NEW YORK (1010 WINS/AP) -- A month after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, President Biden left Wednesday for Europe, where he’ll meet with key allies in Brussels and Warsaw this week as Western leaders try to prevent the war from spiraling into an even greater catastrophe. NATO's secretary general said the military organization is setting up new battlegroups in eastern Europe to deter Russia. After four full weeks of fighting, Russia is bogged down in a grinding military campaign, with untold numbers of dead, no immediate end in sight, and its economy crippled by sanctions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continued to address foreign parliaments via video Wednesday, speaking to Japanese and then French lawmakers as he seeks international support.
Wednesday, March 23, 2022
11:15 a.m. - Putin’s climate envoy is highest-level Russian official to resign since invasion began
The Kremlin says President Vladimir Putin’s envoy for liaison with international organizations has resigned.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that Anatoly Chubais had submitted his resignation.
Peskov wouldn’t say if Chubais has left the country, saying it’s his private business.
Chubais, the architect of Russia’s post-Soviet privatization campaign, has served at a variety of top official jobs during the past three decades.
His latest job envisaged contacts with international organizations to pursue the goals of sustainable development — a broad portfolio that allowed him to maintain contacts with top foreign officials and organizations.
After Russia began its last month, Chubais posted a photo of Boris Nemtsov, a leading Russian opposition figure who was shot dead near the Kremlin in 2015. Even without a caption, it was seen as a powerful statement from a Moscow insider.
Chubais’ resignation appears to reflect growing divisions among top Russian officials over the military operation in Ukraine.
11 a.m. - NATO deploying new battlegroups to deter Russia: NATO secretary general
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the military organization is setting up new multinational battlegroups in eastern Europe to deter Russia from launching an attack on any of its members.
The battlegroups, which usually number between 1,000-1,500 troops, will be set up in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria. Stoltenberg said they will remain in place “as long as necessary.”
Speaking Wednesday on the eve of a summit of NATO leaders, Stoltenberg said that Russia’s war on Ukraine means “a new normal for our security and NATO has to respond to that new reality.”
Stoltenberg says the leaders are likely to agree to send more assistance to Ukraine, including “equipment to help Ukraine protect against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.”
NATO’s 30 allies are worried about Russian rhetoric and fears that Moscow might want to create a pretext to use chemical weapons in Ukraine.
Stoltenberg says that “any use of chemical weapons would totally change the nature of the conflict,” and would have “far-reaching consequences” for Russia. He declined to elaborate.
10:45 a.m. - Zelenskyy addresses French parliament
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for his “true leadership” over the war during a virtual address from Kyiv to the French parliament Wednesday.
Zelenskyy used the address to French MPs via video link to rally further European support for his war-torn country’s efforts to stave off Russian aggression. He called on France for assistance with arms, equipment and more planes “so that liberty does not slip away,” according to a translation of the 20-minute speech.
Using often-emotive language, the Ukrainian leader told French lawmakers “you know who the guilty one is” that “buries his head in the sand.”
Zelenskyy called the Russian war on Ukraine “a war on liberté, égalité and fraternité,” the French words for liberty, equality and fraternity, according to a translator.
“The French people on Feb. 24 [when Russia attacked Ukraine] were united. Now we don’t have any left-wing or right-wing representatives. We are all united, we are a coalition. Nothing else matters anymore,” Zelenskyy said via a translator. “All we think about now is peace, and we thank France for helping us, especially for the efforts of President Macron, who has shown real leadership. And we’re still in discussions with him. And we can really tell that France is also looking for truth and trying to protect truth. You all know what is liberty, fraternity, égalité—and I know these values are important to you. And for me and Ukrainians also. We are thankful for you helping us find peace against Russia, for all the values that France defends, for all the values that made Europe united and free.”
The speech comes one day after Macron talked with both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin about the terms of a potential cease-fire.
Though they reached “no agreement,” according to the French presidency, Macron “remains convinced of the need to continue his efforts” and he “stands alongside Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy addressed Japan's parliament earlier on Wednesday. He previously spoke virtually to the U.S. Congress and the German and U.K. parliaments, among others, to harness international help.
10:30 a.m. - Biden departs US for Europe, where he’ll meet with allies on 4-day trip
President Biden embarked Wednesday on a four-day trip that will test his ability to navigate Europe’s worst crisis since WWII ended in 1945.
There are fears that Russia could use chemical or nuclear weapons as its invasion becomes bogged down in the face of logistical problems and fierce Ukrainian resistance.
Asked outside the White House about the threat of chemical warfare, Biden said, “I think it’s a real threat.”
