US condemns Putin's nuclear alert order as EU to close airspace to Russian planes
Ukrainian servicemen ride on tanks towards the front line with Russian forces in the Lugansk region of Ukraine. (Photo by Anatolii STEPANOV / AFP) (Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)
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- EU to close airspace to Russian airlines and fund supply of weapons to Ukraine -
- 'Practical' reasons for not expelling Russian ambassador to Ireland, says Taoiseach -
- Coveney: EU sanctions to go ahead despite planned Ukraine-Russia meeting -
- Ukrainian and Russian diplomats to meet as Putin puts nuclear forces on alert -
- Russia unleashes wave of attacks on Ukraine’s fuel facilities and airfields -
The United States and NATO on Sunday condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's order to put his nuclear forces on high alert as dangerous and unacceptable, while the White House said it has not ruled out imposing new sanctions on Russia's energy sector.
In issuing the order to prepare Russia's nuclear weapons for increased readiness for launch, Putin cited "aggressive statements" from NATO allies and widespread sanctions imposed by Western nations that have already disrupted his country's economy.
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said on CBS's "Face the Nation" programme that Putin's actions have escalated the conflict and were "unacceptable."
Thomas-Greenfield said the United States welcomed the news that Russian and Ukrainian officials would meet for talks on the border with Belarus, but that it "remains to be seen" if Russia is acting in good faith.
Asked if there is a threat of chemical and biological weapons being used by Russia, Thomas-Greenfield said of Putin: "Certainly nothing is off the table with this guy. He's willing to use whatever tools he can to intimidate Ukrainians and the world."
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Putin, in his nuclear order move, was responding to an imaginary threat.
The world's largest cargo plane, the Ukrainian-made Antonov-225 Mriya, was burnt in a Russian attack on Hostomel airport near Kyiv, Ukrainian state arms manufacture Ukroboronprom said on Sunday.
"The Russian occupiers destroyed the flagship of Ukrainian aviation - the legendary An-225 Mriya. It happened at the Antonov airfield in Hostomel near Kyiv," Ukroboronprom said on its Facebook page.
It said that the plane restoration would cost more than $3 billion and take a long time.
The European Union's chief executive has said the 27-nation bloc will close its airspace to Russian airlines, fund supplies of weapons to Ukraine and ban some pro-Kremlin media outlets in response to Russia's invasion.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that "for the first time ever, the European Union will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment to a country that is under attack".
Ms von der Leyen added that "we are shutting down the EU airspace for Russians. We are proposing a prohibition on all Russian-owned, Russian-registered or Russian-controlled aircraft.
"These aircraft will no more be able to land in, take off or overfly the territory of the EU."
She also said the EU will ban "the Kremlin's media machine. The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, as well as their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin's war and to sow division in our union".
Ms von der Leyen added that the EU will also target Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko for supporting Russia's widespread military campaign in Ukraine.
"We will hit Lukashenko's regime with a new package of sanctions," she said.
The office of Ukraine’s president has said that a delegation will meet with Russian officials as President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear forces to be put on high alert.
Speaking at a meeting with his top officials, Mr Putin directed the Russian defence minister and the chief of the military’s General Staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in a “special regime of combat duty”.
“Western countries aren’t only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere, but top officials from leading Nato members made aggressive statements regarding our country,” Mr Putin said in televised comments.
The US ambassador to the United Nations responded to the comments from Moscow while appearing on a Sunday news programme.
“President Putin is continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable,” ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said he hopes the world is seeing the “first step” towards the ending of war, ahead of the talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said on the Telegram messaging app that the two sides would meet at an unspecified location on the Belarusian border and did not give a precise time for the meeting.
The announcement on Sunday came hours after Russia announced that its delegation had flown to Belarus to await talks.
Ukrainian officials initially rejected the move, saying any talks should take place somewhere other than Belarus, where Russia has placed a large contingent of troops.
The Kremlin said on Sunday that a Russian delegation had arrived in the Belarusian city of Homel for talks with Ukrainian officials.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the delegation includes military officials and diplomats.
“The Russian delegation is ready for talks, and we are now waiting for the Ukrainians,” he said.
Police detained more than 900 people at anti-war protests that occurred in 44 Russian cities on Sunday, raising the total since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine to over 4,000, independent protest monitoring group OVD-Info said.
According to Reuters, Sunday's protests coincided with the seventh anniversary of the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov. Some of Sunday's arrests took place at an improvised memorial just outside the Kremlin at the site where Nemtsov was shot, a witness said.
A meeting of European foreign ministers is to take place today in Brussels at which “action is expected” in relation to the expulsion of Russian diplomats.
Earlier, speaking on RTÉ television, junior finance minister Patrick O’Donovan said there is to be another meeting of the European Council of Foreign Ministers today with further penalties to be slapped on Vladimir Putin.
“There are a number of different tactics that have been taken by the West and more will be announced tonight. The Minister for Foreign Affairs I spoke to him last night there is a meeting of the European Council of Foreign Ministers and I expect further sanctions to be announced tonight when the foreign ministers meet,” Mr O’Donovan said.
While hundreds of thousands of refugees are leaving Ukraine amid Russia’s attack on the country, some Ukrainian men and women are returning home from across Europe to help defend their homeland.
Poland’s Border Guard said on Sunday that some 22,000 people have crossed into Ukraine since Thursday, when Russia invaded the country.
At the checkpoint in Medyka, in south-eastern Poland, many were standing in a line early on Sunday to cross into Ukraine.
“We have to defend our homeland. Who else if not us?” said a moustachioed man in front of a group of some 20 Ukrainian truck drivers walking to the checkpoint to enter Ukraine.
They came from across Europe to return to Ukraine.
They spoke to the Associated Press (AP) in Ukrainian and in Russian. Members of the group declined to give their names, or only gave their first names, citing their security and that of their families.
A man in his 20s, who said his first name was Denis, said he had been working in Poland but was returning to Ukraine where his “everything” is.
Russian troops have entered Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv and fighting is underway in the streets, Ukrainian authorities have said.
Oleh Sinehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration, said Ukrainian forces are fighting Russian troops in the city and asked civilians not to leave their homes.
Russian troops approached Kharkiv, which is located about 20km south of the border with Russia, shortly after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine on Thursday.
But until Sunday, they had remained on its outskirts without trying to enter the city, while other forces rolled past, pressing their offensive deeper into Ukraine.
Videos posted on Ukrainian media and social networks showed Russian vehicles moving across Kharkiv and a light vehicle burning in the street.
Earlier, Russia unleashed a wave of attacks targeting Ukrainian airfields and fuel facilities.
Huge explosions lit up the sky early on Sunday south of the capital, Kyiv, where people hunkered down in homes, underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a full-scale assault by Russian forces.
Flames billowed into the sky before dawn from an oil depot near an airbase in Vasylkiv, where there has been intense fighting, according to the town’s mayor.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said there was another explosion at the civilian Zhuliany airport.
Mr Zelenskyy’s office also said Russian forces blew up a gas pipeline in Kharkiv, prompting the government to warn people to protect themselves from the smoke by covering their windows with damp cloth or gauze.
“We will fight for as long as needed to liberate our country,” the president vowed.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has updated its estimate on the number of refugees that have left Ukraine, saying the total stands at 368,000.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not disclosed his ultimate plans, but Western officials believe he is determined to overthrow Ukraine’s government and replace it with a regime of his own, redrawing the map of Europe and reviving Moscow’s Cold War-era influence.
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