PUTIN'S WARNING ABOUT KYIV SUPPLYING WEAPONS
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Sunday that Moscow would strike new targets if the US supplied long-range missiles to Ukraine, according to Russian state media.
Delivering new arms to Kyiv only aims to “drag out the armed conflict for as long as possible,” Putin said in an interview to Rossiya-1 TV channel, Russian state media TASS reported.
In the case of deliveries of long-range missiles to Kyiv, Russia will draw "appropriate conclusions" and strike those “facilities” that it has not yet targeted, he said.
"If they are supplied, we will draw appropriate conclusions from this and use our own weapons, of which we have enough, in order to strike at those facilities we are not targeting yet," Putin said commenting on the situation regarding the supply of American multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) to Ukraine.
Supplying American MLRS to Ukraine essentially does not change anything, since Kyiv had similar weapons before, including similar range missiles, so they are simply making up for their losses, Putin said, according to TASS.
US President Joe Biden said Tuesday the US is providing Ukraine "more advanced rocket systems and munitions" as its war with Russia grinds on.
LAVROV'S PLANE WAS NOT GIVEN ‘AIR CORRIDOR’: ZAKHAROVA
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has confirmed that the countries bordering Serbia have closed their airspace to Minister Sergey Lavrov’s aircraft.
"The countries bordering Serbia have closed the only air route to the aircraft of Sergey Lavrov who was to depart for Serbia. The Russian delegation was scheduled to hold talks in Belgrade, while the EU and NATO member-countries have closed their airspace," Zakharova said in an on-air broadcast of Italy’s La7 television channel late on Sunday.
Serbia’s daily Ve·ernje Novosti reported earlier that Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro had closed their airspace to Lavrov’s plane due to depart for Serbia.
DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND US WILL NOT BREAK OFF: SULLIVAN
Moscow and Washington cannot completely separate, US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan said in an interview with TASS.
"We are also never completely separating. We can’t just cut diplomatic relations really, and just not talk," he said. "At a minimum, we sit near each other at the UN Security Council in New York every day. No matter what, we are better talking to each other at the UN, at the Security Council. And we should have embassies. This is the bare minimum. This is basic."
"We should have embassies in Moscow and in Washington, not just the Russian mission to the UN. I just think factually we’ll never be able to get to that level of complete separation because we are joined as permanent members of the [UN] Security Council. And having been joined in that way we do need to continue to engage with each other despite many contested issues that we have. We see each other, speak and present on a daily basis in New York. That’s a bare minimum," Sullivan emphasized.
EUROPE IS PANICKING OVER CONFLICT IN UKRAINE: ERDOGAN
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Europe was in panic over the conflict in Ukraine.
"At a time when our country has for elven years successfully coped with illegal migration from Syria, we are observing panic in Europe over the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. We are praying for the world’s prompt exit from this critical period it is experiencing," Erdogan told a congress of the ruling Justice and Development party.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a special military operation in response to a request from the leaders of the two Donbass republics for help. He stressed that Moscow's plans do not include occupation of Ukrainian territories, its sole goal being the demilitarization and denazification of the country.
US, SOUTH KOREA FIRE BALLISTIC MISSILES IN RESPONSE TO DPRK’S LAUNCHES: YONHAP
The United States and South Korea have fired ballistic missiles in response to North Korea’s missile launches, Yonhap said on Monday citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
According to the South Korean military, eight ballistic missiles were fired. No details were reported.
FIRE TEARS THROUGH BANGLADESH CONTAINER DEPOT KILLING 49 AND INJURING HUNDREDS
At least 49 people have been killed and more than 300 injured, after a fire tore through a container depot in southeastern Bangladesh over the weekend, CNN reports.
The fire started on Saturday night at the BM Container Depot in Sitakunda, in Chittagong District, according to state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).
Among the dead are at least nine firefighters who had been deployed to douse the flames, BSS reported. Two firefighters remained missing late on Sunday.
Firefighters were still working to extinguish the blaze on Sunday afternoon, as containers filled with chemicals including hydrogen peroxide or sulphur continued to erupt, Reuters reported, citing fire service officials.
While the cause of the fire remains unknown, fire service officials said it may have originated from a vessel of hydrogen peroxide and diffused to other containers.
"It's really getting harder as toxic fumes engulfed the area," Newton Das, a fire service official, told Reuters.
Local residents told the agency that the initial blast caused the neighborhood to quake, and subsequently broke some of the glass windows on local infrastructure.
