Category Archives: Ukraine

Biden calls Putin a ‘murderous dictator’ and says Russia ‘waging an immoral war’ – as it happened

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It’s been a busy day so far, with the US political landscape dominated by foreign affairs, with focus on US-news related to Russia’s war in Ukraine. We’ll have more coming up.

Meanwhile, it if you want to follow our global, round-the-clock blog on the war in Ukraine itself, that is here.

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Tory MP backs calls for Marks & Spencer stores in Russia to close

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Retailer says it has stopped supplying its franchisee’s business in Russia, but the shops remain open

A Conservative MP has backed calls for dozens of Marks & Spencer stores across Russia to be shut immediately, suggesting Vladimir Putin is funnelling every rouble made in the country into the invasion of Ukraine.

Alicia Kearns, who hosted four Ukrainian parliamentarians in the House of Commons on Thursday, said any profits generated would be tainted by the killings and war crimes committed during the conflict.

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Boris Johnson open to attending European Council, say sources

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EU leaders and Joe Biden will meet next week to discuss war in Ukraine, but PM has not yet been invited

Boris Johnson is understood to be open to accepting an invitation to attend the European Council next week when EU leaders meet to discuss the war in Ukraine, though one has yet to be extended.

A Downing Street source said Johnson would be in Brussels next week for a Nato summit, along with the US president, Joe Biden, who will attend the council meeting later that afternoon. They said it remained a possibility for Johnson to attend the council meeting – which would be a major symbolic step post-Brexit.

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Hoax caller claiming to be Ukrainian PM got through to UK defence secretary

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Ben Wallace has launched an immediate inquiry to find out how apparent impostor was able to speak to him

An inquiry has been launched after an apparent hoax caller claiming to be the Ukrainian prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, was able to get through and speak directly to the defence secretary, Ben Wallace.

After Wallace revealed news of the call on Thursday, Priti Patel said something similar had happened to her earlier in the week. Both government ministers expressed solidarity with Ukraine.

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Six countries including UK and US accuse Russia of war crimes in Ukraine

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British foreign secretary says there is ‘very strong evidence’, and France says Putin is only pretending to negotiate

Russia has been accused by the UK, the US, France, Albania, Ireland and Norway of war crimes in Ukraine, as Paris claimed Vladimir Putin was only pretending to be interested in negotiating a peace deal.

The six countries challenged Russia before a UN security council meeting as the British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said there was now “very, very strong evidence” of war crimes being committed by Russian forces.

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Aid agencies race to get food supplies to Ukrainian cities at risk of siege

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Efforts to stock up Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro are under way as the wider repercussions of the conflict are felt in Yemen and Lebanon

Aid workers are racing to deliver emergency food supplies to Ukrainian cities at risk of “medieval tactics of besiegement”, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) has said.

In a dramatic turnaround for a country long hailed as the “breadbasket of the world”, the UN’s emergency food agency is now trying to get stocks into warehouses in Ukrainian cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro before it is too late, said Jakob Kern.

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Philippines considers four-day working week to combat rising costs

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Economist calls for compressed working hours with 10-hour days in response to higher fuel prices

The Philippines is considering a four-day working week to conserve energy, as the cost of fuel continues to rise globally, driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Officials are searching for ways to soften the impact of dramatic price increases, which have prompted calls for a rise in the minimum wage and greater assistance for drivers.

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‘First you cry, then get used to it’: Ukraine villagers find a kind of refuge in Mykolaiv

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Ukraine is holding out in the heavily bombarded port city and even as thousands of people try to leave, others are arriving

After an airstrike flattened the school behind his house and artillery shells ripped apart a circle of neighbouring homes, Dmitry Yakhshyboyev went out to look for petrol.

His family, from seven-month-old son to parents in their 70s, had been cowering in their basement without heating, electricity or running water for two days, as Russian forces assaulted their village.

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Biden calls Putin a war criminal after Zelenskiy speaks to Congress

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Ukrainian president receives standing ovation as he urges US to send more military aid and impose further sanctions

Joe Biden has denounced Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, delivering his sharpest rebuke yet of the Russian leader just hours after the Ukrainian president pleaded with Congress to provide more aid to his country.

“I think he is a war criminal,” Biden said of Putin on Wednesday.

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Joe Biden calls Vladimir Putin a ‘war criminal’ – as it happened

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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, addressed the US Congress seated in a high-backed office chair with a plain white wall behind him and a prominently-displayed Ukrainian flag to his right.

