[Update 3.21]NATO Senior Official: Neither Russia and Ukraine Back Down | Russia-Ukraine War | Russia | Ukraine

[The Epoch Times, March 21, 2022](Comprehensive report by Epoch Times reporters Zhang Ting, Li Yan, and Li Xin) On Monday (March 21), the Russian-Ukrainian war entered its 26th day. Eight people were killed in an attack by Russian forces on a shopping mall in Kyiv on Sunday night, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said. The British Ministry of Defence said in an update on Monday that Russian forces could prioritize the siege of Kyiv in the coming weeks.

The shopping mall that was attacked on Sunday night is in Kyiv’s Podilskyi district. Cars in a shopping mall and a nearby parking lot caught fire after Russia shelled the Podil district, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said late Sunday. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said on Monday that it had launched an investigation into the bombing.

The Russian Defense Ministry has given an ultimatum to the leadership of the southern port city of Mariupol to surrender before dawn on Monday (21), but the Ukrainian government and authorities in Mariupol have categorically rejected it.

Mariupol came under further heavy bombardment overnight. Officials told CNN that Russian bombs fell every 10 minutes. Russian Navy warships are shelling.

Senior U.S. officials will meet this week with executives from Exxon Mobil Corp, JPMorgan Chase and others to discuss the impact of the Russian invasion and sanctions.

The Kremlin said on Monday that talks with Ukraine were not going as far as Russia had hoped. The White House said the leaders of the United States, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom will hold talks on the situation in Ukraine at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

The following is a real-time update of the situation in Russia and Ukraine on March 21:

Russia halts territorial talks on four northern islands, Japan protests

Russia withdrew from peace treaty talks with Japan and froze joint economic projects related to the disputed Kuril Islands as the Tokyo government imposed sanctions on Russia, drawing an angry reaction from Japan.

Russia and Japan have still not officially ended their World War II hostilities, due to a standoff over islands near Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, known to Russia as the Kuril Islands and Japan to the Northern Territory. The islands were occupied by the former Soviet Union at the end of World War II.

“Under current conditions, Russia does not intend to continue negotiations on a peace treaty with Japan,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement, criticizing Japan’s unilateral move to limit bilateral relations, “which is impossible to do with other countries.” Countries with friendly attitudes discuss signing important documents”.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that in response to the Japanese sanctions, the four northern islands will stop visa-free exchanges and free visits by the original islanders, and withdraw from common economic activities.

In response, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he strongly opposed Russia’s decision, calling it “unfair” and “completely unacceptable.”

Previously, the Japanese government, in step with the United States and other G7 countries, introduced economic sanctions against Russia, such as banning semiconductor exports, revoking preferential trade measures, and freezing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assets, which were unprecedentedly severe.

Zelensky: Any compromise with Russia requires referendum

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that any possible compromise with Russia to end the war would require the consent of the Ukrainian people.

“The people will have to speak up and respond to compromises of one kind or another,” Zelensky told Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne. “What they (these compromises) will be is the subject of talks and understanding between us in Ukraine and Russia.”

He said some of the issues that could be raised relate to territories currently occupied by Russian forces, such as Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine, as well as security guarantees offered by other countries that could substitute for NATO membership.

“I explained this to all the negotiating teams: When you talk about all these changes (in future agreements), and they could be historic … we’re going to come back for a referendum,” Lerensky said.

US ambassador to Germany slams China for supporting Russia

U.S. Ambassador to Germany Amy‧Speaking to reporters at the Berlin embassy on Monday, Amy Gutmann slammed China for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“President Xi (Xi Jinping) said he is neutral in this conflict. There is no neutrality in this conflict. Not condemning Mr Putin’s aggression is aggression … is partiality. China is on Mr Putin’s side in this conflict. ‘ said Gutman.

Gutmann’s father, a German Jew, was a Holocaust survivor in World War II. Before worrying about the ambassador to Germany, Gutmann was president of the University of Pennsylvania.

White House: Biden discusses Ukraine situation with European leaders

On Monday, President Joe‧Biden and German Chancellor Olaf‧Scholz, French President Emmanuel‧Macron, Italian Prime Minister Mario‧Draghi and British Prime Minister Boris‧Johnson discussed the situation in Ukraine.

