• G7 rejects Russia's demand for gas payment in rubles

• Ukraine and Russia to hold face-to-face talks in Turkey

• Airstrikes hit several Ukrainian cities

• Ukraine's ministry of foreign affairs has described the humanitarian situation in Mariupol as "catastrophic"

These live updates are now closed. For the latest developments in Russia's attack on Ukraine, please click here

Germany needs three years to become independent of Russia

Germany needs three years to find alternatives to Russian gas and become independent, Leonhard Birnbaum, the CEO of E.ON, a major German utility, said Monday.

Without Russian gas supplies in the short term Germany would suffer greatly, a situation "which should be avoided if in any way possible," he said.

Russia strikes another fuel depot in northwestern Ukraine

Ukrainian authorities said Russian missiles struck another fuel depot in the northwest of the country.

Due to ongoing air raid sirens, citizens in the vicinity are instructed to remain in shelters.

UK military intelligence: Wagner Group present in eastern Ukraine

More than 1,000 Russian mercenaries connected to the Wagner Group are deployed in eastern Ukraine, UK military intelligence said. 

They are expected to undertake combat operations. 

Biden says remark on Putin removal was 'moral outrage'

US President Joe Biden has said that his remark in Warsaw that Russian President Vladimir Putin should be removed from power reflected his own "moral outrage," not a "policy change."

"I want to make it clear, I wasn't then, nor am I now, articulating a policy change. I was expressing moral outrage that I feel -- I make no apologies for my personal feelings," he told reporters at the White House.

Biden said he was not concerned that his comments would escalate tensions over the war in Ukraine. "This is just stating a simple fact, that this kind of behavior is totally unacceptable," he said, adding that he was "not walking anything back."

Ukraine hopes to secure a cease-fire in talks with Russia 

Ukraine's foreign minister said a cease-fire was the most his country could hope for from the latest peace talks with Russia.

The Ukrainian and Russian delegations were due to meet in Istanbul in Turkey on Tuesday.

"The minimum programme will be humanitarian questions, and the maximum programme is reaching an agreement on a ceasefire," Dmytro Kuleba said on Ukrainian TV.

Several rounds of talks have already taken place, but little progress has been made.

The Financial Times was reporting in exchange for giving up on its plan to join NATO, Ukraine will be free to join the EU.

Earlier Kuleba, however, said, "We are not trading people, land or sovereignty," in the talks.  

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia expected no breakthrough at the talks.

US budget plan includes larger defense spending

US President Joe Biden's new $5.8 trillion budget plan calls for record peacetime military spending and further aid for Ukraine.

Biden wants higher defense spending to strengthen the US military and "forcefully respond to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's aggression against Ukraine."

He is hoping to secure $813 billion (€740 billion) to spend on national defense.

Biden also asked $1 billion for additional US support for Ukraine's economic, humanitarian, and security needs.

China was still considered the US's primary strategic challenge.

US deploys six electronic warfare aircraft to Germany to bolster NATO

US Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said six US electronic warfare aircraft would be deployed to Germany, but would not be used against Russian forces in Ukraine.

He said six EA-18G Growler aircraft and about 240 troops would be stationed at Spangdahlem airbase in Germany to reinforce security in Eastern Europe.

"They are being deployed completely in keeping with our efforts to bolster NATO's deterrence and defense capabilities," Kirby said.

The planes are a specialized version of the F/A-18 Super Hornets that can jam radar and other electronic communications.

Erdogan says calls with Zelenskyy and Putin moving in a 'positive direction'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he made separate calls to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin that were progressing in a "positive direction.''

He did not give more detail but added that he would meet Ukrainian and Russian delegations ahead of their talks in Istanbul on Tuesday.

The face-to-face meetings come after about two weeks of online negotiations. 

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said no "significant successes or breakthroughs" were foreseen.

Ukrainian officials also played down the chances of a major breakthrough at the talks.

Ukrainian refugees face bureaucratic hurdles in Germany

Over the past month, Germany has seen the arrival of about 300,000 displaced Ukrainians. This is just the beginning, but the organizational challenges are already mounting. DW followed the story of Alyona and Denys, who fled Kyiv and have arrived in the German city of Hanover.

UK says peace talks must not sell Ukraine out

Ukraine must not be "sold out" in peace talks with Russia, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.

Speaking in parliament, she said lessons needed to be learned from the "uneasy settlement" reached following the unrest of 2014, when Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.

