The latest developments on the Russia-Ukraine war:

LONDON: British military officials on Sunday compared Russia’s tactics in Ukraine to those used in Chechnya and Syria, where cities were bombarded and heavily damaged after Russian forces faced unexpected resistance from their defenders. The strength of Ukrainian resistance continues to surprise Russian forces and they have responded by targeting populated areas, including the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in its daily intelligence briefing. “This is likely to represent an effort to break Ukrainian morale,” the ministry said in a statement. “Russia has used similar tactics in Chechnya in 1999 and Syria in 2016, employing both air and ground-based munitions.” Russia’s advance has been slowed by attacks on its supply lines, the ministry said. As a result, there is a “realistic possibility” that Russia is now trying to disguise fuel trucks to reduce losses. ___

TEL AVIV: Israel’s prime minister has returned from a surprise trip to Russia where he met President Vladimir Putin and discussed the war in Ukraine. Naftali Bennett flew to Moscow on Saturday, where he met the Russian leader for three hours. The trip was made “in coordination and with the blessing” of the Biden administration, according to Bennett’s office. Bennett spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his meeting with Putin. He then flew to Germany to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Bennett landed in Israel on Sunday morning and is expected to convene his Cabinet for its weekly meeting later in the day. Bennett’s trip was the latest attempt at diplomacy in the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Israel is one of the few countries that has good working relations with both Russia and Ukraine. Israel has delivered humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but also maintains ties with Moscow to make sure that Israeli and Russian warplanes do not come into conflict in neighboring Syria.

KYIV: A Ukrainian paramedic who was shot while on her way to evacuate injured people from the outskirts of Kyiv was buried in the country’s capital on Saturday. Valentyna Pushych was known locally as “Romashka,” which means “Daisy.” A friend described her as a “daredevil,” who was never afraid to “get under bullets.’ She was always “running to the most dangerous places” to rescue to the injured, Nataliia Voronkova said. Pushych used to be a well-paid worker at a transport and logistic company. But in 2016, she joined the army as a paramedic in response to the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. Several women, including some dressed in camouflage jackets, cried as her body lay in a casket at a service. A portrait of Pushych was on a wall nearby. At the cemetery, red roses were placed on Pushych’s body. After she was buried, the dirt was covered with the flag of Ukraine.

