Biden announces ban on US imports of Russian oil, gas: LIVE UPDATES
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the decision for the U.S. to ban Russian gas and oil imports is going to cause soaring domestic gas prices to rise even further, but added that he is "going to do everything I can to minimize Putin’s price hike here at home."
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The U.S. is sending two Patriot Batteries to Poland at the request of the Polish government in a move designed to bolster the country's defense amid ongoing tensions with Russia.
"At the direction of the Secretary of Defense and at the invitation of our Polish allies, General Wolters, Commander, of U.S. European Command has directed U.S. Army Europe and Africa to reposition two Patriot Batteries to Poland," European Command Spokesperson Scott Ghiringhelli said Tuesday.
"This defensive deployment is being conducted proactively to counter any potential threat to U.S. and Allied forces and NATO territory."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy he was thankful Tuesday after President Biden announced a U.S. ban on Russian oil, natural gas and coal.
Zelenskyy said the ban was "striking in the heart of Putin’s war machine ... Encourage other countries and leaders to follow."
The corporate exodus from Russia continued Tuesday as McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and Pepsi announced that they are temporarily suspending business in Russia over Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Hundreds of well-known companies, from Apple to Levi's, announced in the early days of the war they would stop doing business with Russia.
Consumers started applying pressure to big brands who were holding out as hashtags like #BoycottMcDonalds and #BoycottCocaCola trended on Twitter in recent days.
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Sen. Graham discusses Putin’s ambitions in Ukraine and the U.S. foreign policy leading up to Russia's invasion on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime.’
Russia’s central bank, faced with unprecedented sanctions and a plummeting ruble, said Wednesday it was suspending the sale of foreign currencies through September.
Between March 9 and September 9, Russian banks "will not be able to sell foreign currencies to citizens," the central bank said in a statement, adding that it will be possible to exchange cash currency for rubles at any time and any amount.
During that window, cash withdrawals from foreign currency accounts at Russian banks will be limited to $10,000. Any withdrawals above that amount would be converted to rubles at the current exchange rates.
She was born in the Soviet Union and emigrated to the U.S. at 30. Nine years later, in 1999, she became an American citizen.
Then more than a decade later, the Department of Justice alleges, she became a spy on behalf of Vladimir Putin and Russia.
Elena Branson, 61, is accused of flouting the Foreign Agent Registration Act, or FARA, and failing to properly inform the U.S. government she was working on behalf of the Kremlin.
The New York Times announced on Tuesday that it will temporarily pull its reporters out of Russia after President Vladimir Putin effectively banned dissenting information about his invasion of Ukraine.
Putin signed a new bill on Friday imposing prison sentences of up to 15 years for those spreading information that goes against the Russian government’s narrative on the war. Under the new legislation, the Times writes, journalists who use the term "war" to describe could be sentenced to prison.
"Russia’s new legislation seeks to criminalize independent, accurate news reporting about the war against Ukraine. For the safety and security of our editorial staff working in the region, we are moving them out of the country for now," a spokeswoman for The Times, Danielle Rhoades Ha, announced.
Poland offered to give its entire fleet of MiG-29 fighter jets to the U.S. in exchange for a chance to buy American F-16s as part of a deal to bolster the Ukrainian air force while upgrading the Poles’ with NATO aircraft.
"The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the Government, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MIG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America," the Polish Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday. "At the same time, Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions of purchase of the planes."
The leaders of both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates declined overtures from the White House to set up a call with President Biden, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the U.A.E.’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan have declined to speak with Biden in recent weeks, a U.S. official told WSJ, but both leaders did field calls from Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.
“There was some expectation of a phone call, but it didn’t happen,“ said a U.S. official of the planned discussion between the Saudi Prince Mohammed and Mr. Biden. ”It was part of turning on the spigot [of Saudi oil].”
US intelligence officials in January assessed that Russia did "not want a direct conflict with U.S. forces," but instead, sought "U.S. recognition" of its "claimed sphere of influence" over much of the former Soviet Union.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Tuesday released its 2022 annual threat assessment, which was submitted in early February. The assessment only includes intelligence through the end of January—weeks before Russia launched its multi-front war against Ukraine.
The intelligence community's assessment states that Russia "will remain an influential power and a formidable challenge to the United States amidst the changing geopolitical landscape during the next decade."
