Russia Ukraine conflict live updates: Ukraine rejects peace talks with Russia in Belarus
Ukraine has refused the Kremlin’s offer of peace talks in Belarus, as Russia shows signs it is preparing for a bloody prolonged street battle.
World
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Ukraine has refused to hold peace talks in Belarus, demanding Vladimir Putin’s negotiators meet in Poland, Turkey or Hungary instead.
As Russia’s invasion enters a fourth day, the Kremlin offered to hold talks with Ukraine in Belarus, where it launched its deadly attack.
There are signs that Russia was now preparing for a bloody prolonged street battle after fierce Ukrainian resistance, with the Ukrainian military claiming it had killed 3000 Russian soldiers.
Ukraine president Volodomyr Zelensky said on Sunday night Australian time that peace talks could not be held in Belarus.
He demanded any talks be held in either Warsaw, Poland, Istanbul, Turkey, or Budapest, Hungary.
Zelensky released a video message after Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday that negotiators were being sent to the city of Homel.
“The Russian delegation is ready for talks, and we are now waiting for the Ukrainians,” Peskov said.
It comes as an update from the Ukrainian army claimed that Russia had slowed the pace of its invasion because its troops had been unable to get fuel.
“Columns of armoured technology of Russian aggressors slowed the pace of promotion deep into the territory of Ukraine,” the military said in a statement.
“The enemy’s troops, deprived of timely refilling of fuel and ammunition, stop.”
It claimed the Ukrainian army had killed 3000 Russian soldiers, taken 200 prisoners, down 16 aircraft, 18 helicopters and 102 tanks by 7pm Australian time on Sunday.
The Ukrainian military added it had “broken a column of Russian soldiers” in the Luhansk region near Severodonetsk in the east of Ukraine.
Video footage showed a group of police and civilians who claimed to have stopped a Russian tank in Chernihiv, 160km north of Kyiv.
AUSTRALIA SET TO PROVIDE ‘LETHAL AID’ TO UKRAINE FIGHTERS
Australia will dramatically step up support for Ukraine with the supply of “lethal aid” to help its military defend against Russian invasion.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed Australia is now in talks with NATO allies including the US and UK to provide financial support for Ukraine’s military efforts, rather than directly providing weapons.
Mr Morrison said there was “nothing off the table” as Australia considered both lethal aid to help Ukraine and harsher sanctions against Russia.
“We’ll be seeking to provide whatever support we can for lethal aid through our NATO partners, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom,” he said.
“We’ll be working through those channels, because that’s the most effective way to do it.
“(NATO) are already providing support in these areas, and we will be assisting them with what they are doing.”
Mr Morrison said Australia was already providing “significant” non-lethal support to Ukraine, including medical supplies and humanitarian aid.
Asked if Russian diplomats would be expelled from Australia or if more economic sanctions would be imposed, Mr Morrison would not rule anything out.
“Russia must pay a heavy price, they must pay a heavy price,” he said.
“And we will continue to add to that price, as we consider every single option that is in front of us. I’ve taken nothing off the table.”
Mr Morrison said “rapid processing” of Ukrainian visas to come to Australia was now completed, with any future applications to be treated as a “top priority”.
He said Australia would provide support for Ukrainians through humanitarian and other visa programs, such as for skilled migrants and students.
“After two years where our immigration intake has been below (normal levels), there is quite a lot of room within those programs to take in more places,” he said.
UKRAINE’S CAPITAL CITY ROCKED BY EXPLOSIONS
Kyiv has been hit by two massive explosions as the city braces for a renewed attack from Russia.
Footage aired by CNN showed a pulsing orange glow illuminating the sky, likely from a fire, and reportedly near an airport.
Thousands of Ukrainian residents remained underground in Kyiv overnight, as besieging Russian troops vowed to capture the capital in 48 hours and force the President to formally surrender.
CNN's senior national security correspondent @MarquardtA reports as an explosion lights up the night sky to the southwest of Kyiv.
— CNN International PR (@cnnipr) February 26, 2022
Live updates: https://t.co/AxPCpk0VJ1pic.twitter.com/4v1n4lQJIK
But the move comes as the US, UK and European Union take the so-called “nuclear option” against Russia not with a weapon but economics in a move which will decimate the Russian economy.
The option was initially considered in 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea but the concept was dropped when Vladimir Putin branded the thought as tantamount to an act of war, involves kicking Russian banks out of the international banking system and restrictions on its central bank, markedly constrain its import and export market.
The new raft of sanctions comes as Russia takes a stranglehold on Ukraine’s capital.
Kyiv residents were told to stay off the streets in a full-time curfew lasting from 5pm Saturday until 8am Monday or risk being considered “saboteurs or reconnaissance” groups allegedly roaming and taking coordinates of Ukrainian military urban strongholds, to be targeted by precision shelling.
