QuebecPremierFrançois Legault suspends a plan to tax people who are unvaccinated against COVID-19 in order to protect "social cohesion" in the province.
(CBC)
Guinea-Bissau President
Umaro Sissoco Embaló says that gunmen tried to kill him and his entire cabinet at the government palace yesterday during the
coup d'état attempt. The heavy gunfire, which lasted for five hours, resulted in the deaths of at least four attackers and two guards. The attackers are said to be "linked to
drug trafficking in the country".
(BBC News)
CNN president
Jeff Zucker resigns for failing to disclose that he was in a
relationship with the network's executive
vice president. The relationship was discovered during a misconduct investigation into the network's former anchor
Chris Cuomo.
(BBC News)
Mass government-organized protests against the
Yangulbayev family occur in the Russian city of
Grozny, Chechnya. The Chechen government claimed that protests were spontaneous and gathered 400,000 men, "not counting women," though the total population of Grozny is 325,000 people.
[1] Despite the COVID-19 restrictions,
Rospotrebnadzor did nothing because they "couldn't find protest organizers."
[2] Earlier a member of the Russian State Duma,
Adam Delimkhanov, stated that he will rip the heads off of Yangulbayevs and those who translate his speech from the Chechen language to Russian.
[3][4]
Brazil reports a record 298,408 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 26.09 million.
(Reuters)
South Africa's Afrigen Biologics uses the publicly available sequence of the mRNA-based
Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to make its own version of the vaccine, which will become the world's first vaccine based on an existing vaccine once it is tested on humans later this year.
(Al Jazeera)
Twenty people die and 74 others are hospitalized in
Buenos Aires,
Argentina, after consuming
cocaine laced with poison or "cut" with another substance. Nine people are arrested.
(BBC News)
Russia reports a record for the 15th consecutive day of 168,201 new
COVID-19 cases, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 12.45 million.
(Interfax)
Dutch journalist Sjoerd den Daas is
interrupted and dragged away by a Chinese security guard as he broadcasts live from the ongoing Olympics.
(Newsweek)
Hong Kong reports a record 351 new
COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the territory-wide total of confirmed cases to 15,066.
(The Standard)
Singapore reports a record 13,046 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 379,681.
(The Star)
South Korea reports a record for the third consecutive day of 36,362 new COVID-19 cases, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 971,018.
(The Korea Herald)
Russia reports a record for the 16th consecutive day of 177,282 new COVID-19 cases, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 12.63 million.
(TASS)
The
Biden administration announces the restoration of sanctions relief to
Iran's civilian nuclear sector, as it attempts to entice Iran back to talks on a nuclear deal.
(AP)
Russia lifts its seven-day
quarantine guideline for people who had contact with positive COVID-19 patients despite reporting a record 189,071 new cases.
(ABC News)
Hong Kong reports a record for the third consecutive day of 614 new
COVID-19 cases, thereby bringing the territory-wide total of confirmed cases to 16,022.
(The Guardian)
Australia announces that it will reopen its international borders to fully vaccinated tourists on February 21, after a closure of almost two years in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic. However,
Western Australia is expected to continue to close its borders to tourists.
(ABC News Australia)
In
Ottawa, seven people are arrested, more than 500 others are ticketed, and sixty criminal investigations are commenced, for a number of offenses related to the truckers' protest, including violations of the
Highway Traffic Act,
vandalism, and the smuggling of
gasoline.
(MSN)
Tunisian police close the Supreme Judicial Council building in
Tunis and prevent its members and their staff from entering. The legal body was dissolved yesterday by
PresidentKais Saied in a move widely decried within the nation as illegal.
(Al Jazeera)
Poland indefinitely postpones its deadline of March 1 for mandatory full
vaccination of teachers, members of the
army and police officers, due to the current
vaccination rate.
(AP)
Thousands of
Slovaks protest in
Bratislava against a potential military defense treaty between
Slovakia and the
United States. Police prevented some protesters from entering the
National Council building, where the bill is being debated by lawmakers.
