Russia's communications regulator on Tuesday said it had drawn up two administrative cases against Alphabet Inc's Google for failing to remove banned information from its YouTube video-sharing platform, accusing it of blatantly promoting false content. Roskomnadzor said Google could be fined up to 8 million roubles ($91,533), or as much as 20% of the company's annual revenue in Russia for repeat offences. It said YouTube had become one of the key platforms in the "information war" against Russia.

Google did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Russia has restricted access to Twitter and Meta Platforms' flagship Facebook and Instagram services since sending troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, as a simmering dispute with U.S. technology giants has escalated into a battle to control information flows.

YouTube, which has blocked Russian state-funded media globally, is under heavy pressure from Moscow, which earlier this month accused it of spreading what it called threats against Russian citizens. "The American platform openly enables the spread of false content, containing inaccurate publicly significant information about the course of the special military operation in Ukraine, discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation, as well as information of an extremist nature with calls for violence against Russian servicemen," Roskomnadzor said. (Reuters)

Russia has repeatedly fired hypersonic missiles at Ukrainian military targets, the top U.S. military commander in Europe, Air Force General Tod Wolters, told a Senate hearing on Tuesday. "Most of those strikes have been designated at specific military targets," Wolters said. Russia announced on March 19 that it used hypersonic Kinzhal (Dagger) missiles to destroy a large weapons depot in Ukraine's western Ivano-Frankivsk region. (Reuters)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has not seen "signs of real seriousness" from Russia in pursuing peace after its invasion of Ukraine, he said on Tuesday, adding that Moscow should end its aggression now and pull its forces back. (Reuters)

Oil prices dropped on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous day on signs of progress in talks between Russia and Ukraine to end their weeks-long conflict, with prices further pressured by China's new lockdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Brent crude fell $6.51, or 5.8%, to $105.97 a barrel by 1342 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down $6.41, or 6%, at $99.55. Both benchmarks lost about 7% on Monday.

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met in Turkey for the first face-to-face talks in nearly three weeks. The top Russian negotiator said the talks were 'constructive'.

Russia promised at the peace talks to scale down its military operations around Kyiv and northern Ukraine, while Ukraine proposed adoption of neutral status but with international guarantees that it would be protected from attack.

'Oil prices are under pressure again on expectations from peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, which could lead to an easing of sanctions,' said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at Nissan Securities. Sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine have disrupted oil supplies, driving prices higher. Prices were also pressured on Tuesday by fears over Chinese demand after new lockdowns in Shanghai to curb rising coronavirus cases. Shanghai accounts for about 4% of China's oil consumption, ANZ Research analysts said. (Reuters)

Harjot Singh, who was shot multiple times in Ukraine's capital Kyiv last month while fleeing the war-torn country, has been discharged from the Army hospital. His condition is now stable, his brother Prabhjot said on Tuesday.

'He (Harjot) was discharged yesterday. He is doing fine but it will take time for him to recover properly,' Prabhjot told PTI.

Harjot's family has also sought financial help from the government for his treatment. 'Our financial condition is not very well. We urge the Indian government to help us in my brother's further treatment,' Prabhjot said. Harjot was brought back to India on a special Indian Air Force flight on March 7.

Amid the fierce Russian military offensive, the 31-year-old Indian student, along with his two friends, had boarded a cab for the western Ukrainian city of Lviv in a bid to escape Kyiv. He was shot four times, including in his chest. (PTI)

Peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiating teams, held in Istanbul on Tuesday, will not continue for a second day, the Turkish foreign ministry said.Russia has decided to drastically cut its military activity around Kyiv and Chernihiv in Ukraine, one of its deputy defence ministers said earlier. (Reuters)

Ukraine proposed adopting a neutral status in exchange for security guarantees at talks with Russia, meaning it would not join military alliances or host bases, Ukrainian negotiators said. Russia said it had decided to drastically cut its military activity focused on Kyiv and Chernihiv in Ukraine.

* Earlier, a Russian rocket hit an administration building in the southern Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv, killing three people and wounding 22, emergency services said.

* Russia said it destroyed a fuel depot in western Ukraine's Rivne region. Defence minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia had degraded Ukraine's military and would respond if NATO supplied Ukraine with planes and air defence systems. * On Tuesday morning, British military intelligence said Ukrainian forces were continuing counter attacks to the northwest of Kyiv, and Russia has kept up heavy shelling of Mariupol.