Starbucks, Coca-Cola and Amazon have joined the growing list of companies imposing their own punishments on Russia over Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine.
In a statement on its website on Monday, Coca-Cola announced it was suspending its business in Russia saying, "Our hearts are with the people who are enduring unconscionable effects from these tragic events in Ukraine" and the beverage giant "We will continue to monitor and assess the situation as circumstances evolve."
Olga Smirnova, a prima ballerina from Russia, is speaking out against the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
A lead dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet, Smirnova said she is "ashamed of Russia" and publicly denounced its president, Vladimir Putin, for giving the order to invade the neighboring country.
"I cannot but say that with all the fibers of my soul I am against the war," Smirnova wrote on a newly-created Telegram account, according to the New York Post.
Model Veronika Didusenko traveled through war-torn Ukraine and four countries before arriving in Los Angeles, where she appeared at a press conference Tuesday alongside attorney Gloria Allred to speak about actions needed to help her homeland.
Allred and Didusenko highlighted the dangers Ukrainian women and children are facing as they flee Russia's brutal attacks.
Allred urged President Joe Biden to implement Humanitarian Parole for Ukrainian refugees as soon as possible. Humanitarian Parole would allow refugees into the U.S. without a visa.
"This approach is necessary and urgent because the visa process could take many months," Allred said on Tuesday.
The United Nations on Tuesday moved to squash reporting that it had directed all staff to avoid using terms like "war" and "invasion" when referring to the fighting in Ukraine.
"It is simply not the case that staff have been instructed not to use words like ‘war’ and ‘invasion’ to describe the situation," Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for the secretary-general, told Fox News.
Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska called on NATO to enforce a no fly-zone over the skies of Ukraine, a move the alliance has resisted over fears it could escalate the conflict with Russia and draw NATO into the war.
“And what we need - close the sky!" she said in an "open letter" posted to social media Tuesday. "Finally take off the white gloves, you still can't keep neutrality. Because Putin may come to you next. Close the sky, and on earth we will handle it ourselves.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained roughly 95% of his combat force in Ukraine as fighting continues, a senior defense official confirmed Tuesday.
U.S. defense officials believe that Putin has pushed roughly all the 150,000-strong combat force he amassed along Ukraine’s border into the former Soviet nation.
One of the Russian navy warships that attacked Ukraine’s Snake Island last month sank after a Ukrainian counterattack Monday night, military sources in Kyiv tell Fox News Digital.
The Ukrainian defense forces manning the island earned international praise on Feb. 24 when they responded to a naval vessel demanding their surrender with defiance.
"Russian ship, go f--- yourself!" one of them said over a loudspeaker.
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says it's concerned about the well-being of an estimated 100,000 children currently in Ukraine.
The U.N. organization noted that about half of the roughly 2 million people who have fled Ukraine so far are children.
"Inside Ukraine, UNICEF is … deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of the nearly 100,000 children, half of them with disabilities, who live in institutions and boarding schools," UNICEF's executive director Catherine Russell said Monday to the U.N. Security Council.
The Polish government said it is ready to transfer all of their MIG-29 fighter jets to a U.S. military installation in Germany, according to the Associated Press.
The move comes as speculation has grown in recent days that Poland may move to donate the jets to Ukraine at the request of the Ukrainian government after a NATO no-fly zone over the country was ruled out.
The U.S. will reportedly backfill the Polish military with new American-made F-16 fighter jets.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks to Fox News on Tuesday following President Biden's decision to ban oil and gas imports from Russia. (Fox News)
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, when asked by Fox News' Hillary Vaughn Tuesday for her thoughts on the U.S. banning Russian oil imports and whether the Biden Administration should turn to Iran or Venezuela instead, said "none of these options are good ones because of our dependency on oil."
"I think this is the deal with fossil fuels in general is that it's not an accident that oil rich states tend to be petro-authoritarian states," she said.
"And so none of these options are good ones because of our dependency on oil, and so while I understand there are short term, you know, supply issues that need to be addressed," she continued, "it's very alarming that many of the people pushing to increase and skyrocket either imports or production, domestic production in the short term are not talking about what we really need to be doing in terms of rapid investments in solar and wind."