(ABC News)
In a letter published by the
Vatican,
ex-Pope Benedict XVI expresses "my profound shame, my deep sorrow and my heartfelt request for forgiveness," in response to inquiry into his handling of
child sex abuse when he was
Archbishop of Munich and Freising between 1977 and 1982. In a statement published with the letter, his aides insist that "as an
archbishop,
Cardinal Ratzinger was not involved in any cover-up of acts of abuse".
(France 24)
NASA awards
Lockheed Martin a contract to build a next-generation "Mars Ascent Vehicle" to return the first rock samples from
Mars to
Earth in the 2030s.
(Phys)
Sweden scraps almost all pandemic restrictions, essentially declaring the pandemic as "over". The move is condemned by scientists in Sweden and abroad, who warn the pandemic still persists and continues to represent serious dangers.
(Reuters)
Hong Kong reports a record for the fifth consecutive day of 1,161 new COVID-19 cases, thereby bringing the territory-wide total of confirmed cases to 17,808. Hong Kong also reports their first two deaths from COVID-19 since September.
(South China Morning Post)
Johnson & Johnson officially suspends production of its
COVID-19 vaccine. It says production will likely resume later, and that millions of doses remain stocked for distribution per earlier agreements.
(CBS News)
Israel begins evacuating embassy staff and diplomats’ families from
Kyiv, and also orders a travel warning for all Israelis, saying that a large scale Russian offensive may occur soon.
(Times of Israel)
Japan urges its citizens to leave Ukraine immediately. There are about 150 Japanese citizens currently living in Ukraine.
(Nikkei)
South Korea bans all travel to Ukraine and asks its citizens to leave Ukraine immediately.
(Newsweek)
Israel announces the arrest of eight alleged
Iranian spies for organizing a plot to kill an Israeli businessman in
Istanbul in retaliation for the 2020 assassination of the chief of
Iran's nuclear program,
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, widely regarded to be the work of the Israeli
intelligence agency,
Mossad.
Turkish intelligence shared with the Mossad apparently contributed to the arrests, and several Turkish operatives were among those arrested.
(Times of Israel)
South Korea reports a record 53,926 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1,239,287.
(The Korea Herald)
Russia reports a record 203,949 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 13.7 million.
(The Moscow Times)
PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan announces that the
value-added tax (VAT) will be lowered from 8% to 1% on dairy products, fruit, vegetables, and other basic foods. The VAT reduction, aimed at countering soaring
inflation, will go into effect on Monday.
(Daily Sabah)
Bahraini authorities confirm that an
Israeli military officer will be stationed inside the country as part of an upcoming international coalition consisting of 34 countries. This is the first time an Israeli officer has been sent to a military post in the
Arab World.
(Reuters)
Canada withdraws its
military advisors from Ukraine and relocates them to an undisclosed destination in
Europe. It moves its diplomatic staff to
Lviv, suspending all operations at its embassy in
Kyiv.
(Reuters)
South Korea reports a record of 56,431 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1.35 million.
(Manila Bulletin)
U.S. officials say that
Russian troops, along with long-range
artillery and missile launchers have begun moving into staging areas near the Ukrainian border after leaving their assembly areas.
(CBS News)
Hong Kong reports a record 2,071 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the territory-wide total of confirmed cases to 25,051.
(South China Morning Post)
Kuwait lifts many of its COVID-19-related restrictions, including allowing foreign travel for unvaccinated and vaccinated citizens and allowing the entry of unvaccinated people into
shopping malls as long as they show a negative
PCRCOVID-19 test from the previous 72 hours.
(Al-Arabiya English)
The government of
Canada invokes the
Emergencies Act for the first time since the law was passed in 1988, thereby giving the federal government temporary powers to deal with ongoing blockades associated with the protests.
(CBC News)
The U.S. and its
NATO allies in
Europe say that they are ready to retaliate against
Russian cyberwarfare on Ukraine depending on the severity of the attacks.
(Reuters)
Indonesia reports a record 57,049 new
COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 4.9 million.
(Kompas)
Japan reports a record 236 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the number of cumulative COVID-19 cases surpasses four million.
(The Japan Times)
South Korea reports a record 57,177 new
COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1.46 million.
(The Korea Herald)
Vietnam lifts its COVID-19-related curbs on international passenger flights with no limitation on the number of flights in order to restore the travel to pre-pandemic level.