"Putin just came back for more. That is why we cannot allow him to win from this appalling aggression," Truss said.

She added any long-term deal needed to include "a clear sanction snapback, which would be triggered automatically by any Russian
aggression."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter he was in constant contact with Boris Johnson and shared information about the peace talks with the British Prime Minister.

UN seeking a humanitarian cease-fire

The United Nations wants to negotiate a humanitarian cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he has directed the world body's aid chief Martin Griffiths "immediately to explore with the parties involved the possible agreements and arrangements for a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine."

Griffiths would travel to Moscow and Kyiv as soon as possible after he returned from a mission to Afghanistan.

Last week, the UN General Assembly adopted by an overwhelming majority a non-binding resolution that demands an immediate halt to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Abramovich and Ukrainian negotiators suffer suspected poisoning

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning earlier this month after a meeting in Kyiv, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The WSJ report said Abramovich, who accepted a Ukrainian request to help negotiate an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and at least two senior members of the Ukrainian team, were affected.

Separately, investigative journalism group Bellingcat said the Chelsea owner and negotiators developed symptoms including red eyes, constant and painful tearing, and peeling skin on their faces and hands.

Experts told Bellingcat the dosage and type of toxin used was likely insufficient to cause life-threatening damage.

Abramovich and the Ukrainian negotiators have since improved. The WSJ says it was unclear who had targeted the group.

Zelenskyy and Scholz discuss peace talks during call

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the progress of peace talks with Russia in a call with Germany's chancellor, Olaf Scholz.

Zelenskyy urged Scholz to continue his pressure and intensify sanctions against Russia.

After meeting Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, Scholz said Russia broke all rules of international order by using force to shift borders.

He said, "everyone will suffer for it, especially Russia."

Kyiv and Mariupol death toll rises

Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said there had been more than 100 war deaths in the Ukrainian capital since the Russian invasion.

In an address to city councilors of Florence, which is twinned with Kyiv, Klitschko said four children were among the dead.

He also said 82 multi-story buildings had been destroyed.

Klitschko saw no sign Russia had given up a plan to surround Kiyv.

In Mariupol a spokesman for the mayor put the death toll at 5,000, with 90% of buildings in the city damaged and 40% destroyed.

Russian forces have besieged and shelled the strategic port city for weeks.

The United Nations has confirmed 1,119 civilian deaths and 1,790 injuries across Ukraine but says the real toll is likely to be much higher.

Germany and Poland want even distribution of refugees across the EU

Germany and Poland urged a more even distribution of Ukrainian refugees within the European Union.

We need to more actively distribute refugees within the EU and show solidarity by taking in refugees," German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters before a special EU interior ministers meeting.

Faeser, however, added the EU should use a distribution system based "on solidarity," not fixed quotas.

It would mean authorities would use an index linked to the number of refugees already being hosted compared to the population size of each country.

Faeser and her Polish counterpart, Mariusz Kaminski, earlier said additional support and quick solutions at the European level were urgently needed.

The UN Refugee Agency reports 3.8 million people have now fled the war in Ukraine.

The vast majority fled to Poland. Germany hosts around 267,000 people.

Novaya Gazeta suspends activities until end of war

Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper said it would stop publishing until the war in Ukraine ends.

The leading independent publication, edited by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov, said it was taking the step after receiving a second warning from the media regulator Roskomnadzor.

If a media outlet receives two warnings from the communications regulator, a court can shut it down.

"If we don't stop, we will be stripped of our license through court," Nadezhda Prusenkova, a Novaya Gazeta spokeswoman, said.

The paper is known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian politics.

EU wants golden visas stopped and Russia wants to bar visitors from 'unfriendly countries'

The European Commission has called on governments to halt the sale of citizenship to investors and suspend the sale of visas to Russians and Belarusians.

"Some Russian or Belarusian nationals who are subject to sanctions or are significantly supporting the war in Ukraine might have acquired EU citizenship or privileged access to the EU, including to travel freely in the Schengen area, under these schemes," the EU Commission said. 

Nearly 700 top politicians, business, and military individuals accused of supporting the Kremlin have been blacklisted by the EU since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia is preparing retaliatory visa measures that would restrict entry for citizens from "unfriendly countries", Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

He said a presidential decree would introduce "a number of restrictions on entry to Russia."

Carlsberg and Heineken to stop selling beer in Russia

Danish brewery group Carlsberg said it would pull out entirely from Russia, saying it's "the right thing to do in the current environment.''