Group of armed locals, akin to a gun-toting neighbourhood watch, are walking at night to hunt suspects.
Many locals have already abandoned their homes but the various border points with Poland are taking between 24 to 60 hours to process and clear the hundreds of thousands seeking to flee the violence.
Men between 18 and 60 are legally not allowed to leave Ukraine under last week’s declared martial law orders for them to stay and fight, but they drive their families who then wait in the elements for clearance.
In all, the UN predicts four million Ukrainians will attempt to relocate to other countries.
That choked freeway to the border may not remain open for much longer with reports Russia is looking to circle the city including cutting of that western exit point.
Some locals are also moving into the underground subway for a huge makeshift city to avoid the bloodshed above. That call came after reports Putin was considering using thermobaric rockets, missiles with highly explosive fuel and chemicals that emit a devastating blast wave that tear whole buildings apart.
Ukrainian authorities confirmed 200 people including three children have been killed and more than 1000 others including 33 children have been wounded in the Russian offensive.
The relentless missile assault on the city centre and skirmishes on the outskirts has been likened to the devastating 1941 assault on the city by German troops.
US intelligence has said 50 per cent of Russian’s military force had now crossed the border into Ukraine.
Much of the focus is on the capital and as such, Ukrainian authorities have destroyed key bridges across the Dnipro River to slow Russia’s advance.
The defiance shown by Ukraine’s regular and volunteer armies that is now likely to see weeks or longer of urban warfare was best summed up by Ukraine’s ’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba yesterday.
“Go to hell,” he said when Russian President Vladmir Putin suggested his forces surrender to stop the bloodshed.
Ukraine’s armed forces went on to shoot down a second Russian bomber and also a missile that was aimed at a dam serving Kyiv.
While the capital has shown a degree of resistance against Russian forces, Ukraine still looks likely to lose all of its ports with fighting at Mariupol and Odessa expected to increase on Sunday.
FURIOUS PUTIN ‘HOLED UP IN LAIR’
Russian President Vladimir Putin is “furious” that his invasion of Ukraine hasn’t been “easy” after Russian troops have been unable to take even one major city in three days of fighting, according to a member of the European Union Parliament.
“Putin is furious, he thought that the whole war would be easy and everything would be done in 1-4 days,” tweeted Riho Terras, who said he was citing Ukrainian intelligence reports.
“The Russians are in shock of the fierce resistance they have encountered,” Terras,
who is also the former defence chief of NATO member Estonia, said in a lengthy thread on Twitter.
He claimed the report showed Russia don’t have a “tactical plan” to take a Ukraine that is fighting back, stating that the entire invasion plan relied on “sowing panic among civilians and armed forces and forcing (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky to flee.”
Terras posted an image of what appeared to be an intelligence report written in Russian that said, “Putin is raging. He was sure it would be a cake walk.”
Terras, citing the intelligence report, said the Russian military has enough rockets only for three or four days, and with the new sanctions imposed will not be able to replace their depleted weapons.
According to Terras, Putin was holed up in his “lair in the Urals,” and brought Russian oligarchs with him so they couldn’t flee the country.
RUSSIA ORDERS ADVANCE ‘FROM ALL DIRECTIONS
Russia has ordered its troops to advance in Ukraine “from all directions”. The capital is under siege and the curfew is being enforced with shoot-on-sight orders, AFP reports.
Residents have started taping over exposed window panes and covering up street names, building numbers and other identifiable city markings to try to confuse the invading Russian force.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has introduced a 5pm to 8am curfew for the next two days, saying any civilian seen on the streets during the curfew will be considered a Russian “saboteur”.
“All civilians who will be on the street during the curfew will be considered members of the enemy’s sabotage and reconnaissance groups,” Mayor Klitschko said on Twitter.
“For safety’s sake, stay at home or in shelters as much as possible! Do not go out and do not go to the city.”
Moscow said it had fired cruise missiles at military targets and would “develop the offensive from all directions” after accusing Ukraine of having “rejected” talks.
Russian troops are reportedly only 30 kilometres from the centre of Kyiv, the British Ministry of Defence said on Saturday while officials have reported 198 civilian deaths.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed his country “will win” against Russia and called on anyone who wants to defend his country to come forward, saying “we will arm you” in a national address from Kyiv.
As Russian troops advanced on the capital with missile strikes, Mr Zelensky pledged to “destroy the occupiers”. He said Ukraine’s forces had halted the Kremlin’s push to capture Kyiv and oust him and urged Russians to pressure leader Vladimir Putin to stop the invasion.
“We’ve derailed their plan,” the 44-year-old leader said, stressing that the Ukrainian army was in control of the capital Kyiv and main cities around it.