(Al-Jazeera)
A number of protestors at Coutts have dispersed after an RCMP raid on a "smaller group within the larger protest" resulted in the seizure of weapons, ammunition, and body armour and the arrests of 13 people on Monday.
(CTV News)
In
Louisville, Kentucky, council candidate Quintez Brown is charged with attempted murder, a day after he allegedly opened fire on mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg in his campaign office, narrowly missing him.
(AP via The Washington Post)
A man is killed in a
shark attack off
Little Bay,
Sydney,
Australia. It is the first fatal shark attack in Sydney since
1963. A witness estimated that the shark was about 4.5 metres (15 ft) in length.
(Reuters)
Indonesia reports a record for the second consecutive day of 64,718 new
COVID-19 cases, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 4.96 million.
(detikHealth)
Malaysia reports a record 27,831 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 3.11 million.
(The Star)
South Korea reports a record 90,443 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1.55 million.
(CNA)
Switzerland lifts almost all of its COVID-19-related restrictions, with people no longer needing to show
COVID-19 vaccine certificates to enter public venues, due to confidence that infection rates had been uncoupled from hospitalization.
(Politico.eu)
The
Alaska Aces, the second most successful team in the history of the league with 14 championship titles in 35 years, announced that it will cease to exist after the conclusion of the ongoing
2021 PBA Governors' Cup.
(ESPN)
Panama-flagged
car carrier MV Felicity Ace is abandoned approximately 90 nautical miles southwest of
the Azores following a severe fire onboard. The ship's entire 22-man crew safely evacuates using lifeboats.
(CNN)
British Columbia lifts most of its
COVID-19 restrictions, allowing all businesses to reopen and operate at full capacity. Indoor gatherings and organized events are also permitted to operate without occupancy limits. However, provincial mandates requiring the use of
vaccine cards for entry into businesses and the use of
masks in indoor settings remain in effect.
(CBC)
The
Dominican Republic ends all COVID-19-related public health measures, including mask wearing mandates and use of vaccine passes in order to enter public places, despite not reaching 70% of its vaccination target.
(U.S. News & World Report)
The
Kuwaiti Ministers of
Defense and
the Interior, both members of the ruling
Al-Sabah family, resign. The resignations are accepted by the
Emir, who appoints a different member of the Al-Sabah family and Mohammad al-Fares, the current
Oil Minister, to their respective posts.
(Reuters)
A
UAZ-469 jeep is blown up outside of a building of the Donetsk People's Republic government in Donetsk city. No injuries are reported.
(The Jerusalem Post)
Russia confirms that the
Druzhba pipeline is on fire in
rebel-held
Luhansk Oblast after a massive explosion cut off gas to almost a hundred households. Transit supplies to Europe were not affected and continue as usual.
(Reuters)
Additional explosions are reported in Luhansk. The Luhansk People's Republic authorities state that a
gas station has been blown up.
(Metro)(National Post)
The
British government relocates its
embassy from
Kyiv to the western Ukrainian city of
Lviv, and again urges its citizens to leave the country while they still can.
(Reuters)
Eight
Malian soldiers and 57
Islamist militants are killed during a gunfight in the Archam region, after 40 civilians were killed there during terrorist attacks last week.
(Al Jazeera)
Israel's
Iron Dome fails to intercept a
Hezbollah-operated
military drone from
Lebanon that penetrated seventy kilometers into Israeli airspace. The drone flew for forty minutes before returning to Lebanon. Israeli jets fly at very low altitude over
Beirut in response to the incident.
(Times of Israel)(ABC News)
South Korea reports a record 109,831 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1.75 million.
(Al Jazeera)
The
Ottawa Police Service makes over 100 arrests, including the arrest of protest organizer Pat King. Police accuse protestors of assaulting officers with one person being arrested after allegedly throwing a bicycle at a horse with a mounted officer on it.
(CBC News)(MSN)
Russia launches an investigation following reports that shells landed inside
Rostov Oblast, 2 km from the
Russia–Ukraine border. At least one structure on a farm is reportedly destroyed.
(Reuters)(TASS)
Ottawa police continue clearing protesters on
Parliament Hill. Over 170 people have been arrested since Thursday as part of an effort to end the protests.