Its announcement followed only hours after Heineken said it had decided to exit its Russian business at the cost of €400 million ($438 million).

Carlsberg, which owns Russia's most prominent brewer Baltika and several breweries, said it "will have no presence in Russia," after the sale.

The Danish brewer generates around 10% of its sales in the country and has about 8,400 staff who would be laid off.

Germany pledges prolonged support for refugees

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke at a joint press conference with his Swedish counterpart Magdalena Andersson in Berlin on Monday about the Russian war in Ukraine, now in its fifth week.

"Russian troops must withdraw from Ukraine. The killing must stop," Scholz said.

He called it a turning point that has pushed both Germany and Sweden to adapt their policies.

The chancellor also pledged to keep providing support for refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, regardless of how long the war lasts.

"Europe must be better able to defend itself," the chancellor said and called on Europe to make itself independent of Russian fossil fuel, both for reasons of security and environmental protection.

"We need to everything we can to prevent hunger crises," Scholz warned, pointing to soaring food prices around the world. He pledged to provide €430 million ($470 million) to the World Food Program.

G7 rejects 'unacceptable' Russian demand to pay for gas in rubles

The Group of Seven major economies have rejected Russia's demand to pay for Russian energy imports in rubles.

"All G7 (energy) ministers agreed that this is a unilateral and clear breach of the existing agreements," German energy minister Robert Habeck said. Germany holds the presidency of the G7.

"Payment in rubles is not acceptable and... we call on the companies concerned not to comply with Putin's demand," Habeck said.

Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin said gas sales to countries deemed unfriendly to Moscow would have to be paid in rubles.

Earlier in March, the Russian government announced a list of 48 states deemed unfriendly. They included all EU member countries, the US, Japan, Switzerland, and Norway.

New Ukraine-Russia talks to be held in Istanbul on Tuesday

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov and the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, have said that new face-to-face talks between Ukraine and Russia would take place in Istanbul on Tuesday. 

The Ukrainian and Russian delegations have so far met three times in face-to-face talks. All three rounds of negotiations were held in Belarus. The two sides have also engaged in two weeks of online negotiations.

Ukrainian newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda said the two delegations would travel to Turkey on Monday ahead of negotiations.

Referring to the talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would seek peace "without delay." Zelenskyy added that Ukraine would be willing to discuss the neutrality of the country if given security guarantees.

Zelenskyy also urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine and speak to him directly in talks. Zelenskyy has long called for a meeting between him and Putin.

"We must come to an agreement with the president of the Russian Federation, and in order to reach an agreement, he needs to get out of there on his own feet ... and come to meet me," Zelenskyy said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents would be "counterproductive."

According to Lavrov, Putin "has said he has never refused to meet President Zelenskyy. The only thing that he considers fundamentally important is for these meetings to be well prepared."

"The meeting is necessary once we have clarity regarding solutions on all key issues," Lavrov said.

Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine set up war crimes probe

European Union judicial coordination agency Eurojust said that it helped establish a joint investigation to probe war crimes, crimes against humanity and other crimes committed in Ukraine.

Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine signed an agreement on Friday establishing the team, Eurojust said. The agency said that the team will help the three countries cooperate with the International Criminal Court prosecution office.

Eurojust said that the aim of the team is to "support the support the gathering of evidence and its swift and secure exchange between partners, as well as the transmission of information and evidence."

Polish prosecutors said they had collected some 300 witness testimonies from Ukrainian refugees within the first month of the war.

Ukraine suspends humanitarian corridors over Russian 'provocations'

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that no escape corridors for the evacuation of civilians will be possible in Ukrainian cities on Monday.

While explaining the decision, Vereshchuk cited intelligence that warned the escape routes would not be safe for passage.

"Our intelligence has reported possible 'provocations' by the occupiers on the humanitarian corridor routes. So, for reasons of public safety, we are not opening any humanitarian corridors today," Vereshchuk said.

Vereshchuk had announced two humanitarian corridors on Sunday, one from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia and one between two towns in the Luhansk region.

Ukraine has accused Russia of sabotaging evacuation corridors from contested areas, while Moscow has placed the blame on Kyiv for failures to agree on safe corridors.

Early in March, Ukraine rejected a Russian proposal to establish humanitarian corridors that would lead to Russia and Belarus.