“Leaders discussed their serious concerns about Russia’s brutal tactics in Ukraine, including its attacks on civilians,” the White House said in a transcript of the call released by the White House.

The leaders reiterated their continued support for Ukraine, including providing security and humanitarian assistance, the White House said.

The talks lasted an hour and Biden was preparing to travel to Europe later this week for emergency talks with NATO and European allies.

Russia: Don’t panic about food supplies

The Russian government insists there is no need to panic about the country’s supply of basic food.

“We can fully meet our needs for sugar and buckwheat.” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Victoria‧said Viktoria Abramchenko.

“There is no need to panic, there is no need to hoard those goods,” Abramchenko stressed at a government meeting, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency.

She also said that so far, sanctions on Russia have not resulted in any food shortages.

Russia is expanding imports from “friendly countries” to secure stocks of dairy products, fruits, vegetables, meat and animal feed, she said. Among the “friendly countries” she mentioned were its former Soviet neighbors, as well as Turkey, India and China.

Western sanctions have depressed the value of the ruble, making imported food more expensive. The sanctions also make it harder for Russia to access the international financial services system.

Ukraine accuses Russia of seizing grain ship

Ukrainian prosecutors announced on Monday that they had opened an investigation into allegations that Russia seized a Ukrainian grain ship. The allegation alleges that Russia forcibly seized five ships carrying Ukrainian grain in the southeastern Sea of ​​Azov port of Berdiansk.

Ukraine, the world‘s fifth-largest grain producer, faces billions of dollars in lost wheat and corn export earnings as Russia continues to block Ukrainian ports.

In addition, Ukrainian authorities are concerned that if the conflict continues, farmers, already concerned about sky-high fertilizer prices, may choose not to plant their fields, leading to a catastrophic food shortage on top of the huge loss of income.

Zelensky: Ukraine will not accept Russian ultimatum

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country would not bow to Russia’s ultimatum to end the war.

“Ukraine cannot fulfill Russia’s ultimatum. They have to destroy us before its ultimatum will be fulfilled,” he told local media.

Zelensky said Moscow wants Ukraine to “hand over” Kharkiv, Mariupol and Kyiv, but neither the people of these cities, nor me as president, can do that.

Earlier, Russia asked Mariupol’s Ukrainian troops to lay down their weapons before dawn on Monday, but Ukraine flatly refused.

Moscow Stock Exchange resumes bond trading

The Moscow Stock Exchange resumed trading in bonds of the Russian government on Monday.

The Moscow Stock Exchange, one of Russia’s two largest stock exchanges, reopened after being closed for nearly a month. The exchange was forced to close the day after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Despite the reopening, the exchange has only resumed trading in federal loan bonds, abbreviated in Russian as OFZ, and not stocks. It is unclear when the Russian stock exchange market will be able to open normally.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, international credit rating agencies have downgraded Russian bonds, leaving them in “junk” status. Russia’s finance ministry last week considered defaulting on its debt, threatening to pay eurobonds in heavily devalued rubles and then pay the arrears in dollars.

Russia: Kyiv shopping center bombed for storing rockets

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor‧Igor Konashenkov admitted that Russian forces attacked a shopping mall on the outskirts of Kyiv on Sunday night. But he said Ukrainian troops used the mall to store rockets against Russian troops.

“The area near the shopping center is used as a large base for storing rocket ammunition and reloading multiple rocket launchers,” Konashenkov told reporters.

He described the bombing target as “an ammunition depot in a non-functioning shopping mall”.

His claims could not be independently verified.

Senior NATO official: Russia and Ukraine have not backed down

A senior NATO intelligence official said on Monday there were signs that Russia’s war on Ukraine was reaching a stalemate: Russian ground forces remained stagnant and Russian warplanes were unable to gain air superiority over Ukraine.

Even if the Russian army has not yet reached a deadlock, it is “quickly approaching a deadlock”. “It’s worth saying when you consider the power gap at the start of this battle,” the official told reporters at a briefing at NATO headquarters.

“If you (Russia) did not make a series of mistakes, you (Russia) would not have come this far,” the official added.

