Russian, Ukrainian advisers to meet over tensions: Live news | Ukraine-Russia crisis News
Russian and Ukrainian political advisers are set to meet for the first time since the crisis over their borders began.
Wednesday’s four-way talks in Paris, which will also be attended by France and Germany, will start at 12:00 local time (11:00 GMT).
The meeting marks a revival of the group’s so-called Normandy Format talks, which last took place in 2019.
It comes as the West, led by the United States, is threatening to impose sweeping sanctions on Russia – including personal sanctions on President Vladimir Putin – should it attack Ukraine.
Russia, which has amassed thousands of troops at the Ukraine border, denies it is making plans to attack its neighbour and blames NATO for undermining the region’s security.
Here are all the latest updates:
Kremlin warns sanctions on Putin would be ‘destructive’
The Kremlin has said that imposing personal sanctions on Putin, as the US has threatened to do, would have no effect and be counterproductive in efforts to lower tensions over Ukraine.
“Politically, it’s not painful, it’s destructive,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Lavrov: No room for EU or OSCE in Ukraine talks
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Moscow does not want talks over Ukraine and its own security concerns to be made longer by including the European Union or the Organisation of Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe in them.
Addressing Russia’s State Duma, or lower house of parliament, Lavrov also reiterated Moscow’s stance that it would take unspecified “appropriate measures” if it did not receive a constructive answer from the US and NATO on security guarantees it is demanding from the West.
Russia is expecting Washington to respond in writing this week to its proposals, which include a block on Ukraine joining the US-headed transatlantic military alliance.
Kyiv does not object US response to Russia security demands, FM says
Ukraine has no objections to the US responding to Russia as part of negotiations to avert a military escalation against Ukraine, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.
Addressing a briefing, Kuleba also accused Russia of trying to sow panic in Ukraine. He said Moscow had not massed enough troops for a large-scale offensive but warned that did not mean it could not do so later, adding the current risk level was high.
Normandy Format talks to resume
France and Germany have played a mediating role since the group first began discussions in mid-2014, shortly after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and backed a separatist uprising in the country’s east which saw rebels seize swaths of territory – areas they still hold today.
According to the DPA news agency, sources close to the French presidency said the talks will focus on humanitarian measures as well as the possibility of holding formal negotiations over the status of the Donbas region.
Kyiv rules out talks with Russian-backed separatists
Kyiv will not hold direct talks with Russian-backed separatists in control of territories in the country’s east, according to the chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“There have not been and will not be any direct talks with the separatists,” Andriy Yermak said in a statement on Facebook ahead of the four-way talks in Paris.
UK sanctions may target Putin directly: Foreign minister
The United Kingdom may directly target Russian President Vladimir Putin with sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine, the country’s foreign secretary has said, echoing Washington’s threat.
“We’re not ruling anything out,” Liz Truss told UK broadcaster Sky News.
“We’ll be bringing forward new legislation to make our sanctions regime tougher so we are able to target more companies and individuals in Russia. We will be bringing that forward in the next few days.”
Russian LNG vessel back in the Baltic
A huge Russian gas vessel, designed to safeguard supplies to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, has returned to the Baltic Sea region, tracking data shows.
The Refinitiv Eikon data showed the Marshal Vasilevskiy – a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) which can also act as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessel – visited the Belgian port Zeebrugge where it loaded 163,800 cubic metres of LNG on January 20 and is now near Kaliningrad.
The ship’s main role is to supply LNG to Kaliningrad, which is separated from Russia’s mainland and sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania. The ship ensures the enclave can receive gas even if there are disruptions to pipelines running through Lithuania.