Ukrainians cross an improvised path under a destroyed bridge while fleeing Irpin, in the outskirts of Kyiv, on Tuesday. (AP/Felipe Dana)
Photos from the ground in Ukraine and other European nations show Ukrainians’ continued struggles to escape to safety, while those who have chosen to stay bury loved ones who have died while fighting Russia’s ongoing invasion.
The U.N. human rights office says it has confirmed 474 civilian deaths in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24. The office said Tuesday that the number of confirmed civilian injuries now stands at 861.
The U.N. office uses strict methodology and only reports casualties it has been able to verify. It acknowledges that the real figures are much higher, in part because intense fighting has delayed its receipt of information and many reports still have to be corroborated.
An estimated 2,011,312 people have fled Ukraine since Feb. 24. And U.S. officials have estimated that more than 3,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine so far.
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People wait outside of an McDonald's in Moscow, Russia in October 2021. (Pelagiya Tihonova/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Fast food giant McDonald's announced Tuesday that it is temporarily halting its operations in Russia.
"In Russia, we employ 62,000 people who have poured their heart and soul into our McDonald’s brand to serve their communities. We work with hundreds of local, Russian suppliers and partners who produce the food for our menu and support our brand. And we serve millions of Russian customers each day who count on McDonald’s," the company said. "In the thirty-plus years that McDonald’s has operated in Russia, we’ve become an essential part of the 850 communities in which we operate."
"At the same time, our values mean we cannot ignore the needless human suffering unfolding in Ukraine," it continued, declaring that "McDonald’s has decided to temporarily close all our restaurants in Russia and pause all operations in the market."
McDonald's also said it will continue to pay its Russian staff.
"At this juncture, it’s impossible to predict when we might be able to reopen our restaurants in Russia," it added.
(Fox News)
A senior defense official tells the Defense One news outlet that about 5% of the invading vehicles and weaponry in Ukraine has now either been destroyed or rendered inoperable.
After the Russian Armed Forces on Monday announced a cease-fire in several Ukrainian cities, civilians in Sumy were able to successfully evacuate through a Russian corridor.
Corridors set up to help evacuate Ukrainians in other cities like Mariupol and Irpin were less successful.
Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces of violating a cease-fire agreement and continuing to shell Mariupol, a port city, as it evacuates civilians.
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Top U.S. intelligence officials warned Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is frustrated that his invasion of Ukraine is not going as planned, and that the coming weeks will get "ugly" as he takes an even more aggressive approach to try and take over the country.
During a House Intelligence Committee hearing, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said that Putin did not expect the U.S. and European allies to respond the way they have with sanctions, and did not anticipate private companies ceasing to do business with Russia.
"Nevertheless," Haines said, "our analysts assessed that Putin is unlikely to be deterred by such setbacks and instead may escalate, essentially doubling down to achieve Ukrainian disarmament neutrality to prevent it from further integrating with the U.S. and NATO if it doesn't reach some diplomatic negotiation."
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a speech to the United Kingdom Parliament Tuesday, said "we will not give up and we will not lose.
"We will fight till the end, at sea, in the air. We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost," he continued. "We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets."
“I would like to add that we will fight on the banks of different rivers... we are looking for your help, for the help of the civilized countries," Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy also called on the U.K. to recognize Russia as a “terrorist state” and to ramp up sanctions on Moscow.
The speech was met with a standing ovation from U.K. lawmakers.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the decision for the U.S. to ban Russian gas and oil imports is going to cause soaring domestic gas prices to rise even further – but warned fuel companies that it is “no time for profiteering or price gouging.”
“The decision today is not without cost here at home,” he told reporters. “Putin’s war is already hurting American families at the gas pump. Since Putin began his military buildup on Ukrainian borders – just since then – the price of gas at pumps in America went up 75 cents. And with this action it’s going to go up further.
"I’m going to do everything I can to minimize Putin’s price hike here at home,” Biden continued. “In coordination with our partners we already announced that we are releasing 60 million barrels of oil from our joint oil reserves.”
“To the oil and gas companies and to the finance firms that back them – we understand Putin’s war against the people of Ukraine is causing prices to rise. We get that. That’s self-evident,” Biden also said. “But it’s no excuse to exercise excessive price increases or padding profits or any kind of effort to exploit this situation or American consumers.”