* The Ukraine-Russia talks began in Istanbul with "a cold welcome" and no handshake, Ukrainian television reported.

* Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was there, to "enable certain contacts" between the two sides, the Kremlin said.

* U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi visited Ukraine on to help keep facilities there safe, apparently without Russia's blessing.

* Russia said it was launching a buyback offer on its $2 billion sovereign Eurobonds maturing on April 4, its biggest debt payment of the year, and would make full payment to bondholders taking up the offer in roubles.

* European shares rallied to five-week highs, buoyed by the talks. The rouble hit a more than one-month high.

* Holcim, the world's biggest cement-maker, said it was exiting the Russian market; Japan will ban the export of high-end cars and luxury goods to Russia; Germany wants to end all fossil fuel imports from Russia.

* The United States and its allies plan new sanctions on Russian supply chains, Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said.

* "It is up to the sides to stop this tragedy," Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan told the delegations. (Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says seven people were killed in a missile strike on the regional government headquarters in the southern city of Mykolayiv. Zelenskyy, who spoke to the Danish parliament through a translator, said Tuesday's strike also left 22 people injured.

Russia has decided to drastically cut its military activity focused on Kyiv and Chernihiv in Ukraine, its deputy defence minister said on Tuesday, after talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiating teams in Istanbul, news agency Reuters reported.

The British government has ordered its first detention of a superyacht in British waters, the BBC reported. The BBC said the 38 million pound yacht, named Phi, is owned by an unnamed Russian businessman. (Reuters)

The Kremlin on Tuesday dismissed reports that Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich had been poisoned, saying they were untrue and part of an "information war". Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Abramovich was not an official member of the Russian delegation at talks with Ukraine in Turkey, but that he was present at them. Peskov told reporters on a conference call that it would become clear either on Tuesday or Wednesday if the peace talks were promising.

The Kremlin has said Abramovich played an early role in peace talks but that the process was now up to negotiating teams. Sitting next to Erdogan's spokesman at the talks, Abramovich adjusted his headphones to listen to the president's speech, TV showed.

According to the Wall Street Journal and the investigative outlet Bellingcat, which cited people familiar with the matter, Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning earlier this month after a meeting in Kyiv. Ukrainian officials poured cold water on the report.

The West has imposed heavy sanctions on Abramovich and other Russian billionaires, as well as Russian companies and Russian officials, in a bid to force Putin to withdraw from Ukraine.

Abramovich had sought to sell his English soccer club Chelsea, a process that was taken out of his hands by the British government when it blacklisted him. The superyachts linked to him, together worth an estimated $1.2 billion, have been docked at Bodrum and Marmaris in southwest Turkey since last week. (Reuters)

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators began the first direct peace talks in more than two weeks on Tuesday in Istanbul, with the surprise attendance of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich who is sanctioned by the West over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The two teams sat facing each other at a long table in the presidential office, with the Russian oligarch sitting in the front row of observers wearing a blue suit, a Turkish presidential video feed showed.

Three sources confirmed the unexpected attendance of Abramovich, who had already visited the country since the war began and has two of his superyachts docked at Turkish resorts.

In a speech ahead of the talks on the Bosphorus strait, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told the delegations the time had come for concrete results and that progress would pave the way for a meeting of the countries' two leaders. "It is up to the sides to stop this tragedy. Achieving a ceasefire and peace as soon as possible is to the benefit of everyone. We think we have now entered a period where concrete results are needed from talks," he said. "The negotiating process, which you have been carrying out under the orders of your leaders, has raised hopes for peace."

Ukrainian television said the meeting began with "a cold welcome" and no handshake between the delegations. Ukraine said on Monday its most ambitious goal at the meeting was to agree a ceasefire, while a senior U.S. official said Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear ready to make compromises to end the war. (Reuters)

Russian airlines could be frozen out of the aircraft leasing market well beyond the Ukraine conflict, one of the industry's biggest players warned on Tuesday, blaming what executives have described as a default involving hundreds of Western jets.

Global leasing companies had until Monday to sever ties with Russian carriers under Western sanctions imposed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, but executives say only a fraction of the more than 400 jets directly involved have been returned.

