LIVE: Russian shelling hinders efforts to help trapped Mariupol residents

10:44 PM

UK PM Johnson says he fears Russia will deploy chemical weapons in Ukraine

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in an interview with Sky News on Thursday that he feared Russia would deploy chemical weapons in Ukraine.

10:43 PM

Russia bans car, airplane exports until end-2022, TASS says

The Russian government has banned exports of cars, airplanes and drones until the end of this year, the Russian TASS news agency said on Thursday.

 

Earlier on Thursday, Russia sought to retaliate against Western sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine by banning exports of certain goods and agricultural commodities.

10:13 PM

No civilians could leave besieged Mariupol on Thursday, says Ukraine deputy PM

Not a single civilian was able to leave the encircled Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Thursday as Russian forces failed to respect a temporary ceasefire to allow evacuations, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on national television.

 

10:13 PM

Yellen says sanctions over Ukraine war limiting China's ability to buy Russian oil

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday that financial sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine were limiting China's ability to buy Russian oil, and Beijing was not "meaningfully offsetting or lessening" sanctions pressure on Moscow.

 

"My sense is that financial institutions in China that do business in dollars and in euros are worried about the impact of sanctions," Yellen said in a Washington Post Live interview.

 

9:52 PM

Putin has chosen to 'specifically target civilians,' says Canada's Trudeau

Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made a choice to "specifically target civilians" and any further targeting of civilians in Ukraine is going to be met with the "severest of responses."

 

"Putin's callous disregard for human life is absolutely unacceptable. It is very clear that he has made the choice to specifically target civilians now," Trudeau told reporters in Warsaw.

 

9:42 PM

Ukraine's president Zelenskyy says invasion will backfire

Ukraine's president is telling Russian leaders that their country's invasion of Ukraine will backfire, by landing them in court and making their people hate them.

 

You will definitely be prosecuted for complicity in war crimes, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video released Thursday.

 

The West has slapped harsh financial and economic sanctions on Russia because of the invasion, and the Ukrainian leader said the consequences will be felt by all Russians.

 

And then, it will definitely happen, you will be hated by Russian citizens everyone you have been deceiving constantly, daily, for many years in a row, when they feel the consequences of your lies in their wallets, in their shrinking possibilities, in the stolen future of Russian children.

9:14 PM

Ukraine war damage tops $100 billion so far, economic adviser says

Ukraine's top government economic adviser Oleg Ustenko said on Thursday that invading Russian forces have so far destroyed at least $100 billion worth of infrastructure, buildings and other physical assets.

 

Ustenko, chief economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, told an online event hosted by the Peterson Institute for International Economics that the war has caused 50% of Ukrainian businesses to shut down completely, while the other half are operating at well below their capacity.

 

He said the damage estimate is "very approximate" and includes roads, bridges, hospitals, equipment and other assets.

8:53 PM

Russia will emerge stronger, Putin warns the West

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would ultimately emerge stronger and more independent after overcoming the difficulties caused by what he called the West's illegitimate sanctions.

 

Putin said there had been no alternative to what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine and that Russia was not a country which could accept compromising its sovereignty for some sort of short-term economic gain.

 

"These sanctions would have been imposed in any case," Putin told a meeting of the Russian government. "There are some questions, problems and difficulties but in the past we have overcome them and we will overcome them."

8:10 PM

Putin says Russia is meeting energy supply obligations, calls sanctions illegitimate

Russia is adhering to its obligations on energy supplies, President Vladimir Putin told a government meeting, after the United States banned Russian oil imports.

 

Putin said Western sanctions against Russia were not legitimate, and Western governments were deceiving their own people. Russia would calmly solve its problems, he said.

 

Speaking at the same meeting, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Russia had taken measures to limit outflow of capital and that the country would service its external debts in roubles.

7:48 PM

Goldman Sachs to exit Russia: Report

Goldman Sachs Group Inc is exiting operations in Russia, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, marking the first pull out from the country by a Wall Street bank.

 

The bank did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

7:44 PM

Savaged rouble holds tentative gains after Ukraine crisis talks

The rouble saw a tentative bounce in both Moscow and international FX markets on Thursday after the first formal talks between Russia and Ukraine's foreign ministers, even though the meeting made no progress on a ceasefire.

 

At 1350 GMT, the rouble had risen to just over 116 per dollar from an earlier all-time low of 121 on the Moscow Exchange used by major Russian banks. Stock markets there remain shut.

 

Against the euro it climbed to 121 per euro from as low as 132.4,, while in internatinoal markets such as London where trading is now ringfenced, it was showing at 116 to the dollar and 133 to the euro.

7:24 PM

Chelsea says it will seek changes to post-sanctions operating licence

Chelsea Football Club said it would seek changes to the licence under which it must now operate after owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the British government on Thursday.

 

"(We) intend to engage in discussions with the UK Government regarding the scope of the licence. This will include seeking permission for the licence to be amended in order to allow the Club to operate as normal as possible," the club said in a statement.

 

 

7:01 PM

Russian shelling hinders efforts to help trapped Mariupol residents

Russian shelling of Mariupol on Thursday prevented a humanitarian convoy reaching the besieged Ukrainian city, local officials said, and dented hopes of evacuating trapped civilians who are increasingly desperate for supplies.

 

Residents have been cowering under fire, and without power or water, in the Black Sea port city of over 400,000 people for more than a week and attempts to arrange a local ceasefire and safe passage out have failed repeatedly.

 

Another "humanitarian corridor" appeared to have failed on Thursday, a day after the bombing of a hospital in the city which President Volodoymr Zelenskiy said had killed two adults and a child.

 

"Bombs are hitting houses," the Mariupol city council said in an online post released as the top Ukrainian and Russian diplomats held talks in Turkey. The council said a university and a theatre had also been hit but gave no casualty figures.

 

6:59 PM

US Vice President Harris embraces call for war crimes probe of Russia

US Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday embraced calls for an international war crimes investigation of Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and the bombing of civilians, including a maternity hospital.

 

Speaking in Warsaw, where she is demonstrating U.S. support for NATO's eastern flank allies, Harris expressed outrage over the bombing Wednesday of the maternity hospital and scenes of bloodied pregnant women being evacuated.

 

6:37 PM

Gold rises as investors track Russia-Ukraine talks, await US CPI

Gold firmed on Thursday after a sharp correction in the previous session as worries over the Russia-Ukraine crisis persisted after no progress was made in talks between the two sides, while key U.S. inflation data is also likely to provide direction.

 

Spot gold was up 0.2% at $1,996.09 per ounce by 1047 GMT after tumbling as much as 3% on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures gained 0.7% to $2,002.40.

 

The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine met on Thursday in Turkey, the highest level contact between the two countries since the war began on Feb. 24, but in simultaneous duelling news conferences made clear they had made no progress.

 

A rush to safe-haven assets earlier this week due to the Ukraine crisis powered gold prices to near record levels hit in August 2020.