The latest on the Russia-Ukraine crisis:
MOSCOW — The Kremlin says it will analyze the Ukrainian president’s offer to discuss a non-aligned status for his country, as a Russian military invasion pushes closer to Kyiv.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready to hold talks on the issue.
Asked about Zelensky’s offer, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday described it as "a move in a positive direction."
He said in a conference call with reporters that "we paid attention to that, and now we need to analyze it."
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Zelensky "is simply lying" when he offers to discuss non-aligned status for Ukraine.
Lavrov said at a briefing that Zelensky "missed the opportunity" to discuss a neutral status for Ukraine when Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed it.
Putin says the West left him no option but to invade when it rejected Moscow’s demand to keep Ukraine out of NATO.
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BRUSSELS — A senior European Union official says the 27-nation bloc intends to slap further sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
EU Council president Charles Michel tweeted Friday: "Second wave of sanctions with massive and severe consequences politically agreed last night. Further package under urgent preparation."
Michel announced the move after a call with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Michel said Kyiv "is under continued attack by Russian forces" and called on Russia to immediately stop the violence.
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BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary has extended temporary legal protection to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, as countries in eastern Europe prepare for the arrival of refugees at their borders.
Hungary, which borders Ukraine to the west, has in the past taken a firm stance against all forms of immigration. It has controversially refused to accept refugees and asylum seekers from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
But in a decree published late Thursday, Hungary’s government announced that all Ukrainian citizens arriving from Ukraine, and all third-country nationals legally residing there, would be entitled to protection.
The section applying to third-country nationals makes it possible for non-Ukrainians — for example, Belarussian refugees living in Ukraine — to receive protection in the European Union.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that Hungary will play no part in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but that it would accept refugees arriving at its borders.
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LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has expressed his solidarity with Ukraine in telephone call with the country’s leader.
Johnson’s Downing Street office said Friday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered an update on Russian military advances, including missile and artillery strikes.
"The prime minister assured President Zelensky that the world is united in its horror at what Putin his doing," Johnson’s office said in a statement. "He paid tribute to the bravery and heroism of the Ukrainian people in standing up to Russia’s campaign of violence and expressed his deep condolences for those who have been killed."
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BERLIN — The German government says it has suspended the granting of export credit and investment guarantees for business with Russia.
The Economy Ministry said Friday that the granting of new export credit guarantees and investment guarantees for Russia was suspended on Thursday.
The so-called Hermes credit export guarantees protect German companies from losses when exports aren’t paid for. Investment guarantees are granted by the German government to protect direct investments by German companies from political risk in the countries where they are made.
The Economy Ministry said that new export credit guarantees to the tune of 1.49 billion euros (US$1.67 billion) were granted last year for business with Russia. New investment guarantees came in at a fraction of that amount, at 3.75 million euros (US$4.2 million).
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WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s Border Guard says that some 29,000 people were cleared to enter through the country’s land border with neighbouring Ukraine on Thursday, the day Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began.
Before that, there were some 12,000 average daily entries from Ukraine into European Union and NATO member Poland, through land, sea and airport checkpoints, according to Border Guard statistics.
Poland has lifted the requirement of COVID-19 quarantine or vaccination certificates for refugees from Ukraine. A number of reception centres with camp beds, soup kitchens and medical care have been organized in locations close to the border with Ukraine.
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BEIJING — China is holding back from labelling Russia’s attack on Ukraine an invasion.
At the same time, it is upholding the sanctity of territorial sovereignty, in a nod to its own insistence that Taiwan is part of China.
"The sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected and maintained," China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Friday.
"At the same time, we also see that the issue of Ukraine has its own complex and special historical merits, and we understand Russia’s legitimate concerns on security issues," he added.
Wang did not answer questions about whether China would recognize the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, in Ukrainian territory claimed by Russia, as independent states.
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MOSCOW — Russia’s civil aviation authority has banned U.K. flights to and over Russia in retaliation against the British government’s ban on Aeroflot flights.
Rosaviatsiya said that all flights by the U.K. carriers to Russia as well as transit flights are banned starting Friday.
It said the measure was taken in response to the "unfriendly decisions" by the British authorities who banned flights to the U.K. by the Russian flag carrier Aeroflot as part of sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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MOSCOW — The Russian military claims it has destroyed 118 Ukrainian military assets since the beginning of its assault on its neighbour and as it pushes into the outskirts of Kyiv.