Domhnal Slattery, chief executive of Dublin-based Avolon, the world's second-largest leasing firm, told Reuters its own risk is limited, with a net exposure of below $200 million on 10 jets still blocked in Russia after it recovered four aircraft. But the mainly Ireland-based leasing sector, which accounts for about half of the world's airline fleet, will be in no hurry to reset relations with Russian airlines even if sanctions against Moscow are lifted, he predicted. (Reuters)

At least three people were killed and 22 wounded on Tuesday when a rocket struck the regional administration building in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv, Reuters quoted the Ukrainian emergencies service as saying. In an online post, it said 18 of the wounded had been pulled from the rubble by rescue workers who continue to work at the scene.

Russia’s defence minister has said that Ukraine’s military capability is seriously degraded and it no longer has an airforce, news agency Reuters reported. He also said that around 600 foreign mercenaries have been killed in Ukraine over the last two weeks. (Reuters)

Russia is set to resume supplies of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from a Sea of Azov port Tuesday for the first time since Moscow started its military operation in Ukraine, data from the port and Refinitiv Eikon showed.

Supplies of LPG, which is used in the petrochemical industry and to fuel vehicles and stationary generators, had been halted from the Temryuk terminal since February 24 following a ban on shipments in the region imposed by the Russian sea and river transport regulator.

According to the port data, there are plans to load a gas tanker called Premier on Tuesday under the flag of the Comoro Islands. (Reuters)

There were plenty of rave reviews for “Putin’s People,” a 2020 bestseller about the Russian president’s inner circle, but a small group of spectacularly rich men hated the book, and they didn’t hide their feelings. Over the course of a few weeks, all of them filed suit against the author, Catherine Belton, and her publisher, HarperCollins.

The first case was filed by Roman Abramovich, a billionaire confidant of President Vladimir Putin who contested a suggestion in the book, articulated by three former associates, that he had bought the Chelsea footballl team on instructions from the Russian leader.

Britain has long had a reputation for plaintiff-friendly libel laws, and despite reform efforts in the past decade, the country has remained an accommodating home away from home for Russia’s robber barons. Until the war in Ukraine changed the political climate, the public here knew little about the history of the men who earned their fortunes by allying themselves with Putin, in no small part because reporting on them could prove financially ruinous. (Read more)

Billionaire Roman Abramovich, one of the Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the West over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, is attending peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul Tuesday, three sources said.

The Kremlin has said previously Abramovich played an early role in peace talks but the process was now in the hands of the two sides' negotiating teams. (Reuters)

Talks between Ukraine and Russia began in Turkey Tuesday without a handshake, Ukrainian television reported.

"There was a cold welcome, no handshake," a Ukrainian reporter said, without making clear whether he had witnessed the delegations meeting or had been told this by officials.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a political adviser to President Volodymr Zelenskiy, said on Twitter the delegations were discussing "the fundamental provisions of the negotiation process. Delegations are working in parallel on the entire spectrum of contentious issues." (Reuters) 

Russia's Defence Ministry said Tuesday it had destroyed a large fuel depot in Ukraine's Rivne region with cruise missiles on Monday evening, the Interfax news agency reported. (Reuters)

If there was no war, Ukrainians in the country’s second-largest city of Kharkiv would have been enjoying the annual Kharkiv Music Fest at a bigger venue. Despite the shelling and explosions, classical music resonated in the city as musicians kicked off the Kharkiv Music Fest 2022 at the Istorychnyi Myzei metro station, now being used as a bomb shelter, on March 26.

A slowdown for good or a temporary lull during the storm of war?

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi said that the "small amount of nuclear material" at the Kharkiv nuclear research facility "remained intact" despite shelling.

In a statement, Grossi said, "Ukraine said the building, its thermal insulation and the experimental hall were damaged, but the neutron source, that contains nuclear material used to generate neutrons for research and isotope production, was not." (Deutsche Welle)

Roche is "losing money in Russia", Chief Executive Severin Schwan said in an interview published Tuesday, but remains committed to providing medication to patients there.

"We can't just withhold life-saving cancer drugs from Russian patients. There is international consensus that medicines are exempt from sanctions," Schwan told Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, adding that prices being fixed in Russian roubles meant the pharmaceutical giant was currently losing money on Russian sales.