He was neatly turned out with a trimmed beard and wearing what has become his characteristic combat-green tee shirt, since Russia invaded Ukraine last month and he was forced to shelter in a hidden bunker somewhere in Kyiv with his top team.

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Hopes rise for Ukraine talks, but experts doubt Russia will pull out

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Analysis: Putin’s rhetoric remains uncompromising and analysts are sceptical negotiations will yield a lasting solution

As Russia has pursued its war with Ukraine, it has held parallel negotiations with Kyiv ostensibly seeking a peace deal from its own invasion of a neighbouring country.

Those talks, which appeared to be a sideshow to the continuing war, received an unexpected boost on Wednesday as both sides indicated that discussions had yielded some progress.

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Thousands of refugees expected in UK next week under Homes for Ukraine scheme

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Government says 5,500 visas granted and 20,000 applications submitted

Thousands of Ukrainians are expected to arrive in the UK next week following criticisms of the slow progress of government schemes.

The refugees minister, Richard Harrington, told a parliamentary committee that sponsors who had identified someone who wished to come to the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme would be able to apply from 18 March.

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Plane carrying Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori lands in UK – live

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Latest updates: husband of British-Iranian woman detained in Iran thanks supporters for ‘kindness and care’ as she embarks on the final leg of her journey home to UK

Tulip Siddiq, the Labour MP who has Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as a constituent, has paid tribute to Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, for the role she played in getting Nazanin released. This is from the Times’ Steven Swinford.

Penny Madden, the lawyer who represents Richard Ratcliffe, Nazanin’s husband, told Sky News a few moments ago that “hopes remain very high” this morning. But she said Richard was not able to relax until Nazanin was on the flight home. She said she had spoken to Richard this morning. He was “excited”, but “tinged with anxiety”.

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Fed expected to raise interest rates for first time since 2018, markets rise on Ukraine hopes – business live

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The UK government released $530m of its debts to Iran, ahead of Tehran’s release of two British-Iranian prisoners, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported.

The prisoners are Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who had been detained by Iran for six years, and Anousheh Ashouri.

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Russia and Ukraine ‘close to agreeing’ on neutral status, says Sergei Lavrov

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Russian foreign minister says status comparable to Sweden or Austria being ‘seriously discussed’

A deal with Kyiv on “neutral status” for Ukraine as part of a peace agreement could be close, Russia’s foreign minister has said, as Ukrainian forces launched a wave of counterattacks against Russian forces.

Sergei Lavrov suggested in a media interview that talks with Kyiv were making ground despite the continued bloodshed, echoing cautiously optimistic comments overnight from Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

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Church of England to reconsider shares in TotalEnergies over Ukraine inaction

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Pension board and investment fund managers urge French energy company to cut ties with Russia

The Church of England is pressuring the French energy giant TotalEnergies over its decision not to cut ties with Russia after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Church’s pensions board and the manager of its investment fund said they would reconsider their shareholding in the company.

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Wagamama owner and Fever-Tree warn of cost increases as energy prices soar

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The Restaurant Group mindful of impact of Russia-Ukraine war, while drinks maker lowers profit guidance

The drinks maker Fever-Tree and the owner of the Wagamama and Frankie & Benny’s restaurant chains have warned of dramatic cost increases as the price of commodities and gas and electricity soars and the war in Ukraine adds pressure to their businesses.

Fever-Tree has lowered its profit guidance, blaming a “dramatic increase” in commodity prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The company, which had forecast adjusted profits of £69m to £72m this year, has downgraded its outlook to between £63m and £69m.

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‘An abomination’: Morrison signals sanctions against China if it helps arm Russia

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PM says Australia ‘will move in lockstep’ with allies on sanctioning the country’s largest trading partner

Scott Morrison has left the door open to introducing sanctions against China, Australia’s largest trading partner, if Chinese president Xi Jinping’s regime were to provide military equipment to Russia.

The prime minister said his government would move in lockstep with its allies and partners in response to what he called Beijing’s “chilling silence” on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said any move by China to arm Russia would be “an abomination”.

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US Federal Reserve raises interest rates for first time since 2018

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Fed raises rates by a quarter percentage point from near zero as central bank struggles with inflation, the war in Ukraine and Covid

The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates for the first time since 2018, as the central bank struggles with soaring US inflation, the impact of the war in Ukraine and the coronavirus crisis.

The Fed raised rates by a quarter percentage point from near zero, in what is expected to be the first in a series of raises in the coming months.

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