Ukrainian official: Turkey could give security guarantees

Senior Ukrainian official Ihor Zhovka said on Monday that Turkey could be one of the countries to give Kyiv security guarantees.

Zhovka made the comments ahead of peace talks scheduled between Ukraine and Russia in Turkey.

"Turkey is among those countries that could become guarantors of our security in the future," Zhovka said.

Ukraine has demanded legally binding guarantees that would give the country protection from allies in the event of a future attack.

Ukraine: Russia has turned Mariupol to 'dust'

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ukraine tweeted on Monday that Russian forces have turned the besieged city of Mariupol "into dust."

"While Mariupol besieged and bombed, people fight to survive. The humanitarian situation in the city is catastrophic. Russian Armed Forces is turning the city into dust," the ministry tweeted.

Mariupol is the main obstacle preventing Russia from connecting Crimea to the two self-proclaimed "people's republics" in the eastern Donbas region. Russia has focused its efforts on taking Donbas since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "new phase" in the war.

British military intelligence said on Monday that Russian forces had gained ground in the vicinity of Mariupol.

Several German states ban pro-Russian "Z" war symbol

In Germany, several states have declared they will punish by law any public use of the "Z" symbol associated with Russia's war against Ukraine.

On Friday, Lower Saxony and Bavaria announced their plans to make it a crime to use the symbol. Lawmakers in city of Stuttgart and in the state of North Rhine Westphalia spoke in support of a ban.

Russian military exits town for Chernobyl workers

Russian troops have left Slavutych, a town that is home to workers at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear plant, site of the world's worst manmade nuclear catastrophe, in 1986.

Slavutych Mayor Yuri Fomichev said Russian forces that took over the town over the weekend left early Monday after surveying the town.

Oscars: Solidarity gestures with Ukraine

The Oscars, Hollywood's premier red carpet award show event, held a minute of silence for Ukraine.

Among those showing gestures of support for Ukraine were Oscar-winning actress Youn Yuh-jung, nominated songwriter Diane Warren, composer Nicholas Britell and the actress Jamie Lee Curtis. They wore blue ribbons that read #WithRefugees to show support for those who have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24.

Actor Mila Kunis, who was born in Ukraine, was among the presenters.

Biden: US not seeking regime change in Russia

When asked whether he is seeking regime change in Russia, US President Joe Biden told reporters: "No."

His rejection of the notion comes after a speech in Warsaw where he said Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power."

Airstrikes hit several Ukrainian cities

Ukrainian media has reported that Russia targeted the cities of Kyiv, Luzk, Rivne and Kharkiv with air strikes on Sunday. Among the targets was a fuel depot in Luzk in the northwest.

Earlier in the day, air raid sirens rang out in all regions of Ukraine.

Presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said the port city Mariupol was being carpet-bombed.

Ukraine reports successful counterattacks near Kharkiv

Ukrainian military commander Oleg Synegubov said on Telegram that Ukrainian forces had launched successful counterattacks around the eastern city of Kharkiv.

Synegubov said Russian troops had been repelled in several locations.

He said: "We are driving the occupiers back in the direction of the Russian border."

Russian air strikes hit civilian residences in the village of Oskil in the Izium region. A family of four was killed, Synegubov wrote.

Summary of Sunday's events in Ukraine-Russia crisis

Russia targeted military structures in the western city of Lviv using high-precision cruise missiles, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Long-range missiles were used to hit a fuel depot used by Ukrainian forces, and cruise missiles targeted a plant being used to repair anti-aircraft systems, radar stations and sights for tanks in Lviv.

According to the United Nations, more than 3.7 million refugees have fled Ukraine. Most have gone to neighboring Poland.

Significant destruction in Chernihiv means residents of the northern Ukrainian city are without water, heating or electricity, according to the regional administration. Chernihiv is currently surrounded by Russian troops and has been "completely devastated," Mayor Vladyslav Atrozhenko said. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his government was "carefully" considering the option of adopting neutral status to broker a peace deal with Russia. Zelenskyy's comments came in a video interview with Russian journalists that the country's media watchdog Roskomnadzor said could not be aired within Russia.

Russian and Ukrainian delegations will meet in Turkey for face-to-face talks on Monday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on the phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Erdogan called for an immediate cease-fire and a peace agreement between the two sides.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told public broadcaster ARD that he believes more than 10,000 Russian soldiers have died in the war.

lo,sdi,ar/rt (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)