The statement echoed other pharmaceutical giants, who have said they will supply essential medicines in Russia but halt some other activities in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Roche has 800 sales staff in Russia, he said. (Reuters)

Air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine before dawn on Tuesday as Ukrainian and Russian negotiators prepared to meet in Turkey for face-to-face talks. 

US President Joe Biden has said that he would make "no apologies" and was not "walking anything back" after his controversial remark that President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power" and emphasising that his comment was a "moral outrage" that he felt after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Biden also underlined that he is not calling for regime change in Moscow.

When pressed by reporters on Monday, Biden refused to apologise for his off-script comments, which his administration has been having a tough time explaining over the past few days. (PTI)

A sharp uptick in both international and domestic coal prices due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict is set to impact import-dependent power producers as well as steel, cement and aluminium producers.

ICRA has estimated that imported coal prices are set to rise 45-55 per cent in the first quarter of the upcoming fiscal as non-Russian coal supplies would not be able to compensate for the shortage in Russian supplies of coal . ICRA also noted that a coal shortage was likely unless Coal India is able to ramp up domestic coal production to 700 million tonnes in the next fiscal up from about 601 MT in FY21.

The price of Australian coal for March delivery hit an all-time high of about $330 per tonne. Australia and Indonesia are key sources of coal import for Indian thermal power generation companies using imported coal. (Read more)

A private Russian military contractor that has been accused of human rights abuses has deployed to Eastern Ukraine, according to Britain's Defense Ministry.

The ministry's Defense Intelligence said the Wagner Group was expected to bring up to 1,000 mercenaries to take part in combat operations in Ukraine after the regular Russian military experienced heavy losses.

Air Vice-Marshal Mick Smeath, London's defense attache in Washington, said in a statement that Russia has likely been forced to reprioritize Wagner personnel for Ukraine at the expense of its operations in Africa and Syria. (AP)

One month into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, New Delhi has created a distinctive diplomatic space for itself, carefully calibrating its stand between Russia on the one hand and the West, led by the US, on the other.

There is an acknowledgment of this position along with a guarded assessment of what this space holds, diplomats from at least six countries — across the aisle — have told The Indian Express.

Every 10 minutes they pick their bags and everything they can carry while fleeing their homes and take a couple of steps forward— leaving their country and lives behind.

Many stayed back in the country, hoping things would settle down. But as the war continues, their hopes to return home seem to be fading. They now move west, towards Poland, which is just a few steps away, and from there to other parts of Europe.

The United Nations chief has launched an initiative to immediately explore possible arrangements for "a humanitarian cease-fire in Ukraine'' in order to allow the delivery of desperately needed aid and pave the way for serious political negotiations to end the month-long war.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday he asked Undersecretary-General Martin Griffiths, the head of the U.N.'s worldwide humanitarian operations, to explore the possibility of a cease-fire with Russia and Ukraine. He said Griffiths has already made some contacts.

A missile attack hit an oil depot in western Ukraine late Monday, Rivne's regional governor said, marking the second attack on oil facilities in the region and the latest in a series of such attacks in recent days.

Western Ukraine has not seen ground combat, but missiles have struck oil depots and a military plant in Lviv, a major city close to Poland where hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have gone to escape fighting elsewhere.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested in an interview with Russian journalists released on Sunday that the attacks on oil depots are intended to disrupt the planting season in Ukraine, which is a major grain producer. (AP)

?? Ukrainian and Russian delegations are due to meet in Istanbul on Tuesday.

?? Ukraine's foreign minister Dmtryo Kuleba said a cease-fire was the most his country could hope for from the latest peace talks with Russia. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia expected no breakthrough at the talks

?? The Financial Times reports in exchange for giving up on its plan to join NATO, Ukraine will be free to join the EU.

?? Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning earlier this month after a meeting in Kyiv, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. The WSJ report said Abramovich, who accepted a Ukrainian request to help negotiate an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and at least two senior members of the Ukrainian team, were affected.

?? Ukrainian authorities said Russian missiles struck another fuel depot in the northwest of the country. More than 1,000 Russian mercenaries connected to the Wagner Group are deployed in eastern Ukraine, UK military intelligence said.

?? The G7 rejected Russia's demand for gas payment in rubles.

?? Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper said it would stop publishing until the war in Ukraine ends. The leading independent publication, edited by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov, said it was taking the step after receiving a second warning from the media regulator Roskomnadzor. If a media outlet receives two warnings from the communications regulator, a court can shut it down.(via Deutsche Welle)  

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich reportedly suffered suspected poisoning along with Ukraine peace negotiators.

