Russian President Vladimir Putin held detailed talks on the humanitarian aspects of the Ukrainian crisis in a phone call with European Council President Charles Michel, the Kremlin said Monday.

Putin told Michel that the Russian military is taking "all possible measures" to save the lives of civilians, who are being used by Ukrainian armed nationalists as human shields.

"The Russian president called on the European Union to make a real contribution to saving people's lives, put pressure on the Kyiv authorities and force them to respect humanitarian law," the statement said.

In a separate call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin informed him that the Russian Armed Forces had declared a cease-fire and opened humanitarian corridors in view of the worsening humanitarian situation, said another Kremlin statement.

"Meanwhile, nationalist formations continue to create obstacles to the peaceful evacuation of civilians, including foreign nationals, from the combat areas by resorting to crude force and various provocations," it noted.

The Russian leader then drew attention to the fact that Indian students "who were held hostage by radicals in Kharkov" managed to leave the city only after strong international pressure was exerted on Kyiv.

"Russian military personnel are doing their best to evacuate Indian citizens from Sumy. Narendra Modi expressed gratitude to the Russian side for the efforts being taken to return his compatriots home," the statement said.

Putin, at the request of the Indian prime minister, gave an assessment of the Russian delegation’s series of discussions with Ukrainian representatives, the third round of which was scheduled for today, it said.

Modi “expressed readiness to render any assistance possible to achieve an early resolution of the conflict," it added.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia. The West has also imposed biting export restrictions on key technologies that are now prohibited from being sent to Russia.

At least 406 civilians have been killed and 801 others injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to UN figures. But the international body has maintained that conditions on the ground have made it "difficult to verify" the true number of civilian casualties.

More than 1.7 million people have also fled to neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said./aa

US President Joe Biden has not made a final decision on halting imports of Russian oil, the White House said on Monday as the world grapples with a surge in oil prices.

There are ongoing discussion on the matter both internally within the Biden administration, and with international partners, spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

Biden is predominantly focused on "ensuring we are continuing to take steps to deliver punishing economic consequences on Putin, taking all action necessary to limit the impact of prices at the gas pump," Psaki said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The comments come as the price of oil has fallen modestly from a 13-year high hit over the weekend. A barrel of oil is now at $119.64, down from over $130 on Sunday.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24 has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global companies from Russia. The West has also imposed biting export restrictions on key technologies that are now prohibited from being sent to Russia.

The West and its allies have so far stopped short of banning imports of Russian oil, but have placed restrictions on exports of key technology for Moscow's refining sector. ​​​​​​​

Separately commenting on trilateral negotiations with Poland to supply Ukraine with Polish MiG-29s, Psaki said it is "Poland’s sovereign decision to make."

She pointed to "a number of challenging practical questions" that would have to be addressed as part of any deal, including logistics on where the planes would take off from, and where in Ukraine they would be delivered.

As part of the deal, the US would reportedly provide Poland with US-made fighter jets in what has been referred to as a "backfill" of Poland's air force.

"As it relates to the backfill question, we are working through some pretty complicated logistics as well, including how we would backfill, because procuring new planes and transferring serious weapons systems often takes years to do from the United States," Psaki said.

At least 406 civilians have been killed and 801 others injured in Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine war, according to UN figures. But the international body has maintained that conditions on the ground have made it "difficult to verify" the true number of civilian casualties.

More than 1.7 million people have also fled to neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said./aa

FIFA on Monday said it was allowing foreign players and coaches at Russian clubs to "unilaterally suspend their employment contracts" until the end of the 2021-22 season to "facilitate" their departure from Russia.

The move further distances the world of international sports from Russia.

"In order to facilitate the departure of foreign players and coaches from Russia, in the event that clubs affiliated to the Football Union of Russia (FUR) do not reach a mutual agreement with their respective foreign players and coaches before or on 10 March 2022 and unless otherwise agreed in writing, the foreign players and coaches will have the right to unilaterally suspend their employment contracts with the FUR-affiliated clubs in question until the end of the season in Russia (30 June 2022)," world football’s governing body said in a statement.

For war-torn Ukraine, FIFA also adopted a temporary employment rule for foreign players and coaches in Ukrainian clubs until the end of this season "to protect" all parties.

"Concerning the situation in Ukraine, in order to provide players and coaches with the opportunity to work and receive a salary, and to protect Ukrainian clubs, unless the parties to the relevant contract explicitly agree otherwise, all employment contracts of foreign players and coaches with clubs affiliated to the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) will be deemed automatically suspended until the end of the season in Ukraine (30 June 2022), without the need for any action from the parties to this effect."

FIFA added that the players and coaches will be "considered out of contract” until June 30, 2022 so they can freely move anywhere to perform their works.

Separately, FIFA condemned the "ongoing use of force by Russia in Ukraine" and called for peace immediately.

In late February, Ukraine suspended its top-tier football league after the declaration of martial law due to Russia's war on Ukraine.

Last week foreign players of Ukrainian football clubs Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv left Ukraine, fleeing the Russia-Ukraine war.

Since Russia began its war against Ukraine on Feb. 24, it has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia.

At least 406 civilians have been killed and 801 others injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to UN figures.

More than 1.7 million people have also fled to neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said./aa

Russia boycotted hearings at the top UN court in The Hague Monday over Ukraine seeking an emergency order to hostilities in the country, with Kyiv arguing that Moscow falsely applied genocide laws to justify starting a war.

Speaking to journalists after the hearing, Ukrainian envoy Anton Korynevych said that legally, there was no problem in Russia failing to show up, explaining in detail why Ukraine had used the UN court to get an order to stop the war.