(NBC News)(India Times)
Freedom Convoy demonstrators admit that the protests are near the end.
(The Washington Post)
Biden has agreed "in principle" to meet with Putin in French-brokered summit talks as long as Russia does not invade Ukraine, the
White House says.
(CNN)
The
United States says it has intelligence indicating orders have been sent to Russian military commanders to proceed with an incursion on Ukraine.
(NBC News)
Following the meeting, Biden abruptly cancels plans to go to his home in
Delaware for the
Presidents' Day holiday. It is a rare occurrence for a U.S. president's travel plans to change in this manner, especially when the plans involve the president leaving
Washington, D.C.(CNBC)
Biden speaks with Macron on diplomacy with and deterrence efforts against Russia, after Macron and Putin agreed to work towards a ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
(Asian News International)
Satellite imagery shows a shift in Russia's military deployment around Ukraine, with several units or troops deployed outside of bases or training grounds and some positioned along tree lines, according to an analysis by
Maxar Technologies, who released the imagery.
(CNA)
Seven children are killed and five more are injured during a
Nigerian Air Forceairstrike in the
Maradi region of
Niger. The army reported that the airstrike was the result of "a mistake on the border".
(Al Jazeera)
The
ItalianHealth ministry recommends that severely immunocompromised people should receive a fourth dose of the
mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine at least 120 days after receiving their previous booster.
(U.S. News & World Report)
Rookie
Austin Cindric wins the 64th running of the
Daytona 500, becoming the ninth driver to score his first career Cup Series victory in the event.
(Fox Sports)
President Putin addresses the nation and declares that
Ukraine is a country with "no tradition of independent statehood and an artificial creation of
Soviet Union founder
Vladimir Lenin", and that the country has become a "
U.S. puppet regime rife with
corruption". He also reiterates his claim that Ukraine joining
NATO would be a security risk to Russia.
(Reuters)(CNN International)(Sputnik)
Russian Armed Forces are deployed to the separatist republics of
Donetsk and
Luhansk for a "peacekeeping mission", shortly after Russia recognized the independence of the republics.
(Axios)
A senior U.S. official says Russian troops could move into the separatist regions of Ukraine by the end of the day.
(CNN)
A large
column of
military vehicles, including tanks, is reported on the outskirts of
Donetsk city hours after Russia formally recognised the self-proclaimed republic as an independent state.
(Reuters)
The U.S. says it will impose sanctions on the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic in response to Putin recognizing their independence and sovereignty.
(The Guardian)
Hong Kong reports a record 7,533 new
COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the territory to 60,383.
(The Standard)
BritishPrime MinisterBoris Johnson says that he is lifting domestic coronavirus restrictions in England, including the legal requirement for people with COVID-19 to self-isolate, from February 24. As part of the plan, free self-testing will end by April 1.
(The Philadelphia Inquirer)
South Africa changes its COVID-19 vaccination rules to allow mixing of vaccines between the
Pfizer–BioNTech and
Janssen COVID-19 vaccines for second and third doses and also reduces the interval between the second and third doses of the Pfizer vaccine in order to increase the country's vaccination rate.
(CNA)
The
Constitutional Court decriminalizes abortion in all cases for up to six months of gestation, and removes time limits in cases of rape,
fetal defects, or if the mother's life is in danger.
(Reuters)
Hong Kong Chief Executive
Carrie Lam announces a citywide testing campaign due to surge of the cases caused by the
SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. It is planned to test each citizen three times during the campaign.
(ABC News)
Ukraine announces the
mobilization of its
military reserves with a maximum service length of one year for reservists between the ages of 18 and 60 years.
(The Hill)
Ukraine urges all citizens to leave
Russia immediately, following an increase in tensions in the region.
(MSN)
Ukraine closes its civilian airspace nationwide due to potential hazards.
(Reuters)
Russia closes its airspace in a region to the east of its border with Ukraine.
(FlightGlobal)
South Korea reports a record 171,452 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 2,329,182.
(The Straits Times)
Cambodia begins its COVID-19 vaccination rollout for children over the age of three years, becoming the world's first country to administer
vaccines for children under the age of five years.