KYIV: Hundreds of men have been lining up in Kyiv to join the Ukrainian army. An order from Ukraine’s government prohibited men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country to keep them available for military conscription. But some like Volodymyr Onysko volunteered to fight. “We know why we are here. We know why we defend our country. And our guys that are actually standing there and fighting Russian military forces,” he told Britain’s Sky News. “We know what we are doing and that’s why we will win.” Others, like British Army veteran Mark Ayres, traveled to Ukraine to help. Ayres said the Ukrainian people have been inspiring and “it’s galvanized everybody.” “I’ve got no illusions. I’ve got no romantic ideas of war or like ‘I’m going to be some hero’ or make a difference … but it is what I do,” Ayres said. ___ BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that China opposes any moves that “add fuel to the flames” in Ukraine. Blinken says the world is watching to see which nations stand up for the principles of freedom and sovereignty. The two spoke by phone on Saturday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. Wang called for negotiations to resolve the immediate crisis, as well as talks on creating a balanced European security mechanism. Wang says the US and Europe should pay attention to the negative impact of NATO’s eastward expansion on Russia’s security. The US State Department says Blinken underscored that the world is acting in unison in response to Russian aggression and ensuring that Moscow will pay a high price. China has broken with the US, Europe and others that have imposed sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. China says that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations should be respected, but that sanctions create new issues and disrupt the process of political settlement. ___ WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss ongoing efforts to impose economic costs on Russia and to speed US military, humanitarian and economic assistance to Ukraine. The White House said the pair also discussed talks between Russia and Ukraine during the more than 30-minute call early Sunday in Ukraine, but offered no additional details. Zelenskyy said on Twitter the two presidents discussed security, financial support for Ukraine and the continuation of sanctions against Russia. ___ LVIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk for giving Ukraine access to his company’s satellite-Internet system, called Starlink. “I’m grateful to him for supporting Ukraine with words and deeds” Zelenskyy said in a tweet. “Next week we will receive another batch of Starlink systems for destroyed cities.” He joked that they discussed possible space projects, which he would talk about “after the war.” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko on Saturday showed off a shipment of the Starlink systems that had arrived in the capital city. He said Starlink would help secure the work of critical infrastructure and the defense of the city. Several large Ukrainian cities remained without Internet or phone connection after being shelled by Russian troops. ___ CHERNIHIV, Ukraine: Russia has dropped powerful bombs on residential areas of the city of Chernihiv, a regional official said Saturday. Vyacheslav Chaus posted a photo of what he said was an undetonated FAB-500, a Soviet-designed 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) air-dropped bomb. “Usually this weapon is used against military-industrial facilities and fortified structures,” said Chaus, head of the same-named region of Chernihiv. “But in Chernihiv, against residential areas.” The city of Chernihiv, located north of Kyiv and with a population of 290,000, has come under heavy fire from Russian forces. Officials said 17 people in the region were killed in the shelling. A video released Saturday by the Ukrainian government showed people cheering as they watched a Russian military plane fall from the sky and crash. ___ NEW YORK: Mastercard and Visa are suspending their operations in Russia, the companies said Saturday, Mastercard said cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by its network and any card issued outside the country will not work at Russian stores or ATMs in the latest blow to the country’s financial system after its invasion of Ukraine. Mastercard said it made its decision after discussions with customers, partners and governments. Visa said it’s working with clients and partners in Russia to cease all Visa transactions over the coming days. The suspensions are a follow-up to more limited moves earlier in the week to block financial institutions from the networks that serve as arteries for the payments system. Russian people have already been hit hard by heavy sanctions and financial penalties imposed by the US government and others. ___ LVIV, Ukraine: Russian forces have intensified shelling in the port city of Mariupol, including with the use of airplanes, the mayor said Saturday night. “The city is in a very, very difficult state of siege,” Vadym Boychenko told Ukrainian TV. “Relentless shelling of residential blocks is ongoing, airplanes have been dropping bombs on residential areas.” Boychenko said that thousands of children, women and the elderly came under fire as they arrived in the morning for a possible evacuation through a safe passage corridor. Russia promised to stop the shelling of Mariupol, a port city of 430,000, and Volnovakha, a city in the east, but violated the cease-fire. Russia has made significant advances in the south, clearly seeking to cut off Ukraine’s access to the sea. Capturing Mariupol, which has been fending off the attack for six days, could allow Russia to build a land corridor to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. ___ KYIV: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday echoed the president’s assertion that Russia has lost more than 10,000 troops. Kuleba also said in a video message released by the Ukrainian government that the Russians had lost dozens of aircraft and hundreds of armored vehicles. The claim could not be independently verified. The Russian military doesn’t offer regular updates on their casualties. On Wednesday, military officials revealed a death toll of 498. “Russians keep bearing devastating losses on the ground, and I cannot understand how mothers, wives and daughters of these Russian soldiers bear this pain, seeing how President Putin sends more and more of their beloved ones to Ukraine,” Kuleba said. Kuleba added, “Ukraine is bleeding but Ukraine has not fallen and stands (with) both feet on the ground.” ___ NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the United Nations is committed to scaling up its humanitarian operations to help both those who have stayed in Ukraine and the more than 1 million who have fled. Guterres relayed the promise to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in a phone call on Saturday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Dujarric said the two also discussed the conditions for safely evacuating civilians, including foreigners, from combat zones. Ten days into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 1.45 million people have fled the battered country, according to the UN-affiliated Organization for Migration in Geneva. The UN has predicted that the total number of refugees could swell to 4 million, to become the biggest such crisis this century. The UN Security Council will hold a meeting Monday afternoon on the escalating humanitarian needs that have arisen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. ___ NEW YORK: Hundreds of people rallied in New York City’s Times Square on Saturday to show solidarity with Ukraine. Many attendees were waving Ukrainian flags or draped the flag around their shoulders at the afternoon demonstration. Others brought signs decrying Russian President Vladimir Putin or calling for a no-fly zone to be imposed over Ukraine. About 140,000 people of Ukrainian descent live in New York, making it the largest Ukrainian population in the US, according to population data from the federal government. ____ PHOENIX, Arizona, US: An Arizona-based ammunition company is offering to donate 1 million bullets to Ukraine’s military amid Russia’s invasion of its European neighbor. CEO Fred Wagenhals of AMMO Inc. on Friday said it was his response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s appeal for international assistance. There was no immediate indication whether the US government will approve the proposed export of the ammunition, which has a retail of about $700,000, Phoenix television station KSAZ-TV reported. The company is