The claim could not be independently verified and was not confirmed by Ukraine amid a flurry of claims and counterclaims by each side.
Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Friday that among the targets were 11 Ukrainian air bases, 13 command facilities, 36 air defence radars, 14 air defence missile systems, 5 warplanes, 18 tanks and warships.
However, U.K. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace rejected Russian claims of success on the first day of its invasion of Ukraine, saying it had "failed to deliver" on its day one objectives.
Wallace told Sky News that the Western assessment is that Russia had failed to take its major objectives and is behind on its timetable for advance.
"They’ve lost over 450 personnel," he said.
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BERLIN — Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine, calling it "a deep cut in European history after the end of the Cold War."
Germany’s dpa news agency quoted Merkel saying Friday that there was "no justification for this blatant attack of international law. I condemn it in the sharpest possible manner."
Merkel, who grew up in East Germany and speaks Russian, was heavily engaged in negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin throughout her 16 years in office, which ended in December.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s nuclear energy regulatory agency says that higher than usual gamma radiation levels have been detected in the area near the decommissioned Chornobyl nuclear plant, after it was seized by the Russian military.
The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate said Friday that higher gamma radiation levels have been detected in the Chornobyl zone, but didn’t provide details of the increase.
It attributed the rise to a "disturbance of the topsoil due to the movement of a large amount of heavy military equipment through the exclusion zone and the release of contaminated radioactive dust into the air."
Ukrainian authorities said that Russia took the plant and its surrounding exclusion zone after a fierce battle Thursday.
Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Russian airborne troops were protecting the plant to prevent any possible "provocations." He insisted that radiation levels in the area have remained normal.
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said it was told by Ukraine of the takeover, adding that there had been "no casualties or destruction at the industrial site."
The 1986 disaster occurred when a nuclear reactor at the plant 130 kilometres north of Kyiv exploded, sending a radioactive cloud across Europe. The damaged reactor was later covered by a protective shell to prevent leaks.
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says he is "closely following recent developments in and around Ukraine with increasing concern."
Karim Khan warned &quoxjmtzywt;all sides conducting hostilities on the territory of Ukraine" that Ukraine has accepted the court’s jurisdiction.
That means "my office may exercise its jurisdiction over and investigate any act of genocide, crime against humanity or war crime committed within the territory of Ukraine since 20 February 2014 onwards, Khan said in a statement Friday.
Khan adds that because neither Russia nor Ukraine are member states of the court, his office does not have jurisdiction over the crime of aggression in the conflict.
The International Criminal Court is the world’s permanent war crimes court. It was set up in 2002 to prosecute atrocities in countries where local authorities are unable or unwilling to conduct trials.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Kyiv mayor Vitaly Klitschko said at least three people were injured when a rocket hit a multi-story apartment building in Ukraine’s capital on Friday, starting a fire.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Russian military’s claim it is not targeting civilian areas is "a lie." He said that military and civilian areas in Ukraine are both being hit by Russian attacks.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began early Thursday with a series of missile strikes, many on key government and military installations, quickly followed by a three-pronged ground assault. Ukrainian and U.S. officials said Russian forces were attacking from the east toward Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city; from the southern region of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014; and from Belarus to the north.
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PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that France and its European allies have decided to "inflict very severe blows on Moscow," further sanctioning individuals and targeting finance, energy and other sectors. The legal texts for the sanctions will be finalized and submitted for approval to EU foreign ministers later Friday.
Macron also said the EU has decided on economic aid for Ukraine in the amount of 1.5 billion euros (US$1.68 billion).
The French president also called the Belorussian government "an accomplice" in Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, and said it will also be targeted.
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KYIV, Ukraine — As Russian troops continued pressing their offensive Friday, intense fighting also raged in the country’s east.
Russian troops entered the city of Sumy near the border with Russia that sits on a highway leading to Kyiv from the east. The regional governor, Dmytro Zhivitsky, said Ukrainian forces fought Russian troops in the city overnight, but other Russian convoys kept rolling west toward the Ukrainian capital.
"Military vehicles from Sumy are moving toward Kyiv," Zhivitsky said. "Much equipment has passed through and is heading directly to the west."