The official noted, however, that a standoff is especially dangerous given Russia’s use of less precise, but more brutal, weapons on civilian targets after its campaign stalled.

“Will the Ukrainians give up? No, they’ve made it very clear that they won’t give up,” the official said. “So what happens when you pit these two forces against each other in this way?”

The official said that despite Russia’s losses, they were not backing down. Over the past few days, the Russian army has continued to build reinforcements and try to improve logistical support in the direction of operations in Kyiv and the south, the official said.

Israeli Prime Minister accepts invitation to Kyiv

A senior Israeli official confirmed to Fox News a report that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who has become a mediator in the Ukrainian war, has accepted an invitation to travel to Kyiv.

The report said Bennett would only travel to the Ukrainian capital if the talks were taken seriously, and that the Ukrainian government has repeatedly asked him to visit over the past ten days.

Bennett’s office has reportedly instructed Israeli security services to draw up plans for him to visit Kyiv shortly.

White House summons oil and banking CEOs to discuss Russian invasion of Ukraine

The chief executives of Exxon Mobil, JPMorgan, Bank of America and other major companies are scheduled to meet with senior Biden officials at the White House on Monday to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a White House official told CNN.

The White House official said the private briefing will be led by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who leads the National Economic Council and National Security Council, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and other senior officials. Officials preside.

The meeting comes as the war in Ukraine and the West’s punitive sanctions on Moscow cast a shadow over the world economy. Disruptions to the supply of food, energy and other goods threaten to exacerbate 40 years of high inflation.

White House officials said the summit will include oil producer ConocoPhillips, refining giant Marathon Petroleum, clean energy company Invenergy, banking leader JPMorgan Chase, manufacturer Dow Corp. Dow), CEO of U.S. Steel, Land O’Lakes, a food and agriculture company, and Cargill.

U.S. ambassador asks for consular access to Americans detained in Russia

According to the U.S. embassy in Moscow, U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan met with the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday to “demand that the Russian government, in accordance with international law and basic human sense, allow consular access to all U.S. citizens detained in Russia, including trial former detainee.”

“Our repeated requests to allow consular access to detained U.S. citizens have been improperly denied for months. This is totally unacceptable,” the embassy tweeted.

WNBA player Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marines Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed were in Russia when the embassy in Russia made the request. detained.

State Department chief deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter said on Friday (March 18) that the U.S. embassy in Moscow “continues to unsuccessfully request consular visits to all detainees . . . Including Ms. Greener”.

“We are deeply concerned about the lack of access to these American citizens in recent months,” Porter said.

Senior defense official: The United States believes that the activities of the Russian navy in the northern Black Sea have increased

CNN quoted a senior U.S. Defense Department official as saying that the United States has seen an increase in Russian naval activity in the northern Black Sea.

The U.S. believes some of the shelling around the Ukrainian city of Odesa came from the warships, the official said, but there is no indication yet that a Russian amphibious attack is imminent on Odesa.

Russia has more than a dozen warships in the northern Black Sea, including amphibious ships, surface combatants, a minesweeper and patrol boats, according to the official.

The head of the military in the Donetsk region: the city controlled by the Ukrainian side was attacked by the Russian army

The city of Avdiivka and its surrounding areas were attacked by Russian planes and artillery fire, the head of the Ukrainian government’s Donetsk regional military administration said on Monday.

Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a statement on his Telegram account that at least one civilian was killed and at least two others were injured in the latest round of attacks, with 15 local addresses hit by shelling of damage and fire records.

Kirilenko also released related photos, including the World War II monument damaged in the shelling, and the mass grave of Red Army soldiers who fought against Nazi Germany near the town of Toretsk.

EU to increase financial support for Ukraine’s military supplies

The European Union will increase financial aid and arms shipments to Ukraine, German Finance Minister Annalena Baerbock said Monday ahead of a special foreign affairs council in Brussels.

“We will increase the financial means of purchasing military supplies to 1 billion euros to show that we are fully on Ukraine’s side and we support the protection of the civilian population in Ukraine,” Balbok told reporters.

Germany will also ensure that arms sales by German producers are urged. “Ukraine needs more weapons,” she said, without giving further details due to security concerns.