(Bangkok Post)
Hong Kong reports a record 8,674 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the territory-wide total of confirmed cases to 75,248.
(South China Morning Post)
The
Canadian government signs an agreement with
AstraZeneca to procure 100,000 doses of the Evushield COVID-19 antibody therapy for use in high-risk patients.
(CTV News)
Russian troops enter
Sumy and take control of the road leading from
Kyiv to
Moscow. Battles for strategic cities on the railway to Sumy are also underway.
(Novoye Vremya)
Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy declares
martial law across the country in response to the invasion. Zelenskyy also orders a general military
mobilization of fit-to-serve Ukrainian citizens, with men between the ages of 18 and 60 years prohibited from leaving the country.
(TASS)(CNN)
Russia says that two Russian civilian ships have been hit by
anti-ship missiles in the
Sea of Azov, causing multiple deaths. Russia subsequently restricts access for civilian vessels on the Sea of Azov.
(Ynet)(Reuters)
Eight
poliovaccination workers are killed by unknown gunmen in
Kunduz and
Takhar, leading to the suspension of the vaccination campaign in the two provinces. The campaign was launched nationwide in November 2021.
(VOA)
The
National Bank of Ukraine pegs the official
hryvnia rate to the US dollar at
₴29.25, bans foreign currency purchases on the interbank market and introduces cash withdrawal limits. The central bank also orders a suspension of all transactions with Russian accounts and introduces unlimited short-term
liquidity loans for banks.
(National Post)(Ekonomichna Pravda)
Malaysia reports a record 31,199 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 3.3 million.
(The Star)
Singapore suspends a plan to ease and simplify COVID-19-related rules, including home gatherings, which was expected to begin tomorrow due to an increase in new COVID-19 cases.
(Bloomberg)
Thailand reports a record 23,557 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 2.79 million.
(Bangkok Post)
The
New Zealand government is expected to introduce a package of sanctions against Russia that includes a ban on the entry into and transit through the country of Russian government officials and other people connected to the invasion, as well as a ban on the export of goods to Russian military and security forces.
(RNZ)
U.S. PresidentJoe Biden announces sanctions against Russia and vows that additional sanctions could be coming. He also reaffirms that the U.S. will not directly intervene in
Ukraine but will continue to defend
NATO.
(NBC News)(BuzzFeed)
Protesters in Russia are detained as people gather in cities across the country in order to protest Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
(The Moscow Times)(Newsweek)
Three former
Minneapolis police officers, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas K. Lane and Tou Thao, are found guilty of violating the civil rights of
George Floyd under government authority.
(NBC News)
A
Moldovan-flagged chemical tanker is hit by a missile near the
Port of Odesa, seriously injuring two crew members, according to Moldova's naval agency. It is unclear who launched the missile.
(Reuters)
Hong Kong reports a record 10,010 new
COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, which is the first time that the territory has reported more than 10,000 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
(ABC News)
Indonesia reports a record 61,631 new
COVID-19 recoveries in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of recoveries to 4.73 million.
(detikNews)
Malaysia reports a record for the second consecutive day of 32,070 new
COVID-19 cases, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 3.33 million.
(Malay Mail)
Ukrainian
presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak says that the country is ready to hold talks with Russia on neutral status in order to implement a ceasefire. A time and place is expected to be announced.
(Reuters)(The Independent)
ChineseForeign MinisterWang Yi urges Russia to respect the "territorial sovereignty" of Ukraine and to "put an end to civilian casualties by resuming negotiations."
(CNN)
The Ukrainian military destroys rails at all railway junctions leading to Russia as part of an attempt to prevent Russian military supplies from being delivered by freight trains.
(Ukrainska Pravda)
Several computer chip manufacturers, including
TSMC and
Intel, halt supplies of their products as a result of sanctions against Russia.
(The Washington Post)
Russian PresidentVladimir Putin orders Russia's nuclear forces placed on high alert, in response to what he considered "aggressive statements" by
NATO members.
(AP)
The
European Union says that it will provide
fighter aircraft and finance
€500 million in procurement and delivery of weapons to Ukraine, the first time that the EU has done so. The EU will also provide €50 million in medical supplies.
