LIVE: Biden warns direct NATO-Russia clash would trigger 'World War III'

Russia will pay a severe price for the use of chemical weapons, US President said on Friday

11:35 PM

Ukraine says Russia wants to drag Belarus into war, warns of invasion plan

Ukraine said on Belarus could be planning to invade its territory on Friday and accused Russia of trying to drag its ally into the war by staging air attacks on Belarus from Ukrainian air space.

 

Belarus has served as a staging post for Russian troops, missiles and aircraf, both before and after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, but it has not deployed its own forces in active battle.

 

Ukraine's military accused Russian aircraft of firing at Belarusian border villages from Ukrainian air space on Friday to provide an excuse for an offensive.

 

"This is a PROVOCATION! The goal is to involve the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus in the war with Ukraine!," Ukraine's Air Force Command said in an online statement.

11:04 PM

US Senate panel weighs end to tax breaks for companies backing Russia

Companies and individuals backing Russia should lose any U.S. tax breaks, the head of the Senate Finance Committee said on Friday, saying his panel was developing plans to strip Russian supporters of any "tax goodies."

 

Panel chairman U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said Russian oligarchs and companies should not get U.S. tax breaks, adding: "If U.S. companies choose to keep paying taxes to Russia - taxes that are funding the bombing of hospitals for women and children - they should do it without a penny of help from American taxpayers."

10:48 PM

Klitschko brothers say Kyiv supply lines open, residents returning to fight

Kyiv mayor and former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko said on Friday that he believed there were nearly 2 million people still left in the city, which is being squeezed by advancing Russian forces on several fronts.

 

He said the Ukrainian capital, normally with a population of 3.5 million, had enough vital provisions to last a couple of weeks, and that supply lines in and out remained open for now.

 

His brother Wladimir, also a heavyweight boxing star, added in a joint interview that some men and women who had accompanied their families to the relative safety of the west of the country were returning to take part in the city's defence.

10:48 PM

US envoy says Russia's biological weapons allegations at UN are potential 'false flag'

US envoy to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said a U.N. Security Council meeting called by Russia on Friday to discuss Moscow's claims, presented without evidence, of U.S. "biological activities" in Ukraine was a potential "false flag" effort in action.

 

Repeating Washington's position that Ukraine does not have a biological weapons program or such laboratories supported by the United States, Thomas-Greenfield said it was Russia that could use chemical or biological agents in Ukraine.

 

Although she did not immediately provide evidence of an imminent threat during the meeting of the 15-member council, she said: "Russia has a track record of falsely accusing other countries of the very violations that Russia itself is perpetrating."

10:36 PM

Direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War III: Biden

Russia will pay a severe price for the use of chemical weapons, US President Joe Biden said on Friday, stressing that Washington will not fight Moscow in Ukraine as a direct confrontation between NATO and Kremlin would trigger World War III.

 

On February 24, Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine, three days after Moscow recognised Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.

 

“We're going to continue to stand together with our allies in Europe and send an unmistakable message. We'll defend every single inch of NATO territory with the full might of the United States and galvanise NATO. We will not fight a war against Russia in Ukraine. Direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War III. Something we must strive to prevent,” Biden told reporters at the White House.

 

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is a group of 30 North American and European nations. According to NATO, its purpose "is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means." Biden said Russia would never be able to gain victory in Ukraine.

 

“He (Russian President Vladimir Putin) hoped to dominate Ukraine without a fight, he failed,” Biden said, adding that Putin also failed in his alleged attempt to fracture and weaken the transatlantic alliance.

10:30 PM

'Ukraine does not have a biological weapons program'

10:23 PM

G7 says it will take steps to deny Russia a 'most favoured nation' status

G7 nations said on Friday they will take steps to deny Russia a so-called "most favoured nation" status, which would revoke benefits of Russia's membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

 

"We welcome the ongoing preparation of a statement by a broad coalition of WTO members, including the G7, announcing their revocation of Russia's Most Favoured Nation status", the G7 countries said in a joint statement released by the White House.

10:17 PM

EU unveils fourth set of sanctions against Russia

The European Union will suspend Moscow's privileged trade and economic treatment, crack down on its use of crypto-assets and ban exports to Russia of EU luxury goods and import of iron and steel goods, the head of the European Commission said on Friday.

 

The new measures amount to a fourth set of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, coordinated with the United States and other G7 allies.

 

"Tomorrow, we will take a fourth package of measures to further isolate Russia and drain the resources it uses to finance this barbaric war," Ursula von der Leyen said.

10:12 PM

US's Harris slams Putin, credits Romania for Ukraine refugee help

President Vladimir Putin shows no sign of being willing to engage in diplomacy, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said on Friday during a visit to Romania three weeks into Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

 

Harris credited Romania for taking in thousands of people fleeing the fighting in neighbouring Ukraine and said Washington was constantly reassessing support levels for its NATO allies according to the dynamic situation on the ground.

 

"From everything that we know and have witnessed, Putin shows no sign of engaging in serious diplomacy," Harris said at a news conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

 

Her visit to Bucharest came a day after talks between Ukraine and Russia's foreign ministers failed to bring any pause in the conflict.

9:34 PM

Biden, G7 revoke Russia's favoured nation trading status

President Joe Biden said on Friday the G7 industrialized nations will revoke Russia's "most favoured nation" trade status, and announced a U.S. ban on Russian seafood, alcohol and diamonds, the latest steps to punish Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

 

The move would deliver "another crushing below" to Russia, as it continues its aggression in Ukraine, Biden said. President Vladimir Putin is an "aggressor, the aggressor," Biden said, and he must "pay a price."
 

He also said the United States would add new names to a list of Russian oligarchs who are sanctioned, and ban the export of luxury goods to Russia.

 

"Those are the latest steps we're taking but they're not the last steps we're taking." Biden said. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation".

9:16 PM

Biden says US will downgrade Russian trade status

9:14 PM

Russian regulator cracks down on Instagram

Russia's communications and media regulator says it's restricting national access to Instagram because the platform is spreading “calls to commit violent acts against Russian citizens, including military personnel.” The regulator, called Roskomnadzor, took the step Friday as Russia presses ahead with its invasion of Ukraine.

 

Earlier on Friday, Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said in a statement tweeted by its spokesman Andy Stone that it had “made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules on violent speech, such as death to the Russian invaders'.” The statement stressed that the company “still won't allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians.”

8:45 PM

Russia may use chemical weapons in false flag attack but not more broadly, Western official says

Russia might use chemical weapons in Ukraine in a "false flag" attack to provide a retrospective justification for its invasion, but there is nothing to suggest a broader use of such weapons in the war, a Western official said.

 

"We think that chemical weapons could be used in a false flag attack to provide a retrospective justification for Russia's invasion of Ukraine," the official said on Friday.

 

"The context that we've been looking at it in is from a false flag perspective. Clearly, whilst the Russians are highly likely to have a chemical weapons capability, there is nothing to suggest that they intend to use at this point in a major escalation of the current conflict."

8:44 PM

Russia says Ukraine has agreed to only two of 10 humanitarian corridors proposed by Moscow: Tass

Ukraine has agreed to only two of 10 humanitarian corridors proposed by Russia, and none of the proposed corridors into Russia, Tass news agency reported on Friday citing the Russian defence ministry.

 

The ministry also said that the southern port city of Mariupol, where attempts to establish a local ceasefire have failed so far, was now completely surrounded, with all bridges and roads into the city destroyed or mined by Ukrainian forces, Tass reported.

 

It was not possible to independently confirm the situation on the ground.

8:36 PM

Bhagwant Mann addresses the AAP Legislative Party meeting in Mohali