Russia-Ukraine war: Latest developments

Here are the latest developments on the Russia-Ukraine war:

Zelensky ‘studying’ neutrality

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenksy says Kyiv’s negotiators are studying a Russian demand for Ukrainian neutrality, which Kyiv had previously rejected.

Speaking ahead of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Turkey, Zelensky says: “This point of the negotiations is understandable to me and it is being discussed, it is being carefully studied.”

He also concedes it will be “impossible” to push Russia out of all Ukrainian territory, saying to do so “would mean World War III”.

– New fires in Chernobyl zone –

“Significant” new fires have broken out in the exclusion zone around the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian forces, Ukrainian authorities say.

“It is impossible to control and extinguish fires in full due to the capture of the exclusion zone by the Russian occupation forces,” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says on Telegram.

Heineken leaves Russia

Dutch brewer Heineken becomes the latest multinational to pull out of Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Heineken says that it was “no longer sustainable nor viable” to remain in the country and said it would seek to “transfer” its business to a new owner, profit-free.

Oscars silence for Ukraine

Hollywood A-listers hold a moment of silence at Sunday’s Oscars gala to show support for the people of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion, after much speculation about how Tinseltown would handle the issue.

Europe bid to repair Biden ‘gaffe’

Germany and France scramble to try to contain the fallout of President Joe Biden’s shock declaration that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says neither NATO nor the US is seeking regime change in Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron warns that any escalation “in words or action” could harm efforts to reach a deal on the evacuation of civilians from the battered Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

Russia wants to divide Ukraine: Kyiv

Ukraine says Putin may aim to divide the country into versions of North and South Korea because of Putin’s failure to “capture Kyiv and remove Ukraine’s government”.

“There are reasons to believe that he may try to impose a separation line between the occupied and unoccupied regions of our country,” Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the defence intelligence, says in a statement.

Separatist region could hold vote

The head of Ukraine’s Lugansk separatist region says it could hold a referendum on becoming part of Russia.

– Name and shame –

An American professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld who has published a name-and-shame list of Western companies that are staying in Russia accuses them of acting purely out of “greed.”

“It’s disgusting that any of these companies (that stay in Russia) try for some humanitarian or paternalistic employer arguments,” he told AFP.

“When ceasefires are openly violated by the Russians or when you have children’s hospitals being bombed, there’s no middle ground here.”

Over 3.8 million refugees

The United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR, says 3,821,049 Ukrainians have fled the country — an increase of 48,450 from the previous day’s figure.

Around 90 percent of them are women and children. The UN estimates that another 6.5 million people are displaced inside Ukraine.

The Star