NEW YORK (1010 WINS/AP) -- Russia announced yet another ceasefire and a handful of humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to flee Ukraine starting Monday, but previous such measures have fallen apart, and Moscow's armed forces continued to pummel some Ukrainian cities with rockets even after the announcement. Hopes were dim that a third round of talks Monday would yield any breakthroughs. Twelve days into the war, Russia’s plan to quickly overrun the country has been stymied by fierce resistance, though it has made significant advances in southern Ukraine and along the coast.
8:00 a.m. - Biden to hold secure video call with leaders of France, Germany and UK
The White House said President Joe Biden would discuss the latest developments in Ukraine during a secure video teleconference with President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom.
The call was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in the White House Situation Room.
7:30 a.m. - Zelenskyy says peace will return to Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a new address to Facebook, saying peace will return to Ukraine.
In a Facebook post evoking the country’s blue and yellow flag, Zelenskyy wrote: “There is no blood on our flag. There are no and will never be black spots on it. There are no and will never be any swastikas on it. The Ukrainian flag is the land. Peaceful, fertile, golden and without tanks. This is the sky. Peaceful, clear, blue and without missiles. So it was. And so it will be.”
Zelenskyy also called for a global boycott of all Russian products – including oil.
“If the invasion continues and Russia does not abandon its plans against Ukraine, then we need a new sanctions package,” Zelenskyy said in his video address, including “a boycott of Russian exports, in particular, the rejection of oil and oil products from Russia.”
“The international community must act even more decisively.”
AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti
7:00 a.m. - France’s Macron critical of Russia's corridor offers
French President Emmanuel Macron criticized “hypocritical” rhetoric and “cynicism” from Moscow about offering to open humanitarian corridors to Russia for Ukrainian civilians.
“Humanitarian actors need to be able to intervene, so we must get full ceasefires when they intervene to place under protection women, children, men who need to be protected. And (we must) be able to get them out of the conflict area,” Macron said Monday in an interview on French news broadcaster LCI.
The issue won’t be solved via “corridors which are being threatened right away (by Russia),” he said. Saying that “we are going to protect people by bringing them to Russia” is “hypocritical,” he added. “This is cynicism" that is “unbearable,” he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said a ceasefire would start in the morning, and safe passages would open for civilians from the capital of Kyiv, the southern port city of Mariupol, and the cities of Kharkiv and Sumy. Some of the evacuation routes, however, would funnel civilians toward Russia or its ally Belarus — unlikely destinations for many Ukrainians who would prefer to head toward countries on the western and southern borders.
A third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine are scheduled for Monday. Mykhailo Podoliyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, posted a selfie ahead of the talks, which he's taking part in.
6:30 a.m. - Poland won’t send fighter jets to Ukraine
Polish government officials on Monday said that Poland has not, and will not, send its fighter jets to Ukraine to support Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
A deputy foreign minister, Marcin Przydacz, said in an interview on Radio Zet that: “We will not open our airports and Polish planes will not fight over Ukraine … Polish planes will not fight over Ukraine.”
But separately the government spokesman, Piotr Mueller, indicated a final decision had not been made. He said that a decision on whether to send fighter jets presents risks and is a “very delicate matter.”
The comments come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy begged the United States to help Kyiv get more warplanes to fight Russia’s invasion and retain control of its airspace.
6:00 a.m. - More than 1.7 million people have fled Ukraine: UN
The United Nations’ refugee agency says the number of people who have fled the war in Ukraine has increased to more than 1.7 million.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees on Monday put the number of people who have arrived in other countries since the Russian invasion started on Feb. 24 at some 1.735 million. That’s up from more than 1.53 million on Sunday.
Nearly three-fifths of the total - nearly 1.03 million -- arrived in Poland, according to the agency. Over 180,000 went to Hungary and 128,000 to Slovakia.
AP Photo/Daniel Cole
5:30 a.m. - US secretary of state visiting Baltic states amid Russia fears
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has begun a lightning visit to the three Baltic states that are increasingly on edge as they watch Russia press ahead with its invasion of Ukraine.
The former Soviet republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are all members of NATO and Blinken aims to reassure them of the alliance’s protection in the event Russia chooses to expand its military operations to other neighboring countries.
Memories of Soviet occupation are still fresh in the Baltics and since the invasion of Ukraine last month, NATO has moved quickly to boost its troop presence in its eastern flank allies while the U.S. has pledged additional support.
Blinken’s Baltic tour opened Monday in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, where support for Ukraine’s resistance to the invasion government is palpable with signs of solidarity with Ukrainians in many businesses and on public buildings and buses.
“Unfortunately, the worsening security situation in the Baltic region is of great concern for all of us and around the world,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda told Blinken. “Russia’s reckless aggression against Ukraine once again proves that it is a long-term threat to European security, the security of our alliance.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A man opens his arms as he stands near a house destroyed in the Russian artillery shelling, in the village of Horenka close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, March 6, 2022.AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