based in Scottsdale, a Phoenix suburb. ___ MARIUPOL, Ukraine: Doctors relied on light filtering in through windows and emitted from cellphones to tend to wounded Ukrainian soldiers Saturday at a hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol, where a promised cease-fire collapsed. Dr. Evgeniy said the hospital had no power or heat. Patients were lined up in beds along the corridors, and some people were curled up on the floor to protect themselves. “We have some issues with supplies, not enough analgesics,” Dubrov said. “We’ve worked more than a week without a break.” A soldier, Svyatoslav Borodin, said a blast blurred his vision, and he thought he might have lost his legs. Another soldier applied a tourniquet. “Scary,” he said. “Very scary.” In the city of Irpin, near Kyiv, a sea of people on foot and in wheelbarrows trudged over the remains of a destroyed bridge to cross a river and evacuate. Assisted by Ukrainian soldiers, they lugged pets, infants, purses and flimsy bags stuffed with minimal possessions. Some of the weak and elderly were carried along the path in blankets and carts. ___ SIRET, Romania: Romanian President Klaus Iohannis visited a refugee camp in Siret on Saturday and declared that no Ukrainian would be denied entry to his country. He pledged food, clothing, transportation and help with personal documents. “It is a situation that no Ukrainian and no Romanian wanted, but we are very determined to deal with it here in Romania, as it should be,” Iohannis said. ___ KYIV: The next round of talks between Ukraine and Russia will be held on Monday, Ukrainian official Davyd Arakhamia said Saturday. Arakhamia is head of the parliamentary faction of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party and a member of Ukraine’s delegation at the talks. Monday’s will be the third round of talks as the two sides try to negotiate a cease-fire and safe passage corridors for civilians. ___ LVIV, Ukraine: Russian forces have now seized two Ukrainian nuclear power plants and are advancing toward a third, Ukraine’s president said during a call with US senators Saturday. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the third plant currently under threat is the Yuzhnoukrainsk nuclear power plant, located 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Mykolaiv, one of several cities the Russians were trying to keep encircled Saturday. One of the plants under the Russians’ control is the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in the southeastern city of Enerhodar, the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe. The other is Chernobyl, which is not active but is still staffed and maintained. Previous Russian shelling sparked a fire at the Zaporizhzhia plant that was extinguished without a release of radiation. Technical safety systems are intact and radiation levels are still normal at the Zaporizhzhia plant, according to the country’s nuclear regulator, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Saturday. Ukraine has four nuclear plants with a total of 15 reactors. ___ WASHINGTON: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged US lawmakers to sanction Russia’s oil and gas sector and suspend credit card access, and backed an idea to ban Russian oil imports to the US that’s been gaining support in Congress. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said Zelenskyy emphasized during a private call Saturday with the US lawmakers that the energy sector needs to be sanctioned. “Anything that could hurt the Russian economy will help the Ukrainian people and may make this war more difficult” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Graham said in a video. During the call, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia asked Zelenskyy about the idea of banning Russian oil to the US, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss the private call. Zelenskyy indicated he was 100 percent on board with banning Russian oil to the US and told the senators it would be very helpful, the people said. Zelensky also asked them to suspend access to Visa and Mastercard credit cards in Russia, according to another person granted anonymity to discuss the call. ___ JERUSALEM: Israel’s prime minister met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for several hours in Moscow on Saturday. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office confirmed the meeting at the Kremlin, which came just days after Bennett spoke over the phone with both Russian and Ukrainian leaders. Bennett’s office said he departed early Saturday morning for Moscow, accompanied by Russian-speaking Cabinet minister Zeev Elkin, who was born in Ukraine. Both men are observant Jews and wouldn’t normally travel on the Sabbath. Israel is one of the few countries that has good working relations with both sides. The country has delivered humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but also maintains ties with Moscow to make sure that Israeli and Russian warplanes do not come into conflict in neighboring Syria. The meeting ended after about three hours, according to an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said the meeting was coordinated with the US, Germany and France and that Bennett “is in ongoing dialogue with Ukraine.” ___ CAIRO: Egypt says it has transferred to Europe about 4,000 Ukrainian tourists who were stranded in the Middle Eastern nation after Russia invaded their country. The tourists were brought to countries neighboring Ukraine on free flights operated by state-run airliners, and more flights are scheduled in the coming days, government spokesman Nader Saad said Saturday. He did not elaborate. Following Russia’s invasion and the closure of Ukrainian airspace, the Egyptian government has allowed Ukrainian tourists to extend their stay for free in hotels and resorts, Saad said. Ukraine’s embassy in Cairo has said there were about 20,000 Ukrainian tourists in Egypt, a touristic hub for tourists from eastern Europe and Russia. ___ WASHINGTON: A Russian airliner has received an exception to the US airspace ban in order to return Russian diplomats expelled from the USto Russia. The Ilyushin Il-62 is flying from St. Petersburg to Washington Dulles International Airport outside the US Capitol. A US government official confirmed it had been granted a waiver from the airspace restriction put in place in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in order to retrieve the Russian diplomats. The US expelled 12 Russians at its mission to the United Nations accusing them of being intelligence operatives. ___ LONDON: Ukraine’s foreign minister on Saturday criticized Shell for continuing to buy Russian oil, lashing out at the energy giant for continuing to do business with Vladimir Putin’s regime after the company announced it was exiting investments in Russia. Dmytro Kuleba said he had been told Shell “discreetly” bought the oil on Friday. He appealed to the public to pressure the company and other international firms to halt such purchases in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Earlier this week, Shell said it was “shocked by the loss of life in Ukraine” and would end its joint ventures with Gazprom, the massive oil and gas company that is controlled by the Russian government. Shell on Saturday said it has already stopped “most activities involving Russian oil,” although it continues to buy some products from Russia to supply the needs of its refineries and chemical plants. These purchases are necessary to ensure fuel supplies for customers, Shell said. ___ WASHINGTON: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a “desperate plea” to US senators on Saturday to send more planes to help the country fight the Russian invasion. Zelenskyy made the request on a call joined by more than 300 people, including senators, some House lawmakers and aides. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said in a statement that Zelenskyy made a “desperate plea for Eastern European countries to provide Russian-made planes to Ukraine.” “I will do all I can to help the administration to facilitate their transfer,” Schumer said. Schumer told Zelenskyy the US lawmakers are inspired by him and by the strength and courage of the Ukrainian people, according to another person on the call who was granted anonymity to discuss it. The US Congress also is working on a $10 billion package of military and humanitarian aide, and Schumer told Zelenskyy that lawmakers hope to send it quickly to Ukraine, the person said. Zelenskyy told senators he needs planes and drones more than other security tools, according to a senior Senate aide granted anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