Russian imports to the European Union. (Fox News)
United Kingdom Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng announced Tuesday that the U.K. will "phase out the import of Russian oil and oil products by the end of 2022."
"This transition will give the market, businesses and supply chains more than enough time to replace Russian imports – which make up 8% of UK demand," he wrote in a series of tweets.
"The government will also work with companies through a new Taskforce on Oil to support them to make use of this period in finding alternative supplies," Kwarteng added.
President Joe Biden announced Tuesday a ban on Russian oil and gas imports heading into the U.S. in an action he says targets the “main artery of Russia’s economy.”
“That mean’s Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at U.S. ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine,” Biden said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency tells Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson on Tuesday that more than 200 people working at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine have not been able to go home since Russian forces took over the site on Feb. 24.
The same staff are said to have been on duty for 12 days.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that Russia’s armed forces may be deliberately targeting civilians as they try to flee Ukraine.
Stoltenberg says “there are very credible reports of civilians coming under fire as they try to evacuate. Targeting civilians is a war crime, and it’s totally unacceptable.”
“We need real humanitarian corridors that are fully respected,” he added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Russia threatened to close its main gas line to Germany, late Monday, if Western nations ban Russian oil imports.
In an address on Russian state television, Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, warned that the "rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market," suggesting the price per barrel could double to $300, BBC reported.
Given the European Union gets 40% of its gas and 30% of its oil from Russia, Novak asserted it would be "impossible to quickly find a replacement for Russian oil on the European market."
"It will take years, and it will still be much more expensive for European consumers," he warned, according to the BBC. "Ultimately, they will be hurt the worst by this outcome."
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Russia's war on Ukraine has sparked the biggest European mass migration since World War II. (Fox News/Bryan Allman)
LVIV, Ukraine – I saw a sign outside a small travel agency in Lviv on Tuesday that read, "Enjoy the World."
For many here in Ukraine, the world they once knew is gone.
Millions have been forced from their homes, fleeing relentless Russian artillery that has left cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol in flames, apartment buildings destroyed.
At the train station in Lviv, families huddle outside against the cold, hoping to find a way to safety. Inside, the corridor to the platform is shoulder to shoulder as people inch forward. There are simply not enough trains and not enough seats to accommodate all the passengers.
Lviv is a city the size of Boston, its cobblestone streets lined with stately buildings evoking Paris or Rome. Usually bustling with tourists, it’s since become very quiet. Most of the stores are closed with no indication they’ll reopen in the foreseeable future. Even some of the city’s ubiquitous coffee kiosks are shuttered. Restaurants and bars remain open but are serving only soft drinks.
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Ukrainian pastor Oleg Magdych joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss the Ukrainian resistance as Russia's invasion continues.
President Joe Biden sits in the Oval Office of the White House, on March 4, 2022, in Washington. (AP/Patrick Semansky)
President Biden is expected to announce a ban on Russian oil imports to the U.S. on Tuesday morning amid bipartisan pressure, FOX Business has learned, as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine for a thirteenth day.
The president is set to make remarks from the White House on Tuesday morning at 10:45 a.m. ET, where he will announce "actions to continue to hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine."
As the war in Ukraine rages on, Americans are facing the surge in gas prices, and the Biden administration is facing calls from Republicans and Democrats in Congress, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to ban imports of Russian oil, and increase domestic energy production.
Zelenskyy, on Monday, called for "boycotts" of Russian oil imports to the U.S. and European countries.
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Anastasia Stoluk, also called Nastya, died on Feb. 28 in a village located about 40 miles from Ukraine’s capital. (Family Handout)
"Drunk Russian soldiers" shot and killed a 10-year-old Ukrainian girl while shooting aimlessly at a village outside of Kyiv, according to the girl’s family.
Anastasia Stoluk, also called Nastya, died on Feb. 28 in a village located about 40 miles from Ukraine’s capital, the girl’s cousin Anya Stoluk told The Times.
A Ukrainian teenage boy had allegedly fired a gun into the air that day, and Russian soldiers reportedly responded by shooting at houses in the village of Shybene.
