Russia-Ukraine Crisis Highlights: Ukrainian foreign minister says negotiations with Russia difficult

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine entering a month, there are no signs of a resolution. US President Joe Biden will travel to a town near the Polish-Ukrainian border Friday, trying to signal Western resolve against a Russian invasion that has increasingly turned to a grinding war of attrition. The US and the European Union continue to levy sanctions on Russia, which continues to shrug off threats from the western nations and insist that the operation is to protect its security. Stay tuned to DH for live updates.

People rest at a metro station that serves as a shelter from possible air raids, as Russia's attack onUkrainecontinues, in Kyiv,UkraineMarch 25, 2022.

The Centre on Friday said it is in the process of analysing the impact of sanctions on Moscow for India-Russia bilateral trade and economic cooperation. (PTI)

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Friday peace negotiations with Russia were difficult, and denied reports that progress had been made resolving four out of six key issues. (Reuters)

Biden in Poland as Ukraine fears 300 dead in theatre

US President Joe Biden came up-close to the war in Ukraine Friday after forging a new set of measures with Europe designed to place a tighter squeeze on Russia's tottering, energy-rich economy.

Biden visited Poland as a clearer scale of the ruin emerged from Ukraine's besieged port city of Mariupol, which a month into the invasion now resembles World War II scenes of Russian cities razed by the Nazis.

Hungary PM rejects Zelenskyy appeal over 'national interests'

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban dismissed Friday an EU summit appeal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for weapons and tougher sanctions against Russia as it would be "against Hungary's interests".

Russia said on Friday that the first phase of its military operation inUkrainewas mostly complete and that it would focus on completely "liberating" easternUkraine's Donbass region. (Reuters)

US calls India's position over Ukraine 'unsatisfactory' but unsurprising

A senior White House official said on Friday India's position over the crisis inUkrainehas been "unsatisfactory" but was also unsurprising given its historical relationship with Russia. (Reuters)

Moscow says 'mistake' for West to supply arms to Ukraine

Russia's defence ministry said on Friday it has "liberated" 93% of the territory of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, one of two Russian-backed breakaway regions in easternUkraine, the TASS news agency reported.

Russian army says 1,351 soldiers killed in Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin on Friday slammed the West for discriminating against Russian culture, saying it was like the ceremonial burning of books by Nazi supporters in the 1930s. (AFP)

Local authorities in Ukraine said on Friday the town of Slavutych that services the defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant was "completely isolated", with Russian forces just beyond the town's limits. (Reuters)

Ukraine hopes to agree humanitarian corridor for Chernihiv, says deputy PM

Ukraine hopes to agree a humanitarian corridor to help people evacuate from Chernihiv on Saturday after local authorities reported the northern city was in effect cut off by Russian forces, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

Russian military chaplain killed by rocket near Ukraine border, reports AFP.

The Kremlin said on Friday that nothing terrible will happen if the United States and its allies succeed in expelling Russia from the Group of Twenty (G20) major economies because many of the G20's members are at economic war with Moscow anyway. (Reuters)

Kremlin says US strategy of isolating Russia has only been partially effective

UN Refugee agency official in Ukraine says around 3.7 million people have left Ukraine since conflict began

Ukrainian aid centre hit by Russian shelling, four killed, say police

Russian shelling hit a clinic that was acting as a centre for humanitarian aid in the eastern city of Kharkiv, killing four people, the regional police said in a statement on Friday.

"As a result of the morning shelling of civilian infrastructure from multiple rocket launchers, 7 civilians were injured, 4 of whom died," said a statement on social media. "There is no military facility nearby."

Reuters could not independently verify the report.(Reuters)

Ukrainian city of Chernihiv cut off by Russian forces: Regional governor

The northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv has in effect been cut off by Russian forces, the regional governor said on Friday.