The Russian was reportedly a mediator between the Ukraine president Vlodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. According to the Wall Street Journal, the peace negotiators suffered symptoms after a meeting in Kyiv earlier this month.

“Following the meeting in the Ukrainian capital, Mr. Abramovich, who has shuttled between Moscow, Lviv and other negotiating venues, as well as at least two senior members of the Ukrainian team developed symptoms that included red eyes, constant and painful tearing, and peeling skin on their faces and hands, the people said,” wrote the WSJ. (Read more)

Ukrainian forces claimed to have retaken a Kyiv suburb and an eastern town from the Russians in what is becoming a back-and-forth stalemate on the ground, while negotiators began assembling for another round of talks Tuesday aimed at stopping the fighting.

Ahead of the talks, to be held in Istanbul, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country is prepared to declare its neutrality, as Moscow has demanded, and is open to compromise on the fate of the Donbas, the contested region in the country's east.

The mayor of Irpin, a northwestern Kyiv suburb that has been the scene of some of the heaviest fighting near the capital, said Monday that the city has been 'liberated' from Russian troops. Zelenskyy warned that Russian forces are trying to regroup after losing the area. (AP)

President Joe Biden said Monday that he is 'not walking anything back' after his weekend remarks that Russian President Vladimir Putin 'cannot remain in power,' although Biden insisted he's not calling for regime change in Moscow. 'I was expressing the moral outrage that I felt toward this man,' he said. 'I wasn't articulating a policy change.'     Biden said he was not concerned that his comments would escalate tensions over the war in Ukraine. 'This is just stating a simple fact, that this kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable,' he said. 

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich reportedly suffered suspected poisoning along with Ukraine peace negotiators. The Russian was reportedly a mediator between the Ukraine president Vlodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. According to the Wall Street Journal, the peace negotiators suffered symptoms after a meeting in Kyiv earlier this month. Read more

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russian investigators would look into a video circulated on social media that purported to show Ukrainian forces mistreating captured Russian soldiers. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the video, which he said contained "monstrous images", needed to be legally assessed and for those who took part in what he described as torture to be held responsible. Reuters has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of the video cited by the Kremlin.

The Ukrainian government did not immediately respond directly to Peskov's comments although senior officials had earlier portrayed the video as a fake."Currently, no one can confirm or deny the veracity of this video. It's not known where it's happening, or who the participants are," military spokesperson Oleksander Motuzyanyk said. He referred Reuters to comments made by Valery Zaluzhny, the chief commander of Ukraine's armed forces, before Peskov announced the Russian investigation into the video.

"The enemy produces and shares videos with the inhuman treatment of alleged 'Russian prisoners' by 'Ukrainian soldiers' in order to discredit the Ukrainian Defence Forces," Zaluzhny said. Ukraine's armed forces respect international norms, Zaluzhny said, accusing Russia of producing such videos in order to discredit Ukrainian soldiers. (Reuters)

The mayor of Irpin, near Kyiv, said on Monday Ukrainian forces had seized back full control of the town which has been one of the main hotspots of fighting with Russian troops near the capital.

"We have good news today - Irpin has been liberated," Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn said in a video post on Telegram. "We understand that there will be more attacks on our town and we will defend it courageously."

The information could not immediately be verified by Reuters. (Reuters)

Ukraine sees no signs on the ground that Russia has given up a plan to surround the capital Kyiv, Ukrainian defence ministry spokesperson Oleksander Motuzyanyk said on Monday. The disposition of Russian forces during the past 24 hours has seen no significant change, but Russia has gained more ground in the vicinity of Mariupol, British military intelligence said. (Reuters)

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Monday discussed the latest developments of the war in Ukraine with its president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and reiterated Rome's support for the Ukrainian authorities and people, Draghi's office said.

"President Zelenskyy lamented the Russian blocking of humanitarian corridors and its continuing siege and bombardment of cities, including schools, resulting in civilian casualties, including children," Draghi's office said.

Draghi expressed Italy's "full willingness to contribute to international action to end the war and promote a lasting solution to the crisis in Ukraine". (Reuters)

Moscow broke all rules of international order by using force to shift borders and it will be Russia that will most severely suffer the consequences of this, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday.