He also thanked Russians who spoke out against the war and asked them to keep up the pressure on the Kremlin saying: “Simply stop those who are lying to you, lying to us, lying to the entire world.”
“I want everyone in Russia to hear me. Everybody. Hundreds of captured soldiers who are here in Ukraine don’t know why they were sent here to kill people or be killed.
“People need to tell the government why the war has to be stopped, more people from your country will stay alive.
“Your nationals are voicing their opposition to this war. We know many people in Russia are shocked now by the brutality of the Russian government, this is the right reaction.”
Mr Zelensky said they were controlling Kyiv and key points around the city.
“Anyone who wants to defend Ukraine, please come, we will arm you,” he said.
In the final section of his speech, he said: “We need to stop this war. We can live in peace together, globally as humans. Our military, our national guard, our national police, our territory defence, special service, nationals of Ukraine, please carry on. We will win. Glory to Ukraine.”
His comments come after reports emerged he rejected an offer to be evacuated from US President Joe Biden.
“The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride,” Mr Zelensky said, according to a US official.
Russian troops paratroopers and Special Forces pressed toward Ukraine’s capital after an incredible urban resistance by Ukrainian fighters has held them outside the capital Kyiv in some of the fiercest gunbattles of the conflict so far.
The apparent deadlock in street fighting left Russian forces to resort to another barrage of air and ship fired cruise missiles including on dozens of civilian homes and apartment blocks, which have struck inside Kyiv notably close to the airport.
GERMANY WANTS ‘TARGETED’ SWIFT EXCLUSION
Germany has changed its position overnight about imposing restrictions on Russia’s access to the SWIFT global interbank payment system, joining other Western powers in support of harsher sanctions aimed at halting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We are urgently working on how to limit the collateral damage of decoupling from SWIFT in such a way that it affects the right people. What we need is a targeted and functional restriction of SWIFT,” Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economy Minister
Germany, which has the EU’s biggest trade flows with Russia, had been reluctant to get on board with cutting off Russia from the world’s main international payments network, saying it must first weigh the economic consequences of such move.
The move would hit Russian trade and make it harder for Russian companies to do business. SWIFT is a secure messaging system that facilitates rapid cross-border payments and is the principal mechanism for financing international trade.
RUSSIAN SHELLS BLAST KYIV BUILDING
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry has released images of the apartment building in Kyiv that was damaged early Saturday, which showed several apartment units destroyed, their walls and windows missing as the building was left with a massive hole.
Some windows on the bottom few floors were also smashed, with debris surrounding neighbouring streets.
“Incredible resistance,” British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said of the Ukraine forces fighting, limited to isolated pockets about Kyiv.
But he tempered his optimism of how long Ukrainian forces backed by ordinary reservists could hold out, describing the next 24 hrs as “very grave”.
“The main armoured columns approaching Kyiv are still some way off,” he said. “That is a testament to the incredible resistance the Ukrainian armoured forces have put up over the last 48 hours or so. Clearly the Russian plan is to take Kyiv but the reality is that the Ukrainians are thwarting them thus far.”
UKRAINIANS DEFIANT AS STREET FIGHTING CONTINUES
Such is the desperation, Ukrainian civilians some of whom have never held a gun before were told to stop the tanks, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry urging them to “make Molotov cocktails and neutralise the enemy”.
But other towns have not fared better, with reports some are now being overrun by Russian tanks, including the city Melitopol.
More than 60 Russian military units were also approaching the city of Balakliya in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, it’s mayor has warned locals.
NATO gifted weaponry to Ukraine forces have been significantly depleted, Russian state member celebrating a running sheetof apparent victories.
They include Russian forces destroying 820 military infrastructure facilities in Ukraine including 14 airfields, 48 radarstations, and 24 anti-aircraft missile systems.
The Russian military have also shot down seven fighter jets, seven helicopters and nine drones as well as 87 tanks and otherarmoured vehicles.
On sea, eight Ukrainian military boats have been sunk or disabled.
The losses have prompted some in the EU to suggest intervention but that has been over ruled.
NATO has deployed “thousands” of troops but only to bolster the defences of Baltic nations on Ukraine. This includes the so-called Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), which is currently led by France.
Meanwhile Russian misinformation campaign continues, with social media alive with Russian appeals to the Ukraine forces todown their weapons because their government had been taken over by “terrorists” and drug addict neo-Nazis and the Ukrainepresident has fled the capital.
Do not believe fake news. I am here,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in Ukrainian in a selfie video posted to social media, thatappeared to have been filmed in Kyiv.
“We will not lay down our weapons. We will defend our Country. Our weapons are our strength. This is our land. Our country. Our children.”
