(Reuters) – The United States has concluded that Russia has committed “crimes against humanity” during its nearly year-long invasion of Ukraine, said Vice President Kamala Harris. Moscow responded that Washington was trying to foment crisis with the allegation.
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Ukrainian national flag flies near buildings destroyed by Russian military strike in Borodianka
DIPLOMACY
* U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned China’s top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi at a Munich conference of consequences should China provide material support to Russia’s invasion, while Harris said Chinese support would reward aggression.
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FILE PHOTO: A Russian service member stands in front of a Pantsir anti-aircraft missile system on combat duty in the Luhansk region
* Wang said China has “neither stood by idly nor thrown fuel on the fire” regarding the crisis in Ukraine, and continues to call for peace and dialogue.
* Ukrainian officials have urged U.S. Congress members to press President Joe Biden’s administration to send F-16 jet fighters to Kyiv, saying the aircraft would boost Ukraine’s ability to hit Russian missile units with U.S.-made rockets, lawmakers said.
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Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy welcomes Canadian Foreign Minister Joly in Kyiv
* Russia on Sunday scolded Emmanuel Macron over remarks about wanting to see Russia defeated, saying Moscow still remembered the fate of Napoleon Bonaparte and accusing the French president of duplicitous diplomacy with the Kremlin.
* EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he supported an Estonian proposal for the EU to buy ammunition on behalf of its members to help Ukraine.
* The Netherlands said it would close its consulate in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and limit the number of Russian diplomats allowed at their embassy in The Hague, over efforts “to secretly get intelligence agents into the Netherlands”. Moscow said it would respond.
* The U.S. government has spoken with Elon Musk about the use of Starlink satellite internet in Ukraine, Blinken said after Musk’s SpaceX said it had taken steps to prevent Ukraine’s military from using the service for controlling drones.
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Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Donetsk region
FIGHTING
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Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Donetsk region
* Most of Ukraine has power despite a series of major Russian attacks on the generating system, said President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
* Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday a push by its forces had captured of Hrianykivka, a village in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region 180 km (110 miles) north of Bakhmut, the scene of recent fierce fighting. Ukraine’s general staff said in its daily update on Sunday that its forces had repelled attacks in Hrianykivka and nearby Masyutivka.
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Polish President Andrzej Duda visits Ukrainian soldiers training on Leopard 2 A4 tanks in Swietoszow
* Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.
(Compiled by Mark Heinrich and William Mallard)