Zhivitsky added that another northeastern city, Konotop, was also sieged. He urged residents of the region to fight the Russian forces.
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says he is "closely following recent developments in and around Ukraine with increasing concern."
Karim Khan issued a statement Friday on Twitter while on a visit to Bangladesh, where he is investigating crimes against Myanmar’s Rohingya minority.
Khan said he alerted "all sides conducting hostilities on the territory of Ukraine" that Ukraine has accepted the court’s jurisdiction.
That means "my office may exercise its jurisdiction over and investigate any act of genocide, crime against humanity or war crime committed within the territory of Ukraine since 20 February 2014 onwards," Khan added.
He said that "any person who commits such crimes, including by ordering, inciting or contributing in another manner to the commission of these crimes may be liable to prosecution before the Court."
Khan added that because neither Russia nor Ukraine are member states of the court, his office does not have jurisdiction over the crime of aggression in the conflict.
The International Criminal Court is the world’s permanent war crimes court. It was set up in 2002 to prosecute atrocities in countries where local authorities are unable or unwilling to conduct trials.
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KYIV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian military is reporting significant fighting northwest of the nation’s capital as Russian forces apparently try to advance on Kyiv from the north.
The military said Friday morning a bridge across a river had been destroyed in the area of Ivankiv, about 60 kilometres northwest of Kyiv.
"The hardest day will be today. The enemy’s plan is to break through with tank columns from the side of Ivankiv and Chernihiv to Kyiv. Russian tanks burn perfectly when hit by our ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles)," Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said on Telegram.
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TOKYO — The Ukrainian ambassador to Japan is urging China to join international efforts to stop the Russian "massacre" in his country amid Beijing’s lack of criticism of Moscow’s actions.
"We would very much welcome that China exercises its connection with Russia and talks to Putin and explains to him that it is inappropriate in the 21st century to do this massacre in Europe," Ukrainian diplomat Sergiy Korsunsky told a news conference in Tokyo.
China has not criticized Russia over its actions against Ukraine, and has joined in verbal attacks on Washington and its allies.
"I do believe China can play a much more active role to work with Putin in a manner we expect for civilized countries to do," he said.
Korsunsky also asked support from the United States and its allies to provide anti-missile defence equipment to fight Russian cruise missile attacks. He said Ukraine wants to join NATO and called for its support in resolving the conflict.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Explosions are being heard before dawn in Kyiv as Western leaders scheduled an emergency meeting and Ukraine’s president pleads for international help.
The nature of the explosions was not immediately clear, but the blasts came amid signs that the capital and largest Ukrainian city was increasingly threatened following a day of fighting that left more than 100 Ukrainians dead.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said the government had information that "subversive groups" were encroaching on the city, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Kyiv "could well be under siege" in what U.S. officials believe is a brazen attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to dismantle the government and replace it with his own regime.
U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told lawmakers on a phone call that Russian mechanized forces that entered from Belarus were about 20 miles from Kyiv, according to a person familiar with the call
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BRUSSELS — European Union leaders are putting on a united front after a six-hour meeting during which they agreed on a second package of economic and financial sanctions on Russia.
The EU Council president accuses Russia of using "fake pretexts and bad excuses" for justifying its invasion of Ukraine and says sanctions will hurt the government,
The legal texts for the sanctions agreed on are expected to be finalized overnight and be submitted for approval to EU foreign affairs ministers Friday.
EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen says the package includes targeting 70% of the Russian banking market and key state-owned companies.
She says Russia’s energy sector also will be targeted "by making it impossible for Russia to upgrade its refineries." And there will be a ban on sales of software, semiconductors and airliners to Russia.
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UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council will vote Friday on a resolution that would condemn Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine "in the strongest terms." It also would demand an immediate halt to Russia’s invasion and the withdrawal of all Russian troops.
A senior U.S. official says the Biden administration knows the measure will be vetoed by Russia, but believes it is very important to put the resolution to a vote to underscore Russia’s international isolation.
The official says the council vote will be followed by a resolution voted on quickly in the 193-member U.N. General Assembly where there are no vetoes.
The final draft resolution, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, would reaffirm the council’s commitment "to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders."
The council is scheduled to vote at 3 p.m. EST Friday.
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Natali Sevriukova reacts next to her house following a rocket attack the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
