Russia-Ukraine live news: Kuleba calls for more NATO support | Russia-Ukraine war News
Ukraine’s FM tells US counterpart his country needs fighter jets and air-defence systems to fight Russian invasion.
- Ukraine’s foreign minister has told his US counterpart in a meeting that his country needs fighter jets and air-defence systems and has called NATO’s refusal to implement no-fly zone over Ukraine a “sign of weakness”.
- Russia resumes its offensive on the strategic port city of Mariupol, after a temporary ceasefire failed with allegations of violations by both sides.
- Russia’s flagship airline Aeroflot says it will suspend all its international flights from March 8 except Belarus, amid Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
- More than 1.2 million people have fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries, according to the United Nations.
Here are all the latest updates:
‘We are demoralised’: Hundreds of foreign students trapped in Sumy
At least 1,500 foreign students are trapped in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, as shelling from the Russian army continues for a tenth day after humanitarian corridors failed to materialise.
The situation is growing increasingly desperate as the water has been cut to the city for three days and food supplies are dwindling.
“We are really demoralised, everybody wants to go home,” Precious Ogunbayo, a 21-year-old medical student from Nigeria, told Al Jazeera. “We keep asking for help, but it’s not coming at all.”
Read more here.
Russia-Ukraine conflict escalation would cause ‘devastating’ economic damage: IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that the already “serious” global economic impacts of the war in Ukraine would be “all the more devastating” should the conflict escalate.
A surge in energy and commodity prices, with a barrel of oil now close to $120, have piled on the inflationary hike that the world was already experiencing as economies recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Price shocks will have an impact worldwide, especially on poor households for whom food and fuel are a higher proportion of expenses,” the IMF said in a statement.
Ukraine FM asks Blinken for jets, air defence systems
Ukraine’s foreign minister has told his US counterpart in a face-to-face meeting that his country needs fighter jets and air-defence systems and called NATO’s refusal to implement no-fly zone over Ukraine a ‘sign of weakness’.
“It’s no secret that the highest demand that we have is in fighter jets, attack aircraft, and air-defence systems,” Dmytro Kuleba said he told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in talks at the Ukraine-Poland border.
The demands came after Moscow resumed its offensive on the key city of Mariupol, after a temporary ceasefire failed amid allegations of violations by Russia and Ukraine.
Read more here.
Blinken meets Ukraine FM Kuleba in show of support
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on the Poland-Ukraine border in a show of solidarity on day 10 of Russia’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.
The two spoke for 45 minutes under high security at a border crossing full of refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, discussing more arms for Kyiv’s military and how to keep up global pressure on Moscow.
“I hope the people of Ukraine will be able to see this as a clear manifestation that we have friends who literally stand by us,” Kuleba said after they met at the Korczowa-Krakovets border crossing under high security.
Ukraine is “going to prevail”, Blinken said.
Welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
Read all the updates from Saturday, March 5, here.
