A Ukrainian soldier takes a selfie photo of himself standing on a damaged Russian tank after Ukrainian forces occupied a Russian position outside Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, March 31, 2022. Ukraine’s foreign minister says his government is now back in control of the Chernobyl nuclear facility, and will work with the UN Atomic Energy Agency to determine what the Russian occupation did and to mitigate any danger. Russian troops left the heavily contaminated nuclear site early Friday after regaining control of the Ukrainians. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said the Russians had behaved irresponsibly at the construction site for more than four weeks, preventing factory staff from carrying out their duties and digging trenches in contaminated areas. Kuleba told a news conference in Warsaw that the Russian government had exposed its soldiers to radioactivity, endangering their health.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: – Ukraine at the top of the agenda as China and the EU prepare to meet at the summit – The Russians leave Chernobyl. Ukraine is preparing for new attacks – Foreign ministers of the United Kingdom and Russia visit India amid crisis in Ukraine – Kremlin decree says foreign currency can still buy gas – The war in Ukraine fuels fears among young Russians – African refugees see racial prejudice as US welcomes Ukrainians – Go to for more coverage
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS: ROME – Venice is preparing special material for shipment to the National Gallery in Lviv and other museums in the Ukrainian city, so that works of art are better protected during the war. Mariacristina Gribaudi, head of the Foundation for Political Museums in Venice, said in a statement on Friday that about 65,000 works of art and 2,000 sculptures had been placed in Lviv warehouses for precaution, but that the objects were not adequately protected. The Venice Foundation will oversee a special fabric mission that can cover paintings and graphic arts as well as furniture, costumes and glass or marble materials to protect objects from most solvents and gases. The fabric also prevents the growth of mold and fungi while the works are in storage. Vibration-resistant polyethylene foam panels are also shipped. Experts from Venice museums also gave advice in a video call to the Lviv Gallery on how best to store works of art.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says new sanctions are needed against Russia “to force (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to end this insane attack.” Le Drian, who was in Estonia and spoke through an interpreter, also said on Friday that “Russia can not wait to win this war.” Le Drian was to travel later in the day to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.
ISTANBUL – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reiterated that he would like to host a meeting between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul, hoping to “turn a negative turn of events into a positive one”. Erdogan made the remarks on Friday, hours before he was scheduled to have a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. During the call, he was expected to renew an offer to host a leaders meeting. Erdogan told reporters that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with whom he spoke on Thursday, had a “positive outlook” for such a meeting in Turkey and that Putin’s stance had been positive in the past. The Russian and Ukrainian delegations held a face-to-face meeting in Istanbul earlier this week, during which Ukraine presented a list of proposals, including that it would have neutral status guaranteed by a number of foreign countries.
LVIV, Ukraine – Talks between Russia and Ukraine have resumed via video link. The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, posted a picture of the ongoing talks on Friday. The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed to the Associated Press that negotiations have resumed. Friday’s talks took place three days after the last meeting, in Turkey, between Russian and Ukrainian delegations. Medinsky, Russia’s chief negotiator, said “our positions on Crimea and Donbass remain unchanged.” Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula to southern Ukraine in 2014. Donbass is the predominantly Russian-speaking industrial area where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014.
BRUSSELS – The European Union’s executive arm proposes that the 27-nation bloc countries allow the millions of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine to exchange their national currency banknotes for the currencies of host countries. The European Commission said on Friday that its proposal aims to promote a coordinated approach in the region. “This approach was necessary in light of the fact that the National Bank of Ukraine had to suspend the exchange of national currency banknotes for cash abroad in order to protect Ukraine’s limited foreign exchange reserves,” the commission said. “As a result, credit institutions in the EU Member States were reluctant to make the exchanges due to the limited convertibility of hryvnia banknotes and the exposure to foreign exchange risk.” According to EU figures, more than 3.8 million people who fled the war have arrived in the European Union. More than 4 million have left Ukraine. The Commission has proposed a maximum of 10,000 hryvnia (306 euros) per person, free of charge, at the official exchange rate as published by the National Bank of Ukraine.
BERLIN – The head of the UN nuclear watchdog says he will lead a team at the decommissioned Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine “as soon as possible”. Rafael Mariano Grossi wrote on Twitter that the International Atomic Energy Agency’s “help and support” mission to Chernobyl “will be the first of a series of such nuclear safety and security missions in Ukraine.” Grossi’s comments followed his visits to Ukraine and then to Russia this week. He did not specify his plans or give a more precise schedule. He was due to give a press conference in Vienna later on Friday. Russian forces took control of Chernobyl, where a nuclear disaster struck in 1986, at the start of the war. However, authorities say the troops have now left after regaining control of the Ukrainians.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – The Norwegian government is proposing a national crisis package of SEK 14.4 billion ($ 1.7 billion) for the war in Ukraine, including spending on refugees and national defense. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said in a press conference on Friday: “We must take good care” of the Ukrainian refugees while they are in Norway. “This will require the best of us,” he said. If the proposal is approved by parliament, it is expected that about 7.1 billion kroner ($ 815 million) will be spent on refugees, police and the Norwegian Immigration Service. Norway expects to receive 35,000 refugees this year. The money also goes to strengthen the country’s military and civil defense. Earlier, the government said it wanted to provide an additional 3.5 billion kroner ($ 402 million) in 2022 to bolster NATO, NATO member and civilian preparedness.
MOSCOW – The Kremlin says reports that Ukrainian helicopters attacked a fuel depot inside Russia, setting it on fire, do not favor talks between the two sides in the war. Asked if the incident could be seen as an escalation of the conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov said: “Certainly, this is not something that can be seen as creating comfortable conditions for the talks to continue.” Russia-Ukraine talks were expected to resume on Friday via video link. The governor of Russia’s Belgorod border region has accused Ukraine of flying helicopters into Russian territory early Friday morning and targeting an oil depot, which, if confirmed, would be the first such attack. The report could not be verified immediately. Peshkov said President Vladimir Putin had been informed of the fire. He told a news conference that Russian authorities were taking steps to ensure that fuel supplies to the region were not disrupted.
BEIJING – China accuses the United States of inciting war in Ukraine and says NATO should have disbanded after the break-up of the Soviet Union. “As the culprit and main instigator of the crisis in Ukraine, the United States has led NATO to engage in five rounds of eastward expansion in the last two decades since 1999,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters on Friday. “The number of NATO members has increased from 16 to 30 and they have moved east for more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) somewhere near the Russian border, pushing Russia against the wall step by step,” Zao said. While China says it has no position on the conflict, it has said it has cooperated “without limits” with Moscow, has refused to condemn the invasion, opposes sanctions on Russia and regularly reinforces Russian misinformation about the conflict, including non-reporting. as an invasion or a war according to Russian practice. Zhao’s comments came as the leaders of China and the European Union met essentially for a summit in which Ukraine was expected to dominate the talks. EU officials say they are seeking a commitment from China not to undermine sanctions and to help end the fighting.
GENEVA – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it is not certain that the planned delivery of aid to Mariupol and the evacuation of civilians from the besieged Ukrainian city will take place on Friday. Representative Yuan Watson told a UN briefing in Geneva that the humanitarian team had sent three vehicles to Mariupol and a first line between …
