Amid Ukraine crisis, Biden considering trip to Europe, say officials
The White House is weighing the possibility of President Joe Biden travelling to Europe in the coming weeks for face-to-face talks with European leaders about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the deliberations.
The prospective trip is yet to be finalised. One possible destination for the meetings would be Brussels, which is the headquarters for NATO, one of the officials said Monday. Another official said the White House was looking at Biden visiting NATO headquarters on March 24, with other potential stops in Europe.
All of the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity as none was allowed to comment publicly.
11:35 PM
Kremlin says no request yet from Ukraine to talk to Putin: RIA
The Kremlin has not received any requests in the past week from the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to arrange a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, RIA news agency quoted Putin's spokesman as saying on Monday.
The Kremlin has previously said that Putin will not refuse a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart to discuss how to end hostilities in Ukraine.
Ukraine has repeatedly called for direct talks between the men, and Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Ukraine's negotiators were trying to secure such a meeting.
11:32 PM
No discussion of possible Putin-Biden summit, says Kremlin
No discussions are taking place about the possibility of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, according to the Tass news agency.
A White House spokesperson said on Feb. 22, two days before Russian armed forces entered Ukraine, that a summit was "certainly not in the plans", and that a de-escalation of Russia's conflict with Ukraine would be needed before any such meeting took place.
11:27 PM
Ukraine accuses Russia of blocking aid convoy to besieged port city of Mariupol
Senior Ukrainian presidential official Kyrylo Tymoshenko on Monday accused Russia of blocking a humanitarian aid convoy sent to relieve the besieged port city of Mariupol.
Civilians have been trapped in Mariupol by Russian shelling for more than two weeks and have been without heating, electricity and running water for most of this time, the Ukrainian authorities say.
However, at least 160 cars left the city on Monday in the first successful attempt to evacuate civilians in a humanitarian corridor after over a week of trying.
Around 150,000 people had been evacuated through humanitarian corridors so far, Tymoshenko said.
10:57 PM
'Russia continues to occupy parts of Georgia'
10:53 PM
EU mulls Russia export ban on luxury cars
The EU is discussing a ban on exports of luxury vehicles worth more than 50,000 euros to Russia as part of its latest sanctions package, according to two diplomats familiar with the proposal.
The proposed ban, which is set to be approved as early as Monday and could still change, could apply to models from several European car brands, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari and Porsche. The EU measure would also include boats and planes, as well as chairlifts and motorbikes worth more than 5,000 euros.
10:39 PM
EU member states press ahead with new package of sanctions against Russia
European Union member states have agreed on a fourth package of sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, the office of the French EU presidency wrote on Twitter on Monday.
10:35 PM
Russian oligarch Abramovich spotted in Israeli airport
Sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich was seen in Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport on Monday shortly before a jet linked to him took off for Istanbul.
A photograph obtained by Reuters showed Abramovich, owner of Britain's Chelsea soccer club, sitting in the airport's VIP lounge with a face mask pulled down over his chin. Reuters could not verify independently that he actually boarded the flight.
Abramovich, who also holds Israeli and Portuguese citizenship, was among seven Russian billionaires added to the British sanctions list on Thursday as part of efforts to isolate President Vladimir Putin over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
10:34 PM
Mayor of Ukraine's Kharkiv says Russian forces firing at city non-stop
The mayor of Ukraine's front line city of Kharkiv on Monday said the city had been under constant attack by Russian forces, who had fired at central districts causing an unspecified number of casualties.
"They're firing at us constantly," Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on national television.
10:12 PM
IMF says working on bilateral donor trust fund for Ukraine
The International Monetary Fund is working on a new Ukraine trust fund instrument to allow bilateral donor countries to contribute resources to the war-torn country as it battles a Russian invasion, an IMF official said on Monday.
A $1.4 billion emergency loan for Ukraine approved by the IMF last week is currently the maximum that Ukraine can borrow directly from the Fund current rules for the IMF's Rapid Financing Instrument, the official said.
Any additional near-term IMF-administered funding for Ukraine will come from bilateral donors, the official said, adding that the IMF's emergency loan is having a "catalytic" effect in encouraging donations.
10:06 PM
Russia's attack on Ukrainian base launched from Russian airspace: US official
Russia's carried out its weekend attack on a large Ukrainian base on Sunday using air-launched cruise missiles fired from Russian airspace by long-range bombers, a senior U.S. defense official said on Monday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the strike on the Yavoriv International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security near the border with NATO member Poland would not affect the West's military resupply effort for Ukraine.
The official said there were no U.S. troops, contractors or civilian government workers at the base.
10:06 PM
Nine killed in air strike on TV tower in northern Ukraine, says governor
At least nine people were killed and nine more wounded in an air strike on a television tower in Ukraine's northern Rivne region on Monday, Governor Vitaliy Koval said.
"There are still people under the rubble," he said in an online post.
9:55 PM
Russia's attack on Ukrainian base launched from Russian airspace: US official
Russia's carried out its weekend attack on a large Ukrainian base on Sunday using air-launched cruise missiles fired from Russian airspace by long-range bombers, a senior U.S. defense official said on Monday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the strike on the Yavoriv International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security near the border with NATO member Poland would not affect the West's military resupply effort for Ukraine.
The official said there were no U.S. troops, contractors or civilian government workers at the base.
9:46 PM
Russians' demand for VPNs skyrockets after Meta block
As Russia blocked access to Meta Platforms Inc's flagship social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, demand from internet users for tools to skirt the restrictions skyrocketed, data from a monitoring firm showed.
Instagram access in Russia was cut from Monday in response to Meta's decision last week to allow social media users in Ukraine to post messages such as "Death to the Russian invaders". Facebook was already banned over what Moscow said were restrictions on access to Russian media there.
On the eve of the Instagram ban, demand for Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) that encrypt data and obscure where a user is located spiked 2,088% higher than the daily average demand in mid-February, data from monitoring firm Top10VPN showed.
9:10 PM
Ukraine economy could shrink by a third due to Russia invasion, IMF report says
Ukraine's economy is expected to contract by 10% in 2022 as a result of Russia's invasion, but the outlook could worsen sharply if the conflict lasts longer, the International Monetary Fund said in a staff report released on Monday.
The report, prepared ahead of the IMF's approval of $1.4 billion in emergency financing, said Ukraine's economic output could shrink by 25% to 35%, based on real wartime gross domestic product data from Iraq, Lebanon and other countries at war.
The report said Ukraine has an external financing gap of $4.8 billion, but its financing needs were expected to grow and it would require significant additional concessional financing.
The country's public debt was expected to spike to 60% of GDP in 2022 from around 50% in 2021, the report said.
Russia Ukraine war live updates: Diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine were gearing up on Monday, with Ukrainian and Russian negotiators set to talk again after both sides cited progress, even though Russia attacked a base near the Polish border and fighting raged elsewhere.
A barrage of Russian missiles hit Ukraine's Yavoriv International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security, a base just 25 km from the Polish border, killing 35 people and wounding 134, a Ukrainian official said on Sunday.
Thousands of people have died since Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he called a special military operation to rid Ukraine of dangerous nationalists and Nazis, Reuters reported.
The Indian embassy in war-hit Ukraine has been temporarily relocated to neighbouring Poland amid "deteriorating security situation" in the eastern European country facing Russian invasion.
 "LIVE: Kremlin says no request yet from Ukraine to talk to Putin")