"The soldiers heard [the teenager firing the gun] but since they were so drunk they didn't know where it was from, so they just started shooting everywhere they could see," Vera Dmitrienko, Stoluk’s mother, told The Times.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference in Tallinn, Estonia, on Tuesday. (Olivier Douliery/Pool Photo via AP)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken reacted to the Russian foreign minister's call for his country and the U.S. to return to the Cold War-like state of "peaceful coexistence" by claiming the Kremlin is making a "mockery" of that concept with its war effort in Ukraine.
Asked about this during a joint news conference with the Estonian prime minister, Blinken was blunt in his response.
"Peaceful coexistence has two words. The first is ‘peaceful,’" Blinken said. "And Russia’s doing everything in its power to make a mockery of that word through its aggression on Ukraine."
Blinken went on to say that the U.S. would "welcome" peaceful coexistence "in principle" but made clear what Russia needs to do in order to get to that point.
"It needs to start by actually making good on the word peaceful and ending the war, the aggression that it is committing in Ukraine," Blinken said. "It’s pretty straightforward."
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The leader of the World Health Organization’s Europe office said Tuesday that 16 recent attacks in Ukraine have impacted the country's ability to provide health care.
Dr. Hans Kluge also told reporters Tuesday that Ukrainian health authorities have “remarkably” maintained COVID-19 surveillance and response since the invasion began on Feb. 24, though they reported 731 deaths related to the pandemic over the last week.
Kluge warned that “sadly, this number will increase as oxygen shortages continue."
He also said broken supply lines are harming Ukraine's ability to treat conditions like diabetes and hypertension. Catherine Smallwood, senior emergency officer for WHO Europe, said the attacks on health care in Ukraine have led to at least 9 deaths and 16 injuries.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to celebrate International Women's Day, in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP)
Britain Defense Secretary Ben Wallace predicted Tuesday that Russia's invasion of Ukraine will lead to Vladimir Putin’s downfall.
Wallace said Russian forces are already “exhausted” after facing logistical problems and suffering thousands of losses in the first 13 days of fighting. He added it's “an impossible task” to occupy a country of 44 million people that is bigger than France and Germany combined.
“This will be Putin’s end... and so it should be,” Wallace told the BBC, adding that the international sanctions imposed on Russia “are reducing his economy to zero."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the nation in Kyiv on Monday. (AP/Ukrainian Presidential Press Office)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a speech Tuesday is accusing the West of having some "responsibility" in the death of Ukrainians because they have not instituted a no-fly zone within its borders -- a move many believe would escalate the war dramatically.
"Russia, in the last 30 years, has not lost as much of military air equipment as it has lost in these 13 days in Ukraine. But they still have enough equipment for killing, enough rockets for terror, still enough 500 kg bombs in order to throw them down on us, regular people, on Chernihiv, Kyiv, Odessa, Kharkiv, Poltava, Zhytomyr, on many, many dozens of Ukrainian cities, on millions of peaceful Ukrainian people," Zelenskyy said.
"Thirteen days, during which we`ve been just hearing promises, when they tell us that yes, very very soon you`ll get help in the sky, there`ll be planes given to us," he continued.
"The fault lies with the invaders," Zelenskyy added. "But the responsibility for this lies also with those who have not been able to make an obviously necessary decision somewhere in the West, somewhere in the offices for 13 days. Those who have not yet secured the Ukrainian sky from Russian murderers. Those who did not save our cities from airstrikes, from these bombs, missiles, although they can."
Fox News' Paul Conner contributed to this report.
Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a tweet Tuesday, said "Russian forces are now shelling the humanitarian corridor from Zaporizhzhia to Mariupol."
"8 trucks + 30 buses ready to deliver humanitarian aid to Mariupol and to evac civilians to Zaporizhzhia," the tweet added. "Pressure on Russia MUST step up to make it uphold its commitments."
Police detain a demonstrator during a protest against Russia's attack on Ukraine in St. Petersburg, Russia, on March 4. (AP)
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said Tuesday that in Russia the “space for discussion or criticism of public policies -- including military action against Ukraine -- is increasingly and profoundly restricted.”
Bachelet said some 12,700 people have been “arbitrarily arrested” for holding peaceful anti-war protests and noted that media are required to use only official information and terms.
She said she’s concerned about repressive and vaguely defined legislation targeting the dissent, and added that “further legislation criminalizing circumstances of ‘discrediting’ the armed forces continues down this concerning path.”