___ WASHINGTON: The US State Department has updated an earlier travel advisory and is now recommending that US citizens leave Russia immediately. The notice offers this guidance: “If you wish to depart Russia, you should make arrangements on your own as soon as possible. If you plan to stay in Russia, understand the US Embassy has severe limitations on its ability to assist US citizens, and conditions, including transportation options, may change suddenly.” The department already has advised Americans not to travel to Russia. That warning cites “the unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces in Ukraine” and “the potential for harassment against US citizens by Russian government security officials,” among other things. ___ TIRANA, Albania: Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said he spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday to express his country’s support. Albania has joined the European Union in imposing hard-hitting sanctions against Russia’s top officials and institutions. The country is also collecting and sending assistance to the Ukrainian refugees. Albanian Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka, meanwhile, vehemently shot down Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assertsions that Albanian mercenaries are operating in Ukraine, calling it “a lie that Moscow keeps repeating shamelessly!” ___ KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces were holding key cities in the central and southeastern part of the country Saturday, while the Russians were trying to block and keep encircled Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv and Sumy. “We’re inflicting losses on the occupants they could not see in their worst nightmare,” Zelenskyy said. He alleged that 10,000 Russian troops were killed in the 10 days of the war, a claim that could not be independently verified. The Russian military doesn’t offer regular updates on their casualties. Only once, on Wednesday, they revealed a death toll of nearly 500. “This is horrible,” Zelenskyy said. “Guys 18, 20 years old ... soldiers who weren’t even explained what they were going to fight for.” ___ WARSAW: The head of Ukraine’s Supreme Court has appealed for Russia’s top court to be excluded from a body of Central and Eastern Europe’s chief justices because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine’s top court president, Vsevolod Kniaziev, said the Supreme Court of Russia should be excluded from the Conference of Chief Justices of Central & Eastern Europe “as it represents a country that brought terror, death and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.” Kniaziev’s letter of appeal was received Saturday by Malgorzata Manowska, the president of the Supreme Court in Poland, which borders Ukraine. ___ NEW YORK: Russian President Vladimir Putin says there is nothing that warrants imposing martial law in Russia at this point. Putin’s comment on Saturday followed days of speculation that the introduction of martial law could be imminent. Putin said that “martial law is imposed in a country ... in the event of external aggression, including in specific areas of hostilities. But we don’t have such a situation, and I hope we won’t.” ___ ROME: Italian state broadcaster Rai is suspending reporting by its correspondents in Russia. Rai’s measure, effective Saturday, follows similar moves by some other foreign media. Rai said the measure is necessary to “safeguard the safety of its journalists in the place as well as the maximum freedom of information about the country.” Russia on Friday passed a law foreseeing prison sentences of up to 15 years for spreading what is deemed to be fake information about its armed forces. ___ NEW YORK: Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow would consider any third-party declaration of a no-fly zone over Ukraine as “participation in the armed conflict.” Speaking at a meeting with female pilots on Saturday, Putin said Russia would view “any move in this direction” as an intervention that “will pose a threat to our service members.” “That very second, we will view them as participants of the military conflict, and it would not matter what members they are,” the Russian president said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pushed NATO to impose a no-fly zone over his country, warning that “all the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you.” NATO has said a no-fly zone, which would bar all unauthorized aircraft from flying over Ukraine, could provoke widespread war in Europe with nuclear-armed Russia. ___ BERLIN: The UN human rights office says it has confirmed the deaths of 351 civilians in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began. The Geneva-based office said that another 707 civilians were injured between Feb. 24 and midnight Friday. The rights office uses strict methodology and only reports casualties it has confirmed. It said Saturday it believes the real figures are considerably higher, “especially in government-controlled territory and especially in recent days,” as the receipt of information from some places where there was intense fighting was delayed and many reports were still undergoing corroboration. Ukrainian officials have presented far higher numbers. ___ NEW YORK: Aeroflot, Russia’s flagship carrier, has announced that it will halt all international flights except to Belarus starting March 8. The move by Russia’s biggest state-owned airline comes after the country’s aviation agency, Rosaviatsiya, recommended that all Russian airlines with foreign-leased planes halt both passenger and cargo flights abroad. It cited a high risk of foreign-leased planes being impounded as part of Western sanctions that ban leasing of planes to Russia. Rosaviatsiya’s recommendation doesn’t apply to Russian airlines that use Russian planes or foreign planes that aren’t at risk of being impounded. Aeroflot’s statement Saturday cited “circumstances that hinder operating flights” as a reason for its move. Another Russian airline, low-cost carrier Pobeda, said Saturday that also would halt all international flights starting March 8. ___ BERLIN: German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF say they are suspending reporting from their Moscow studios after Russia passed a law foreseeing prison sentences of up to 15 years for spreading what is deemed to be fake information about its armed forces. The measure was signed into law by President Vladimir Putin on Friday and already prompted some foreign media including the BBC and Bloomberg to say they were suspending operations within Russia. ARD and ZDF said in a statement that they are examining the consequences of the new legislation and suspending reporting from the Moscow studios for now. The passing of the law comes amid a broader crackdown on media outlets and social media in Russia.