"And we expected such conduct by the Russian Federation. But it doesn't affect any legal grounds, and it doesn't have any legal effects under the statute of International Court of Justice under the rules of procedure," he said .

Ukraine made its case before the court, which issues legally binding decisions, and the court can decide without all parties presenting their cases.

"We officially asked the court during the pleadings and in our official positions, and this has been officially stated in our requests and application, that the court imposes the order on provisional measures, as soon as possible, urgently," said Korynevych.

Precedents exist

"Because this is for our country for our people. So, we do have precedents. We have case laws in which the court was rather fast and effective in the imposition of provisional measures," Korynevych said.

He said he hoped the court would act urgently as it is "a matter of life and death for our Ukrainian citizens."

"We chose this path because we saw that the alleged violations of Genocide Convention claim that some non-existent genocide exists in Ukraine, in particular in Donbas (eastern Ukraine)," said Korynevych, citing President Vladimir Putin’s stated justifications for the war.

The Ukraine envoy said the same argument was given in Russia’s "so-called recognition" of separatist enclaves in the territory of Ukraine in Donbas’ Donetsk and Lugansk oblasts.

"So, it's quite a normal legal way for us to show that really, the position of the Russian Federation is null and void, is absurd.

"And there is no genocide now committed by Ukrainian officials in the territory, both in Donbas and in general, the whole territory of Ukraine."

Putin calls the war a "special military operation" to protect people "subjected to genocide" by Ukraine and to "demilitarize and denazify" the country.

Separatists backed by Russia have, since 2014, fought Ukraine's forces in two eastern breakaway regions in the east of the country, which Russia has now recognized as states.

The Ukraine government says around 15,000 people have been killed in that conflict, which coincided with Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea./aa

Greece is ignoring operations by the terrorist group PKK within its own borders, footage by a Greek private broadcaster revealed on Sunday.

Footage taken by private TV channel Star News revealed that a refugee camp near the town of Lavrion turned into a base for PKK terrorists who illegally fled Turkiye.

The broadcaster also interviewed some terrorists at the camp.

Among them was Hacer Karakus Sahin, an active member of the PKK’s youth wing who illegally crossed the border into Greece with her husband Metin Sahin in January, said Turkish sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Resul Ozbey, another terrorist who spoke to the Greek broadcaster, was part of the PKK’s youth branch who was jailed in Turkiye for over three years before fleeing to Greece last November, the sources added.

The sources underlined that many other residents of the camp are also members of the PKK’s youth wing, and that the camp has been used to spread propaganda and training for terrorists in the country.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

​​​​​​​Turkiye has long decried European tolerance for the PKK, as a number of EU countries have allowed PKK propaganda and recruitment, ignoring the group’s status as a terrorist organization./aa

US President Joe Biden discussed Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine with his French, German and British counterparts on Monday, including joint efforts to continue tightening the screws on the Kremlin. 

Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Premier Boris Johnson "affirmed their determination to continue raising the costs on Russia for its unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine," the White House said in a statement.

"They also underscored their commitment to continue providing security, economic, and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine," it added.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24 has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global companies from Russia. The West has also imposed biting export restrictions on key technologies that are now prohibited from being sent to Russia.

At least 406 civilians have been killed and 801 others injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to UN figures. But the international body has maintained that conditions on the ground have made it "difficult to verify" the true number of civilian casualties.

More than 1.7 million people have also fled to neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said./aa

A large crowd of Ukrainians fled the capital Kyiv on Monday, becoming the latest group to do so since Russia announced a temporary humanitarian cease-fire.

On the 12th day since Russia launched its war on Ukraine, dozens of families headed to the Central Railway Station in the capital, hoping to secure safe passage west by train to the city of Lviv some 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Polish border.

After the temporary cease-fire came into effect on Monday, civilians in the surrounding areas were brought to the train station in Kyiv by bus, while thousands desperate to escape the Russian strikes got to the station in their private vehicles.

Among the dense masses at the station were mainly women and children awaiting evacuation.

Once the train arrived, people had to struggle through the crowd to get on, with some having to stand all the way to Lviv after the seats were all taken.

On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it was opening six humanitarian corridors and halted hostilities from 10 a.m. Moscow time (0700GMT) to let civilians leave battle areas.

One corridor was opened from Kyiv to the city of Gostomel, two from Mariupol to the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia and to Rostov-on-Don, Russia, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a daily briefing in Moscow.

Two more safe passages connected the city of Sumy with Poltava, about 145 kilometers (90 miles) further south in Ukraine, and the Russian city of Belgorod, which was also connected to the city of Kharkiv.

Konashenkov added that detailed information on the humanitarian corridors had been provided to the Ukrainian leadership and UN, International Red Cross, and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Since Russia began its war against Ukraine on Feb. 24, it has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global companies from Russia.

At least 406 civilians have been killed and 801 others injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to UN figures.

More than 1.7 million people have also fled to neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said./aa

Netflix and TikTok on Sunday joined a growing list of companies suspending services in Russia.

“In light of Russia's new ‘fake news’ law, we have no choice but to suspend livestreaming and new content to our video service while we review the safety implications of this law. Our in-app messaging service will not be affected,” TikTok said on Twitter.

The social networking service added that they will continue to evaluate the evolving circumstances in Russia to determine when they might fully resume their services with safety as their top priority.

Netflix cited “circumstances on the ground” for its decision to suspend its Russian service but did not provide further details.

After Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the regulation, which provides for up to 15 years in prison for "spreading fake information" regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, numerous Western media outlets such as the BBC, CNN, ZDF and Bloomberg suspended their activities in Russia./aa