A new measure signed into law by President Vladimir Putin on Friday allows for prison sentences of up to 15 years for spreading what is deemed to be fake information about the Russian armed forces. It has prompted some foreign media to suspend operations within Russia.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Viktor Yanukovich, the former president of Ukraine, speaks during a news conference in Moscow in 2019. (REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva)
Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, who is considered to be Vladimir Putin's choice for a puppet leader if Russia can overthrow Ukraine's government, has penned a letter to Volodymyr Zelenskyy urging him to refrain from "fighting until the last drop of blood."
Yanukovich, who has been taking refuge in Russia's Rostov region after being ousted from Ukraine in 2014, wrote to Zelenskyy that "you probably dream of being a real hero. But heroism is not for show, nor about fighting until the last drop of blood. It is some self-sacrifice, victory over one’s pride and ambition to save lives.”
He goes on to ask Zelenskyy to make the conflict stop -- as if Kyiv's government started the war -- and says Ukraine, the rebel-held Donbas region and Russia all expect that of him and Western partners would be glad too.
Fox News' Amy Kellogg contributed to this report.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is forcing residents out of cities across the country. (Fox News)
The United Nations is estimating Tuesday that more than 2 million people have fled Ukraine since the onset of the Russian invasion.
Of the 2,011,312 people that have left since Feb. 24, around 1.2 million have ended up in Poland, while nearly 200,000 are taking refuge in Hungary -- countries that both share borders with Ukraine.
"As the situation continues to unfold, an estimated 4 million people may flee Ukraine," the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said.
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a joint press conference with Latvian Foreign Minister at the Latvian National Museum of Art in Riga, Latvia, on March 7, 2022. (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY / Pool / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Secretary Blinken says they must ensure “maximum pressure” on Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, Fox News' Rich Edson reports.
The Biden administration is currently negotiating the end of the previous administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.
Ukraine posted two recordings of phone conversations they claim provide proof they killed a top Russian general.
In the recordings, a Russian FSB field officer explained they no longer have secure lines to communicate and that his superior officer, Major General Vitaly Gerasimov, had been killed in combat, Politico reported.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick said Russian President Vladimir Putin's appetite to reconstitute the former Soviet Union and his advanced age are two significant factors in his invasion of Ukraine.
"Two things about Vladimir Putin: He's got a significant appetite for risk when it comes to Ukraine," the Pennsylvania Republican and Congressional Ukrainian Caucus co-chair told Fox News. "He's identified three capitals of Christianity in the world: Rome, Jerusalem and Kyiv."
"If you want to get inside of his mind, this is almost like a West Bank situation for him," he continued. "This is sacred holy ground to him, and it's the first step in reconstituting the former Soviet Union." (READ MORE)
ISACCEA, ROMANIA - MARCH 07: Ukranians refugees arrive on ferry at the border crossing, on March 7, 2022 in Isaccea, Romania. According to the United Nations Children's Fund over 138,454 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania and 87,193 left the country to move on to other destinations since Russia began a large-scale attack on Ukraine on February 24. (Photo by Andreea Campeanu/Getty Images)
More than 291,000 Ukrainian refugees have fled their country and entered Romania, since the start of Russia's invasion, Reuters reported.
This figure includes at least 30,000 children.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has resulted in unforeseen obstacles and challenges that make victory a near impossibility as casualties continue to mount amid crippling sanctions, according to a letter purportedly authored by a Russian intelligence analyst in one of Moscow's security agencies.
"No one knew that there would be such a war, so no one prepared for such sanctions," the whistleblower said in a report. "It’s just that there is no option for a possible victory."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed not to leave Ukraine's capital of Kyiv, going so far as to reveal his location as Russian forces continue their assault on the city."
On Bankova Street," Zelenskyy said in a Monday social media post. "Not hiding, and I’m not afraid of anyone." Bankova Street is where the presidential offices are located.
The Ukrainian leader defiantly pointed his camera out the window from just across the street from his office, showing that it was nighttime in Kyiv.
Ukraine's Ministry of Defense claims they "liquidated" a major leader in Russia's military.
"During the fighting near Kharkiv, Vitaly Gerasimov, a Russian military leader, major general, chief of staff and first deputy commander of the 41st Army of the Central Military District of Russia, was killed," the Ministry of Defense said.
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