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council scheduled a meeting Friday at Russia’s request to discuss what Moscow claims are “the military biological activities of the US on the territory of Ukraine,” allegations vehemently denied by the Biden administration. “This is exactly the kind of false flag effort we have warned Russia might initiate to justify a biological or chemical weapons attack,” Olivia Dalton, spokesperson for the US Mission to the United Nations said late Thursday. “We’re not going to let Russia gaslight the world or use the UN Security Council as a venue for promoting their disinformation.” The Russian request, announced in a tweet Thursday afternoon from its first deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, follows the US rejection of Russian accusations that Ukraine is running chemical and biological labs with US support. In response to this week’s accusations by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova — without evidence — White House press secretary Jen Psaki issued a public warning Wednesday that Russia might use chemical or biological weapons against Ukraine, the neighbor it has invaded. Psaki called Russia’s claim “preposterous” and tweeted: “This is all an obvious ploy by Russia to try to justify its further premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine.” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby on Wednesday called the Russian claim “a bunch of malarkey.” Dalton said “Russia has a well-documented history of using chemical weapons and has long maintained a biological weapons program in violation of international law” as well as “a track record of falsely accusing the West of the very violations that Russia itself is perpetrating.” Dmitry Chumakov, another Russian deputy UN ambassador, repeated the accusation Wednesday, urging Western media to cover “the news about secret biological laboratories in Ukraine.” A tweet from Russia’s Ministry of Defense, after Polyansky’s tweet calling for a council meeting, referred to a “briefing on the results of the analysis of documents related to the military biological activities of the United States on the territory of Ukraine.” The UN announced Thursday evening that the meeting will take place at 10am EST but then pushed it back to 11am EST. UN disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu and UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo are scheduled to brief the council. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric reiterated Thursday what he said Wednesday — that the World Health Organization, which has been working with the Ukrainian government, “said they are unaware of any activity on the part of the Ukrainian government which is inconsistent with its international treaty obligations, including on chemical weapons or biological weapons.” The United States for months has warned about Russian “false flag” operations to create a pretext for the invasion. The White House warning, and Dalton’s statement Thursday, suggested Russia might seek to create a pretense for further escalating the two-week-old conflict that has seen the Russian offensive slowed by stronger than expected Ukrainian defenders, but not stopped. The international community for years has assessed that Russia used chemical weapons in carrying out assassination attempts against Putin enemies like Alexey Navalny, now in a Russian prison, and former spy Sergei Skripal, who lives in the United Kingdom. Russia also supports the Assad government in Syria, which has used chemical weapons against its people in an 11-year-long civil war. The Security Council held its monthly meeting Thursday on Syria’s chemical weapons with disarmament chief Nakamitsu criticizing the Syrian government for repeatedly refusing to answer questions about its chemical weapons program and urging the Assad government to do so.