Russia demands Mariupol surrender rejected

Russia on Sunday set an ultimatum for the city of Mariupol to surrender by 5 a.m. Moscow time on Monday. Now that time has passed, Ukraine still refuses to surrender.

The Mariupol City Council and Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk also made it clear that they rejected Russia’s demand for surrender.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Mariupol’s defenders “played a huge role in sabotaging the enemy’s plans”, claiming in an update that Russian troops are elsewhere stagnant.

Reznikov said on Facebook that “tens of thousands of lives have been saved throughout Ukraine as the Ukrainian army confronted so much Russian fire in Mariupol. Today, Mariupol is saving Kyiv, Dnipro and Odessa. Everyone has to understand that.”

Reznikov claimed that Russian ground forces were stalled elsewhere. That’s why Moscow is “desperately trying to push the Belarusian army into the hell of a war in Ukraine,” he said.

Reznikov said Russia “no longer dreams of occupying Kyiv, they are out of breath in the Chernihiv and Sumy regions, near Kharkiv, in Nikolayev, Kherson and Luhansk. The region has suffered painfully.”

British intelligence: Russian troops may give priority to siege of Kyiv in the next few weeks

The British Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence update on Monday that the Russian military may prioritise encircling Kyiv in the coming weeks.

“Despite the continued lack of progress, Kyiv remains Russia’s main military target,” the MoD said. “Heavy fighting continues north of Kyiv.”

The ministry said Russian troops advancing from the northeast to the capital had stalled, while those advancing northwest from the city of Hostomel were repelled by “heavy Ukrainian resistance”.

The ministry added that most Russian troops were more than 15 miles (25 kilometers) from the center of the capital.

Kyiv tightens curfew after mall attack

Russian forces attacked a shopping mall in Kyiv on Sunday night, killing eight people. Kyiv later tightened the curfew.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said that between 8 p.m. local time on Monday and 7 a.m. local time on Wednesday, residents will need special permits to move around the Ukrainian capital.

“Don’t open the windows and protect your lungs if you go out,” he said. Klitschko asked residents to wear special respirators as airstrikes have sparked fires around the capital. Six residential apartment buildings near the mall were damaged in the airstrike, three of which are now uninhabitable, Klitschko said. Two schools and two nurseries were also damaged, he said.

Ukrainian authorities: Ammonia leak at chemical plant under control

An ammonia leak at a chemical plant in Sumy has been brought under control, officials said.

The Ukrainian parliament said on Telegram that as of 7:49 a.m. local time on Monday, ammonia emissions had been eliminated. Employees at the plant are working to restore its technical processes, and emergency services have completed their work at the site.

The leak was reported at 4:30 a.m. local time on Monday, and authorities said it was caused by Russian shelling.

Ukraine says Russian military seizes food, goods and sends them home

Ukraine’s armed forces said in an update Monday morning that Russian troops were “terrorizing” local residents and carrying out looting in the occupied city.

“The enemy exports household appliances, cars, food and other material resources to the Russian Federation,” the Ukrainian military said.

Ukrainian officials also accused Russia of ordering men of working age in the village of Stanychno-Luhansk to register with the local police station on April 1.

“The reason for this ‘registration’ was not explained,” the officials said.

Kremlin: Negotiations with Ukraine not progressing as Russia wanted

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that talks with Ukraine were not going as well as Russia had hoped.

“The Russian side has shown more willingness than the Ukrainian side to work quickly and meaningfully,” he claimed.

Peskov also said the Kremlin called on other countries to “use their leverage over Kyiv to make Kyiv more submissive and constructive in these negotiations.”

Peskov also said at Monday’s briefing that the Russian and Ukrainian presidents could meet only after negotiations are completed and any agreement between the two sides is coordinated.

“No significant progress has been made,” he told reporters. “To talk about a meeting between the two presidents … So far, they haven’t come to an agreement. There’s no deal they can ratify.”

Kremlin says EU oil embargo will backfire

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that a possible EU embargo on Russian oil would “severely affect the global oil market” and “hit everyone.”

Europe will suffer more than the United States, he said. The EU relies heavily on Russian gas, and its member states are divided over the idea of ​​introducing such restrictions.

Responsible editor: Lin Yan#