Putin: Ukrainian neutrality key to any settlement

KYIV/MOSCOW • Russia's President Vladimir Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday that a Ukraine settlement was possible only if Kyiv was neutral, "denazified" and "demilitarised" and Russian control over annexed Crimea was formally recognised, the Kremlin said.

Mr Putin made the comments in a telephone call with the French leader, the Kremlin said in a readout, even as Russian forces pushed their advance around the Ukrainian capital and other key urban centres, overshadowing tentative diplomatic efforts to end Mr Putin's invasion.

"Russia is open to talks with representatives of Ukraine and expects the (talks) to lead to the desired results," it said.

Mr Macron's office said in a statement that in the 90-minute phone call, he had asked Mr Putin to stop attacks against civilians in Ukraine and civilian infrastructure, and to secure major roadways - in particular the road from the south of Kyiv.

"President Putin confirmed his willingness to make commitments on these three points," the statement said.

The content of the Putin-Macron phone call was released around the same time that Russian and Ukrainian officials ended their talks on the Belarusian border for a ceasefire, even as invading Russian forces encountered determined resistance from Ukrainian troops and civilians on a fifth day of conflict.

The talks at the border were led by Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov and Russia's Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had voiced scepticism that the talks would yield results. Moscow had set a limited scope for the discussions.

In New York, the United Nations opened a rare emergency special session of the General Assembly yesterday to discuss Russia's invasion by observing a minute of silence for those killed in the conflict.

Russia is expected to find out just how isolated it is on the world stage during the meeting, only the 11th time in the UN's history that such a session has been held, analysts say.

"The fighting in Ukraine must stop," warned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as the session began. "Enough is enough. Soldiers need to move back to their barracks. Leaders need to move to peace. Civilians must be protected," he pleaded.

United States President Joe Biden was to host a call with allies and partners yesterday morning (US time), after Mr Putin put Russia's nuclear deterrent on high alert in the face of a barrage of Western reprisals over the war.

The US said the Russian President was escalating the war with "dangerous rhetoric". The US and its allies are discussing a coordinated release of about 60 million barrels of oil from their emergency stockpiles, as Russia's invasion has pushed crude prices above US$100, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Belarus was yesterday preparing to send troops into Ukraine to help its ally Moscow, the Washington Post reported, citing an unnamed US official. This comes as Belarusians voted to allow the country to host nuclear weapons and Russian forces permanently.

Five days after the invasion yesterday, Russia is facing a wall of Western sanctions. These had targeted Russian banks, companies and individuals, leading to a collapse in the rouble and prompting the central bank to impose capital controls to try and avert investor panic and shore up the economy.

Several European subsidiaries of Sberbank Russia, majority-owned by the Russian government, were failing or were likely to fail due to reputational cost of the war in Ukraine, the European Central Bank said.

The US yesterday blocked any transactions involving Russia's central bank, National Wealth Fund and the Finance Ministry in further punishment of Moscow.

Energy giant BP, global bank HSBC and the world's biggest aircraft leasing firm AerCap joined a growing list of companies looking to exit Russia yesterday. US-based United Parcel Service and FedEx Corp, two of the world's largest logistics companies, said they were halting deliveries to Russia and Ukraine.

President Putin yesterday raged against the West as he convened a meeting with officials, including central bank chief Elvira Nabiullina and the CEO of Russia's largest lender Sberbank, Mr Herman Gref, to address what the Kremlin called a new "economic reality". "The Western community, which I called 'the empire of lies' in my speech, is trying to implement sanctions against our country," he said.

Reacting to Russian airlines being banned from European states, Moscow yesterday banned airlines from 36 countries from its airspace.

BLOOMBERG, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS