Sputnik quoted the Belarusian news agency as saying that the Russian delegation headed to the location of the negotiations with the Ukrainian delegation in Belarus, to enter into the second round of negotiations, after it doubted its holding, and while London accused the Russian forces of committing war crimes, Washington confirmed that it is open to imposing further sanctions. .

For its part, Interfax said that the second round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will be held in Brest on the Belarusian-Polish border.

The Russian "TASS" news agency quoted an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, confirming the news of the second round, during his speech on Ukraine 24 TV channel.

For its part, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry announced that preparations are still underway for the second round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video on Wednesday that Russia "aims to erase Ukraine, its history and its people."

Zelensky added that the West's response to Russia was not enough, and called for more international support, including support for Ukraine's bid to join the European Union.

This comes at a time when there are still conflicting reports about whether the meeting will take place or not. While the Kremlin confirmed the readiness of the Russian delegation and that it will wait for its Ukrainian counterpart at the specified place, the Ukrainian presidential adviser announced that the negotiating team is still waiting for a decision on the date for completing talks with Moscow in Kyiv remained demanding a clear agenda for the meeting.

And Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba revealed that his country had asked the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to impose a no-fly zone and was still waiting for a response.

Kuleba said, in press statements, that the date for further talks with Russia has not yet been set.

He added that Kyiv is ready to negotiate, but is not ready to accept Russian dictates, considering that Moscow's demands have not changed from what Putin announced before the start of the war that his country asked NATO to impose a no-fly zone and is still waiting for a response.

And on any possible role of Belarus in the war, Kuleba warned that Minsk would face the same sanctions that Russia faced if its forces entered Ukraine.


war crimes

Commenting on developments in Ukraine, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions there were indeed war crimes.

Johnson called on UN member states to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and "demand" its withdrawal during a vote in the General Assembly expected on Wednesday.

The Canadian government said it had decided to refer the situation in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court, to investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity by Russian forces.

American escalation

With the West escalating against Russia, which continues its war in Ukraine for the seventh day, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said today, Wednesday, that the United States is "very open" to imposing sanctions on the Russian oil and gas sector, adding that her country is looking at the potential impacts of this on global markets. and energy prices in the United States.

In his State of the Union address to Congress, US President Joe Biden said that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, unleashed violence and chaos by launching a war on Ukraine, and he will pay a heavy and persistent price in the long run, as he put it.

Biden believed that Putin miscalculated when he thought that the West and NATO would not respond to this.

The US President stressed that his country's forces will not enter into battles with the Russian forces in Ukraine, and explained that the US forces in Europe will only defend NATO members, and that their mission is to prevent the advance of Russian forces in Western Europe if the Russian President decides to do so.


Various Western pressures

The European Union's decision to ban Russian media came into effect, and the decision includes the government's agency, Sputnik and Russia Today.

On the other hand, the Official Gazette of the European Union announced that the sanctions related to the exclusion of 7 Russian financial institutions from the SWIFT system have entered into force.

The European Commission said the separation of major Russian banks from Swift is a clear message from the European Union to Putin and the Kremlin.

Reuters quoted a senior European Union official as saying that the European Union imposed sanctions on Belarus for its role in Russia's war on Ukraine.

The European official said that the sanctions include a ban on the export of any goods from Belarus to the European Union.

The official added that European sanctions would also target the gas sector, the central bank in Minsk, and block Belarusian banks from the international SWIFT system.

As part of the successive imposition of Western sanctions, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss announced Britain's ban on Russian ships from entering UK ports.

In a tweet on Twitter, Truss said London would impose more sanctions on Russian banks to further isolate them from the British financial system.

The US aircraft giant Boeing has suspended its logistics services to Russian airlines.

More than 36 countries in the world have closed their airspace to Russian aircraft, a decision aimed at increasing Russia's isolation and putting additional pressure on its economy.

Apple also suspended the sale of its products in Russia, and the American company said that since last week it has stopped exporting its products to its representatives inside Russia.

In a related context, Twitter joined Facebook, Google, YouTube and Tik Tok in its decision to ban access to the two Russian state media outlets ART and Sputnik in the European Union.

Also, Meta Platforms announced that it would lower the ranking of Russian state media content on Facebook pages and Instagram accounts globally.

On the other hand, members of the United Nations General Assembly (193 countries) will vote today, Wednesday, on a draft resolution on Russian military operations currently taking place in Ukraine.

The European Parliament also approved a draft resolution calling for the expansion of sanctions against Russia, in order to weaken its economy and "reduce its threat to peace" in the future.