Last June, the head of the international chemical weapons watchdog, Fernando Arias, said its experts investigated 77 allegations against Syria and concluded that in 17 cases chemical weapons were likely or definitely used. Nakamitsu ended her statement on Thursday by saying: “The use of chemical weapons is a grave violation of international law and an affront to our shared humanity.” “We need to remain vigilant to ensure that those awful weapons are never used again, and are eliminated, not only in Syria, but everywhere,” she said. US deputy ambassador Richard Mills said that unfortunately Syria has help on the council from its ally Russia, which he said “has repeatedly spread disinformation regarding Syria’s repeated use of chemical weapons.” “The recent web of lies that Russia has cast in an attempt to justify the premeditated and unjustified war it has undertaken against Ukraine, should make clear, once and for all, that Russia also cannot be trusted when it talks about chemical weapon use in Syria,” Mills said. Britain’s deputy ambassador, James Kariuki, told the council that “the parallels” between Russia’s action in Ukraine — “besieging cities, killing civilians indiscriminately, forcing millions to flee in search of safety” — and its actions in Syria “are clear.” “Regrettably, the comparison also extends to chemical weapons, as we see the familiar specter of Russian chemical weapons disinformation raising its head in Ukraine,” he said.

TIJUANA, Mexico: US authorities allowed a Ukrainian woman and her three children to seek asylum Thursday, a reversal from a day earlier when she was denied entry under the Biden administration’s sweeping restrictions for seeking humanitarian protection. The 34-year-old woman and her children — ages 14, 12 and 6 — entered San Diego for processing after authorities blocked her path hours earlier, triggering sharp criticism from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats. Blaine Bookey, legal director of the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, was returning to San Diego Wednesday from Tijuana, where she was helping Haitian migrants. She saw the Ukrainian woman crying with her children, looking “very uncomfortable” with a reporter “in her face.” Bookey’s tweets and media coverage sparked renewed criticism of a Trump-era order to deny people a chance to seek asylum under an order to prevent spread of COVID-19 known as Title 42 authority. Schumer raised the Ukrainian woman’s case as he called for an end to use of Title 42, which the Biden administration has defended as health risks from COVID-19 have subsided. “They requested refuge in one of the ports of entry on our southern border, but were turned away because of Title 42,” Schumer said on a conference call with reporters. “This is not who we are as a country. Continuing this Trump-era policy has defied common sense and common decency.” US Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. Migrants have been expelled more than 1.6 million times since Title 42 was introduced in March 2020. The Ukrainian woman, who identified herself to reporters only as Sofiia, tried entering the US in a car with a relative this week but was blocked, Bookey said. Another attempt on foot Wednesday was also stopped but Bookey found her before she returned to her Tijuana hotel to wait for news. Erika Pinheiro, litigation and policy director for Al Otro Lado advocacy group, said she got a call from CBP early Thursday, telling the woman to pack her bags and be ready on short notice. She was told to come hours later. “She’s just been very stoic for her kids and I think she let herself get emotional,” Bookey said. The woman left Ukraine with her children Feb. 27 as friends warned her that Russia might invade. She went to Moldova, Romania and Mexico, arriving in Tijuana on Monday. She plans to settle with family in the San Francisco area and seek asylum. The woman pulled a small red suitcase and carried a pink backpack patterned with tiny dogs as she walked into the US with her 6-year-old daughter beside her and her older children behind. Mexico accepts citizens from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador who are expelled under Title 42 authority. People of other nationalities are subject to expulsion but many are released in the United States to seek asylum due to difficulties flying them home. They must be on US soil to claim protection, though, and authorities often block their path. Thousands of Russians have sought asylum at San Diego border crossings in recent months after flying to Mexico. People from Ukraine and other former Soviet republics use the same route but in much lower numbers. In January, 248 Ukrainians crossed the US-Mexico border, with three out of four in San Diego. A 27-year-old Ukrainian who asked to be identified only as Kristina was left behind on the Mexican side of the border Thursday with her fiancé, a US citizen. She said she had been living in Kyiv when the fighting started. “It was so scary,” Kristina said. “We just woke up and there was bombing. We never expected this.” Kristina fled to Poland but hotels and apartments were full. She flew to Mexico where her fiancé was trying to help her get into the US They spent hours waiting at the border. “They don’t listen to us,” she said. ___ Associated Press writers Ben Fox in Washington and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed.