The need to guarantee security in Europe is one of the core insights of the post-war period that everyone including Russia agreed on after 1990, Scholz said in a news conference after meeting Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson."

There can only be one answer to that. First, we call on Russia to stop the war. Second, we make ourselves so strong that an attack on EU or NATO countries does not take place, because we are strong enough to answer that," Scholz said. (Reuters)

Carlsberg to leave Russia, one of its primary markets, says company. (AFP)

The Kremlin said on Monday that US President Joe Biden’s remark that Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” was a cause for alarm, in a measured response to a public call from the United States for an end to Putin’s 22-year rule.

“For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden said on Saturday at the end of a speech to a crowd in Warsaw. He cast Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a battle in a much broader conflict between democracy and autocracy.

The White House tried to clarify Biden’s remarks and the US president said on Sunday he had not been publicly calling for regime change in Russia, which is the world’s largest country by area and has more nuclear warheads than any other.

Asked about Biden’s comment, which received little coverage on Russian state television, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “This is a statement that is certainly alarming.” Read more

The Group of Seven major economies have agreed to reject Moscow’s demand to pay for Russian natural gas exports in rubles, the German energy minister said Monday.

Robert Habeck told reporters that “all G-7 ministers agreed completely that this (would be) a one-sided and clear breach of the existing contracts.” He said officials from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada met Friday to coordinate their position and that European Union representatives also were present.

Habeck said that “payment in ruble is not acceptable and we will urge the companies affected not to follow (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s demand.”

Putin announced last week that Russia will demand “unfriendly” countries pay for natural gas only in Russian currency from now on. He instructed the country’s central bank to work out a procedure for natural gas buyers to acquire rubles in Russia. (AP)

Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper, whose editor Dmitry Muratov was a co-winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize, said on Monday it was suspending its online and print activities until the end of Russia's "special operation" in Ukraine.

The newspaper, which has already removed material from its website on Russia's military action in Ukraine to comply with a new media law, said it had received another warning from state communications regulator Roskomnadzor on Monday about its reporting, prompting it to pause operations. (Reuters)

The Kremlin said that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine may get under way in Turkey on Tuesday and it was important that they would take place face-to-face, after what it described as a lack of major progress in negotiations so far. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan agreed in a telephone call on Sunday for Istanbul to host the talks, which Ankara hopes will lead to a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Turkey said the talks could begin as early as Monday, but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that was unlikely as the negotiators would only be arriving in Turkey on Monday.

"While we cannot and will not speak about progress at the talks, the fact that they continuing to take place in person is important, of course," Peskov told reporters on a conference call. "We are adhering to a policy of not disclosing any information about the talks, which we think could only hurt the negotiation process." Peskov added that no major progress had been made in the talks themselves, or on the idea of a potential meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "Unfortunately, we cannot see any substantial achievements or breakthroughs (in the talks) so far," he said.

In separate comments, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said a meeting between the two leaders would be counterproductive if it were held now. He said they should meet once the sides achieve progress. "A meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy is needed as soon as we will be close to resolving all key issues," Lavrov said in an interview with Serbian media. (Reuters)

Individuals who display the letter "Z" in Germany to symbolise support for Russia's war in Ukraine could be liable to prosecution, an Interior Ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

The interior minister for the state of Berlin said earlier that city authorities would jump on cases of the Z symbol being used to endorse Russia's aggression, following announcements by Bavaria and Lower Saxony that they too would punish such acts.

A spokesperson for the federal government's Interior Ministry told reporters: "The letter Z as such is of course not forbidden, but its use may in individual cases constitute an endorsement of the Russian war of aggression."

The letter Z has been used as a marking on Russian military vehicles taking part in the conflict and has been adopted by Russians supporting the war, with it being prominent on flags and at pro-Kremlin rallies.

"The Russian war of aggression on Ukraine is a criminal act, and whoever publicly approves of this war of aggression can also make himself liable to prosecution," the Interior Ministry spokesperson told a regular government news conference. (Reuters)

With peace talks between Russia and Ukraine set to take place in Turkey this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has insisted on the territorial integrity of his country after earlier suggesting he was ready for a compromise.

Zelenskyy said in a video address to the Ukrainian people late on Sunday that in talks due to take place in Istanbul his government would prioritise the 'territorial integrity' of Ukraine.