(Ukrinform)(Reuters)
Hong Kong reports a record 26,062 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the territory to 138,955.
(The Standard)
During a meeting intended to approve a report by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Russian delegate Oleg Anisimov apologizes to Ukraine and says that there was "no justification" for invading Ukraine.
(Politico.eu)
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the foreign minister of Turkey, triggers the wartime clause of the Montreux Convention and limits movements of military vessels whose bases are not on the
Black Sea coast.
(Reuters)
The European Union imposes sanctions on
Belarus, forbidding the import of some commodities, including timber, steel, oil-derived fuels and cement.
(Ekonomichna Pravda)(Reuters)
China and the
European Union will host a virtual summit on April 1 as part of an effort to deescalate the economic and geopolitical tensions between the two governments, particularly with respect to
Lithuania.
(Politico.eu)
The European Union bans the
Sputnik news agency and
RT, both state-sponsored news outlets which are widely considered to be promoting
Russian propaganda.
(Reuters)
The
International Judo Federation suspends Russian president Vladimir Putin's titles as the honorary president and ambassador of the federation, "in light of the ongoing war... in Ukraine".
(AFP via RFI)
The
Associated Press reveals that
Qatar, the host of the World Cup, paid more than $10 million for "Project Riverbed", a covert influence campaign run between 2012 and 2014 by a former
CIA operative's company, which was aimed at neutralising
Theo Zwanziger's criticism of
FIFA's decision making process for Qatar's host bid, which Zwanziger accused of being corrupt.
(AP)
The Ukrainian engineer of the Russian yacht Princess Anastasia attempts to scuttle the vessel in the port of
Mallorca,
Spain, damaging the yacht's engine room.
(Newsweek)
The
Central Bank of Russia (CBR) raises the interest rate from 9.5% to 20%, the highest rate since 2003. The
Russian ruble also loses more than a quarter of its value at the beginning of trading, with ranges of 100–120 rubles to the US dollar.
(The Guardian)(Reuters)
The CBR orders all companies receiving foreign currency to exchange 80% of the revenue into rubles, in an attempt to stabilise the market.
(Forbes Russia)
Russia institutes
capital controls, banning all trading of Russian securities by foreign legal entities.
(Reuters)
President Vladimir Putin ordered a ban on transferring
hard currency, such as U.S. dollars and euros, abroad, including by servicing foreign debt. Whether this constitutes a
debt default is unclear.
(Bloomberg)
Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak announces that peace talks have begun as part of an effort to end the war. During the talks, Ukraine calls for a ceasefire to end the war.
(Reuters)(BBC News)
The first round of peace talks conclude. Both delegations will return to their respective capitals for consultations prior to a second round of talks, which will be held at the
Belarus–Poland border.
(Mint)
Breaking from a historic tradition of
Swiss neutrality,
Switzerland says it will adopt all
EU sanctions on Russia effective immediately in response to the invasion. Swiss banks are believed to hold billions of
dollars in Russian funds.
(Reuters)
Canada bans the importation of Russian
crude oil, becoming the first
G7 member to ban the importation of Russian oil. Canada also approves the delivery of 100
Carl Gustaf 8.4cm recoilless rifles and 2,000 anti-tank rockets to Ukraine.
(CBC)
The
United States announces it is expelling 12
Russian people in
New York who are a part of Russia's delegation to the
United Nations, saying they are "intelligence operatives" who have "abused their privileges of residency" by engaging in "espionage activities."
(The Hill)
An
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson says that efforts to revive the
2015 Iran deal could succeed if the
U.S. and other Western powers take steps to solve three issues. These three issues include the extent to which sanctions would be rolled back, providing guarantees that the U.S. will not
withdraw from the deal again, and resolving questions over uranium traces found at several old but undeclared sites in
Iran.
(Al Arabiya)
France calls for the talks to end this week and for Iran and the Western countries to reach an agreement to revive the deal.
(Times of Israel)
Belarus confirms that it has revoked its status as a non-nuclear state, thus allowing the country to host and develop its own
nuclear weapons. President Lukashenko says that he could ask Russia to return nuclear missiles to his country if any nuclear weapons are transferred to
Poland or
Lithuania.
(Reuters)