He said he would say more on the subject directly to the leaders he was meeting with Thursday.
Biden was scheduled to depart Joint Base Andrews around 9 a.m. He’s headed to Brussels, Belgium, where both NATO and the European Union are headquartered.
Biden was set to touch down around 9 p.m. local time at Brussels Airport, where Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo will meet him.
Brussels is Biden’s first stop on the trip. He’ll attend back-to-back-to-back meetings there Thursday. NATO is holding a hastily arranged emergency summit, where Biden is expected to reiterate his support for Article 5 of the alliance's charter, which commits all members to collective defense if any are attacked.
Among the items on Biden’s agenda Thursday: delivering remarks at a NATO Summit and at a G7 Leaders’ Meeting; holding a bilateral meeting with European Council President Charles Michel; and joining a European Council Summit. He’s expected to hold a press conference later in the day.
On Friday, Biden will travel to Warsaw, Poland, ahead of a bilateral meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Saturday.
Biden then returns to the White House later on Saturday.
10 a.m. - Kyiv mayor says 264 civilians killed in city
The mayor of Kyiv says Russian forces have killed 264 civilians, including four children, in the Ukraine capital since the war started last month.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Wednesday that battles were being waged in the area of Liutizh, a village 30 kilometers (about 20 miles) north of Kyiv and that Ukrainian forces have wrested back control of areas to the north-west and the north-east of the city, including most of Irpin.
He said the western town of Makariv has also been taken back by Ukranian troops.
Klitschko spoke to reporters in the capital Kyiv in a central park overlooking the city. Explosions and gunfire could be heard in the background as he spoke.
9:30 a.m. - EU countries get help assisting millions of Ukrainian refugees
The European Commission has announced measures to help European Union countries provide the millions of refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with access education, health care, accommodation and work.
The United Nations said more than 3.5 million people — mainly women and children — have fled Ukraine in the four weeks since Russian tanks rolled across the border and Moscow began bombarding towns and cities.
European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas said Wednesday the new raft of measures aims to build on a “Temporary Protection Directive” issued earlier this month and on initiatives happening across Europe to welcome refugees.
The protection system, established in 2001 in response to the fallout from the 1990s Balkan wars but never previously used, streamlines entry procedures for Ukrainians arriving in the EU and outlines entitlements such as employment and housing.
9 a.m. - Russian Central Bank reopens trading on Moscow stock exchange for 1st time in nearly a month
The Russian Central Bank says it is reopening trading on the Moscow stock exchange for the first time since it was closed nearly a month ago.
Trading will resume Thursday but only for 33 stocks of large companies listed on the IMOEX index. There will be a ban on short selling.
The exchange resumed trading in government debt earlier this week.
8:30 a.m. - Zelenskyy addresses Japan’s parliament
Ukraine’s president is urging Japan and other Asian countries to step up sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
In an address by video link to Japan’s parliament on Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Japan to place a national embargo on trade with Russia. He also asked Japanese companies to pull out of the Russian market.
“I call on Asian states and your partners to unite their efforts so that Russia seeks peace and stops the tsunami of its brutal invasion of our state,” Zelenskyy said in the address.
He told the Japanese lawmakers that over the past 28 days, “thousands of people, including 121 children” were killed in Ukraine and about nine million were forced to leave their homes.
“Our people cannot even adequately bury their murdered relatives, friends and neighbors. They have to be buried right in the yards of destroyed buildings, next to the roads,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy’s speech was broadcast live in a parliamentary hall packed with hundreds of lawmakers, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
8 a.m. - War in northern Ukraine largely ‘static’: UK defense officials
Britain’s defense ministry says the war in northern Ukraine is largely “static,” with Russian forces trying to reorganize before resuming a large-scale assault.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, U.K. defense officials say, “Russian forces are attempting to envelop Ukrainian forces in the east of the country as they advance from the direction of Kharkiv in the north and Mariupol in the south.”
In an update posted Wednesday on social media, Britain’s defense ministry said Russian troops in the south are trying to circumvent the city of Mykolaiv as they push west towards Odesa, a key Black Sea port that has so far been spared major attack.
7:30 a.m. - Russian forces shell Kyiv overnight: Ukrainian officials
The Kyiv city administration says Russian forces shelled the Ukrainian capital overnight and early Wednesday morning, damaging buildings in two districts.
Kyiv authorities said on Telegram that a shopping mall, some private sector buildings and high-rises came under fire in the districts of Sviatoshynskyi and Shevchenkivskyi.
Four people sustained injuries.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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