Ukrainian and Russian officials meet as fighting rages, sanctions crash ruble, U.S. closes embassy in Belarus and lets staff leave in Russia, E.U. President wants Ukraine in European Union and the latest updates on the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian and Russian officials meet for cease-fire talks as fighting rages
NBC reported that officials from Russia and Ukraine sat for talks on the Belarus border Monday as fighting continued to rage around key cities. Ukraine was pushing for an immediate cease-fire and the withdrawal of Russian troops from the country.
Sanctions impact Russian economy, crash Ruble, financial meltdown looming
The impact of sanctions by the U.S. and other Western nations is beginning to take hold as the ruble crashed; Russia scrambled on Monday to avoid a financial meltdown of its economy, CNN Business reported.
As of 6 AM ET on Monday, the ruble lost roughly 20% value to trade at 100 to the dollar, plummeting as much as 40% earlier. According to a statement from the country’s central bank, trading on the Russian stock market was delayed, then canceled entirely.
U.S. cutting off Russian central bank from dollar transactions
On Monday, a senior administration official said the U.S. would take action to prohibit American dollar transactions with a Russian central bank as a move to halt Russia’s means of mitigating the effect of transactions, CNN reported. The steps are intended to prevent Russia from accessing a “rainy day fund” it keeps in U.S. dollars.
U.S. closes embassy in Belarus and lets staff leave in Russia
Due to the war in Ukraine, operations at the Minsk embassy have been suspended. The State Department has closed the U.S. Embassy in Belarus, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced. ABC REPORTED THAT the U.S. authorized non-essential staff to leave the U.S. Embassy in Russia and the authorized departure from Moscow.
E.U. President wants Ukraine in European Union
In an interview, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Euronews that Ukraine is “one of us and we want them in the European Union.”
“So many topics where we work very closely together and indeed over time, they belong to us,” von der Leyen. “We have very close cooperation on the energy grid, for example. They are one of us, and we want them in.”
However, she did not indicate membership would be adopted rapidly. The comment came after Brussels announced it was sending weapons to Ukraine, prohibiting Russian aircraft from the bloc, and banning Russian-backed media in the E.U.
Poll: Most Americans want the U.S. to do more to stop Russia, but oppose direct military action
Most Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of the United States doing more to stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Still, they are opposed to direct intervention by the U.S. military, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
83% of Americans favored increased economic sanctions in the poll, with only 17% opposed. However, CNN reported that 58% of Americans opposed direct military action, while only 42% favored U.S. intervention.
Latest Ukraine updates:
• the U.K. says Putin’s “nuclear alert” action is a distraction.
• Over half a million people have now fled Ukraine since the invasion began, according to the United Nations.
• Zelenskyy says prisoners with combat experience will be released from prison to join the fight against Russian forces.
• Anonymous hacker collective launches an attack on Belarus government sites amid President Alexander Lukashenko’s continued support of Vladimir Putin and takes down three Russian news agency sites.