RUSSIA COMING FROM ALL SIDES
The attack on Kyiv by Russian Forces is reportedly coming from all sides and the Russians are understood to be targeting military installations as they advance and attempt to take the capital.
The Ukrainian embassy in Moscow is now also evacuating to Latvia, Reuters reports.
Mr Zelensky also spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“Weapons and equipment from our partners are on the way to Ukraine. The anti-war coalition is working!” he said.
President Joe Biden has instructed the US State Department to release $US350m in military aid to Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky said Saturday Ukraine would decide the fate of the country.
“This night will be the hardest … We must withstand,” he said in an address to the people. “This night the enemy will be using all available means to break our resistance. This night they will launch an assault,” he said.
“This night will be harder than the day. Many cities of our state are under attack: Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, our boys and girls in the Donbas, the cities of the south, special attention to Kyiv,” he added. “We can’t lose the capital.”
Ukrainian citizens have taken up arms are fighting back courageously. Ukrainians forces have reportedly downed five helicopters, blown up more than a dozen tanks and brought down a drone.
Former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, now the mayor of Kyiv, said he would take up arms alongside his brother and fellow world beater, Wladimir, to fight in a “bloody war”.
Mr Klitschko, who was known as Dr Ironfist during his boxing days, said he was ready to fight.
“I don’t have another choice, I have to do that. I’ll be fighting.”
Ukrainian Members of parliament, including Golos party leader, Kira Rudik, have been calling on for a no-fly zone to be imposed over Ukraine to give them a chance to fight back.
Ms Rudik told western media outlets it would give Ukraine the help it needs to fight the superpower.
“We can do the rest,” she said.
Mr Zelensky who has vowed to stay and fight himself also called on Western nations – and nearby Europe in particular to “act without delay” …
MORE TALKS AS UKRAINE CITIES UNDER ATTACK
Leaders from Poland and Lithuania urged the European Union on Saturday to go further in their support for Ukraine in the face of a Russian invasion, as they headed into a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said all sanctions against Russia should be on the table, including shutting the Nord Stream pipelines that supply Russian gas to Europe and halting its access to the SWIFT global payments system, Reuters reports.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda also said it was important that Ukraine was provided with “real military help.”
It came as Russia offered talks with Ukraine for the first time since the crisis began. Mr Zelensky has been seeking talks with Vladimir Putin since before the invasion began.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Russia was prepared for talks with Ukraine, but only in the context of “demilitarisation” and about Ukraine’s “neutral status”.
Gunfire and loud explosions have been reported in the second-largest city, Kharkiv in the northeast.
Mariupol, a strategically important port city on the Sea of Azov to the south, is also reportedly under attack.
Ukraine had said at least 137 civilians and soldiers have been killed. Russia has not admitted any deaths on its side
More than 100,000 Ukrainians are estimated to have fled their homes, heading for the borders.
There is a 37 km long traffic jam with cars heading into Poland. On the other side of the border thousands of volunteers are lining up offering food, water and to take in women and children fleeing the conflict.
Making it more difficult for Ukrainians, their internet is experiencing serious disruptions as the fighting continues a setback which could hamper Ukrainians efforts to stay in touch.
A network monitoring organisation It is being reported that the network had been hit with “significant disruptions” from Kharkiv on Thursday to Kyiv on Saturday morning.
The disruptions have been attributed to power outages, cyberattacks, sabotage, and kinetic impacts.
Russian state media has also been banned from running ads on any platform anywhere in the world owned by Meta, Facebook’s parent company.
AUSTRALIA MAY SANCTION PUTIN
In Australia the Federal Government is seeking advice on joining other countries in imposing direct sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne who has just returned from Europe and South-East Asia said eight Russian oligarchs will be targeted with sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine are senior figures in mostly state-owned banks and all close to President Vladimir Putin.
“They have influence over decisions and have amassed great wealth through their positions of power,” Senator Payne said.
She said the “unity of partners is extremely important. The invasion is a wholesale breach of international law. It is a breach of the UN Charter, and the most flagrant violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity that Europe has seen in decades.”
Senator Payne said that the option of expelling Russian diplomats in Australia remains “a live option”. “It is not something that we are considering currently, it enables us to have a direct line of communication with the Russian government. We did call in the ambassador to meet with the Secretary of DFAT to make absolutely clear our views,” she said at a press conference in Sydney.
More Coverage
Originally published as Russia Ukraine conflict live updates: Ukraine rejects peace talks with Russia in Belarus
Read related topics:Russia & Ukraine Conflict
Huge twist for prime McCann suspect
The prime suspect in the case of Maddie McCann has been cleared in a separate rape trial and could walk free in a matter of weeks.
Read more
Mayor brutally beheaded days into job
The newly elected mayor of a city besieged by violence has been beheaded days after taking office, with his head left on the bonnet of a car.
Read more