WASHINGTON/BOGOTA: President Joe Biden told Colombian President Ivan Duque on Thursday he plans to designate Colombia as a major non-NATO ally, granting the strategic status to a key country in a turbulent region as the United States seeks to isolate Russia. In White House talks, Biden and Duque said they would work toward signing a regional migration agreement at the Summit of the Americas in June in Los Angeles. Colombia is currently home to 1.9 million migrants from neighboring Venezuela. Major non-NATO ally status is a designation bestowed by the US to close allies that have strategic working relationships with Washington but are not members of NATO. Argentina gained this status in 1998 and Brazil in 2019. “Colombia is the linchpin” in the Southern Hemisphere, Biden told Duque. The two countries have had diplomatic ties for 200 years. The two leaders gave no details on the shape of the expected framework on migration. The United States has struggled to contend with thousands of migrants seeking asylum on its southern border with Mexico. Their meeting took place days after secret negotiations between senior US officials and representatives of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arranged the release of two American detainees. The move had raised eyebrows in Colombia, which has tense relations with Venezuela. There was no sign of tension in their public remarks. Both presidents condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Duque said Colombia was offering assistance to countries in that region on handling the mass of people evacuating “the bloodbath” in Ukraine. Asked about the contacts between the United States and Maduro representatives after the meeting, Duque told reporters, “I’m not going to start questioning” US policy. “We will maintain our same foreign policy, condemning the dictatorship, calling Nicolas Maduro what he is, a criminal who has committed crimes against humanity, and we will continue to support our Venezuelan brothers in Colombia with fraternity,” Duque said. In a joint statement following the meeting, the two leaders underscored their mutual commitment to “support the restoration of democracy” in Venezuela. The US delegation’s weekend visit to Venezuela and talks with Maduro focused on the fate of the detained Americans and the possibility of easing US oil sanctions on OPEC member Venezuela to fill a supply gap if Biden banned Russian oil imports — something he did on Tuesday. Venezuela is Russia’s closest ally in South America, and the United States is gauging whether the country would distance itself from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Maduro’s management of Venezuela has caused a humanitarian crisis that has affected Colombia. Duque’s visit came ahead of legislative elections and presidential primaries in Colombia on Sunday, where several left-leaning candidates have floated changes to the cornerstone of the US-Colombia relationship — the fight against drug trafficking. Duque, who will leave office in August, came under sustained pressure from the Trump administration to decrease cultivation of coca, the base ingredient in cocaine. Colombia has long been a top producer of the drug, despite billions in US funds meant to combat it. In their joint statement, Biden and Duque agreed to work on a more holistic approach to counternarcotics that includes better access to prevent, treatment and recovery services, and renewed efforts to block money-laundering and beef up interdiction. During the meeting, Biden also pledged to donate an additional two million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Colombia.