But in comments made to Russian journalists earlier in the day, Zelenskyy adopted a different tone, saying Ukraine was willing to assume neutral status and compromise over the status of the eastern Donbas region as part of a peace deal.

In the video call that the Kremlin pre-emptively warned Russian media not to report, Zelenskyy said any agreement must be guaranteed by third parties and put to a referendum. (Reuters)

The Kremlin said Monday talks between negotiators from Moscow and Kyiv have so far made no major breakthroughs on the conflict in Ukraine as the delegations prepare for a new round of talks in Istanbul.

The Kremlin also expressed concern after US President Joe Biden called the Russian leader Vladimir Putin a "butcher" over his military operation in Ukraine. (AFP)

Just after 7pm on Sunday, the Allegro express train from St Petersburg pulled into the Finnish capital, marking the closure of the last rail link between Russia and the EU.

Finnish railway operator VR announced on Friday that it was suspending the Allegro service, which since Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been regularly sold-out with Russians eager to get out before Western sanctions make leaving all but impossible.

"Now that I've picked up my cats I don't have a reason to go back, I have everything that's most valuable to me," said Alex, who got off the train wheeling a carry case containing his two long-haired pets.

The Muscovite who has lived for some years in Helsinki gave only his first name.

"The situation in Russia has become more complicated," university student Ivan told AFP, travelling with his mother from Moscow where he studies back to his home in Portugal for the Easter holidays. (AFP)

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators will begin peace talks in Istanbul later on Monday, a senior Turkish official said, without elaborating.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed in a telephone call on Sunday for Istanbul to host the talks, which Ankara hopes will lead to a ceasefire. (Reuters)

Ukraine has no plans to open any humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from besieged cities Monday because of intelligence reports warning of possible Russian "provocations" along the routes, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. (Reuters)

With its aspirations for a quick victory dashed by a stiff Ukrainian resistance, Russia has increasingly focused on grinding down Ukraine's military in the east in the hope of forcing Kyiv into surrendering part of the country's territory to possibly end the war.

The bulk of the Ukrainian army is concentrated in eastern Ukraine, where it has been locked up in fighting with Moscow-backed separatists in a nearly eight-year conflict.

If Russia succeeds in encircling and destroying the Ukrainian forces in the country's industrial heartland called Donbas, it could try to dictate its terms to Kyiv and, possibly, attempt to split the country in two. (AP)

A senior Ukrainian official said ahead of talks between Ukrainian and Russian representatives in Turkey that he did not expect any major breakthrough.

"I don't think there will be any breakthrough on the main issues," interior ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko said on Monday.  (Reuters)

?? Ukraine is willing to discuss becoming neutral as part of a peace deal, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said as another top Ukrainian official accused Russia of aiming to carve the country in two.

?? Russia is trying to split Ukraine in two to create a Moscow-controlled region after failing to take over the whole country, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence said.

?? The Russian-backed eastern Ukrainian rebel region of Luhansk said it may hold a referendum on joining Russia, drawing a warning from Kyiv that any such vote would have no legal basis and trigger a strong international response.

?? Russia continued its 'full-scale armed aggression', while Ukrainian forces had repulsed seven attacks in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said.

?? Ukraine's deputy prime minister said Russian forces were 'militarising' an exclusion zone around the occupied Chernobyl power station.

?? The disposition of Russian forces during the past 24 hours has seen no significant change, however Russia has gained more ground in the vicinity of Mariupol, British military intelligence said.

?? The next round of face to face talks between Ukraine and Russia will take place in Turkey on March 28-30, a Ukrainian negotiator said on social media. 

The disposition of Russian forces in Ukraine during the last 24 hours has seen no significant change, British military intelligence said on Monday. However, Russia has gained more ground in the south, in the vicinity of Mariupol, as it fights to capture the port, the defence ministry added. (Reuters) 

The Black Sea port of Odesa is mining its beaches and rushing to defend its cultural heritage from a feared Mariupol-style fate in the face of growing alarm that the strategic city might be next as Russia attempts to strip Ukraine of its coastline.

The multi-cultural jewel, dear to Ukrainian hearts and even Russian ones, would be a hugely strategic win for Russia. It is the country’s largest port, crucial to grain and other exports, and headquarters for the Ukrainian navy.