"The city has been conditionally, operationally surrounded by the enemy," Governor Viacheslav Chaus said on national television, adding that the city was under fire from artillery and warplanes.(Reuters)

300 feared dead in Russian strike on Mariupol theatre: AFP

Russia says it destroyed fuel depot outside Kyiv in missile strike

Russia's armed forces destroyed a major fuel depot outside Kyiv in a missile strike, Russia's defence ministry said on Friday.

Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told a briefing that the strike happened on Thursday evening, using Kalibr cruise missiles fired from the sea. Konashenkov said the depot was used to supply Ukraine's armed forces in the centre of the country.

Reuters was not able to independently verify Konashenkov's remarks.(Reuters)

Fleeing Putin, Russians resettle in pro-Kremlin Serbia

As free speech was curtailed, her friends imprisoned and the Russian economy tanked in the days after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, Marina packed her bags and fled Moscow.

But more than a thousand miles away in her new home in Serbia, the 41-year-old former travel agent has found herself unable to escape the long arm of Russian propaganda in Belgrade where the Kremlin's war enjoys broad support.(AFP)

Oil edges lower as supply crunch fears ease, trading costs rise

Oil prices inched lower on Friday as supply concerns eased as countries in the European Union remained split on imposing an oil embargo on Russia while the United States and allies considered releasing more oil from storage to cool markets.

Brent crude futures fell 46 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $118.57 a barrel at 0529 GMT, after sliding 2.1 per centin the previous session.(Reuters)

How one month of war in Ukraine ground to a bloody stalemate

One month after President Vladimir Putin ordered his military forces to invade Ukraine, Russia has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe unseen in Europe since the end of World War II while achieving almost none of its military objectives.

Read more

Russia must comply with its international obligations, say G7 leaders

Russian ex-president says Western sanctions won't sway Kremlin

It is "foolish" to believe that Western sanctions against Russian businesses could have any effect on the Moscow government, Russian ex-president and deputy head of security council Dmitry Medvedev was quoted as saying on Friday.

The sanctions will only consolidate the Russian society and not cause popular discontent with the authorities, Medvedev told Russia's RIA news agency in an interview. (Reuters)

Ukraine urges halt to Russia's assault as Biden heads to Poland

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Ukrainians "need to achieve peace" and halt Russian bombardment that has forced millions to flee to countries like Poland, where USPresident Joe Biden is due to witness the crisis first hand.

On the heels of leaders' summits in Brussels that aimed to show a united Western front against Russia's month-long invasion of its neighbour, Biden goes to Poland on Friday to meet experts involved in the refugee response.(Reuters)

White House says Biden will visit Polish town near Ukraine border

Russia running out of precision munitions in Ukraine war: Pentagon official

Russia is running out of precision-guided munitions and it is more likely to rely on so-called dumb bombs and artillery, a senior Pentagon official said on Thursday.

Japan to freeze assets of additional 25 Russian individuals

Japan will freeze the assets of an additional 25 Russian individuals and prohibit exports to 81 Russian organisations, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Citizens in Mariupol dying of starvation, says Ukraine

Mariupol City Council calls for help as residents begin to die from starvation. More and more people are left without any food while multiple attempts to create humanitarian corridors and to provide aid have failed as Russian troops continue to violate ceasefire agreements.

(The Kyiv Independent)

Australia imposes sanctions on Belarus president, places more on Russia

Australia on Friday placed sanctions on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and members of his family, and 22 Russian individuals, who it called "propagandists and disinformation operatives."

Canada will boost oil exports to replace Russian energy

Canada announced Thursday it will boost oil exports by about five per cent to help address supply shortages faced by allies shunning Russian energy after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

"Our European friends and allies need Canada and others to step up. They're telling us they need our help in getting off Russian oil and gas in the short term," Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a statement.

Biden Says Russia Should Be Ejected From G-20

As President Joe Biden met with world leaders in Brussels on a day of rare and intense global diplomacy intended to galvanize nations opposed toRussia’sinvasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have carried out a counteroffensive that has claimed some major successes and altered the dynamic of the fighting.