JAIPUR: The Jaipur Literature Festival, known as the “greatest literary show on Earth,” returned to the Rajasthan capital on Thursday for its 15th edition.

The festival, which has put the northern Indian city of Jaipur on the world map of literature events, was held virtually last year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

This year, it began online on March 5 with “A Life in Stories,” a session in which Abdulrazak Gurnah, Tanzanian-born laureate of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, took attendees on a chronological tour of his life.

On Thursday, the festival moved to its on-ground venue at Hotel Clarks Amer in Jaipur, where it will run through March 14.

“It’s a pleasure to be back in the physical form and hosting the festival in the presence of the people,” Sanjoy K. Roy, the festival’s managing director, told Arab News. “We thought we would have to host the festival online again, but we are happy that we managed to find a conducive atmosphere to host the festival in the physical format, too. The festival this year is happening in the hybrid mode and people have the option to watch the sessions both online and offline.”

Addressing the audience during the inaugural session, festival co-director Namita Gokhale said: “Coming back again to the festival makes me emotional as I remember previous editions of the literary extravaganza featuring various writers and their stories.”

Author and historian William Dalrymple, who also serves as the festival’s co-director, said the pandemic had been an “existential threat” to artists, whose livelihoods were upended by lockdowns.

“But now we are back,” he said, “with four Nobel Prize winners!”

Besides Gurnah, the festival features Abhijit Banerjee, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2019; Daniel Kahneman, who won the same prize in 2002; and Giorgio Parisi, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2021.

Visitors were welcomed in the morning with a performance of “Raag Miya Ki Todi” by Ujwal Nagar, a maestro of Hindustani classical music.

Thursday’s sessions covered the issues of climate change and geopolitics.

German Ambassador to India Walter J. Lindner, who took part in a discussion on the importance of world peace, told Arab News that he visited the event because of the panel.

“This is my first time at this literature festival and I was thinking whether I should come because of the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine,” he said. “I thought I should come because there was a panel on war and peace.”

WASHINGTON: The White House said on Thursday the United States would continue to have diplomatic talks with Iran about a nuclear deal. “Our view is that we are close. We have been close for some time now,” White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said. “The end of negotiations is always when the difficult and challenging parts of the conversation typically take place.”