Poland.

The International Energy Agency urged governments to urgently implement measures to cut global oil consumption within months following supply fears stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as current G7 president, invited the leaders of the world’s top industrialised countries to a meeting on Ukraine as part of the European Union and NATO summits next week.

 Several current and former European politicians addressed the Norwegian Nobel Committee with a request to nominate Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, and for this reason extend the nomination procedure until March 31.