“I don’t read anything into it until I see what their actions are,” Biden said of Russia’s pledge. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby echoed this stance, saying that “nobody should be fooling” themselves by believing the Kremlin’s claim. Kirby confirmed an assessment by a top U.S. general that a small number of Russian troops had moved away from Kyiv but said officials believe it is “a repositioning, not a real withdrawal.” A major offensive in other parts of Ukraine is still possible, he said.
During the peace talks, which took place in Istanbul, Ukrainian representatives outlined a proposal that included an agreement by their country to drop its bid to join NATO and a 15-year timeline for negotiations with Russia over the status of Crimea.
Still, as diplomats met in Turkey, the fighting continued in Ukraine.
Here’s what to know
- Vladimir Medinsky, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, appeared to suggest that Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could meet in person if a peace agreement were signed.
- Members of the Ukrainian delegation said they proposed that countries such as Israel, Turkey and France would “guarantee” Ukraine’s security in the future, in exchange for Kyiv’s neutrality and its pledge to not host foreign military bases or forces.
- The governor of Mykolaiv said a missile struck a local government building. Ukraine’s emergency services said that seven people died and 22 were injured in the attack, and that a search-and-rescue operation is ongoing.
- The Washington Post has lifted its paywall for readers in Russia and Ukraine. Telegram users can subscribe to our channel for updates.
UNDERSTANDING THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT
Pentagon casts doubt on Russia’s vow to reduce attacks in northern Ukraine
The Pentagon cast doubt Tuesday on the sincerity of Russian officials who said they will reduce attacks in northern Ukraine, asserting that only a “small number” of Russian forces had withdrawn from near the capital, Kyiv, and that Russia is probably repositioning for future attacks.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that “nobody should be fooling” themselves by the Russian offer, citing continued strikes on Kyiv on Tuesday. It’s too early to tell, he said, noting that Russia made the offer only after Ukrainian forces squelched Russia’s early efforts to seize major Ukrainian cities.
“We continue to see Kyiv being struck from the air,” Kirby said at a Pentagon news conference. “We’re not convinced that the threat to the capital city has been radically diminished.”
He said it appears that Russia is moving the “goal posts” by reprioritizing its operations in Ukraine, focusing now on seizing control in the Donbas region in the eastern part of the country even as it negotiates with Ukraine. Russian troops have intensified efforts to capture towns and villages there and reinforce their positions, Kirby said.
The British Defense Ministry also said Tuesday that Russia is likely to divert forces from the north to the east, where pro-Russian separatists controlled territory even before the invasion.
Signs so far of withdrawal from the Kyiv area “may indicate Russia’s acceptance that it has now lost the initiative in the region,” the Defense Ministry wrote in an assessment shared on social media.
“Repeated Russian setbacks and successful counter attacks by Ukrainian forces mean it is almost certain that the Russian offensive has failed in its objective to encircle Kyiv,” the ministry said.
Dow jumps more than 300 points, oil prices fall after cease-fire negotiations
The Dow surged more than 300 points in Tuesday’s rally and oil prices dropped as cease-fire talks raised hopes of progress, with Ukraine outlining a peace proposal and Russia promising to drastically reduce its military activity near Kyiv.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 338.30 points, or nearly 1 percent, to 35,294.19. The broader S&P 500 index jumped 56.08 points, or 1.2 percent, to settle at 4,631.60. The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 264.73 points, or 1.8 percent, to end at 14,619.64.
Oil prices fell sharply in early trading, with West Texas Intermediate crude briefly dipping below $100 before surging back above the centennial mark. By late afternoon, it had cut its losses to 0.7 percent and was trading above $105. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 0.9 percent to roughly $111.50 per barrel.
Oil prices have shown significant volatility since Russia invaded its neighbor in late February, typically moving inversely to stocks amid news from Ukraine. Crude swelled past $130 per barrel in early March before retreating, surging again, and falling again. Prices dropped 7 percent Monday after Shanghai announced lockdowns to combat a resurgence of the novel coronavirus.
The increase and volatility in oil prices have had a significant effect on retail fuel prices: On Tuesday, the U.S. average for a gallon of gasoline stood at $4.24 a gallon — 63 cents higher than last month and $1.38 more than a year ago.
Evacuations from southern Ukraine resumed Tuesday, officials say
Evacuations from the largely destroyed city of Mariupol and another region of southern Ukraine resumed Tuesday, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
On Monday, efforts to evacuate civilians were halted as too dangerous, Vereshchuk said earlier, citing Ukrainian intelligence on “possible provocations” from Russia. In a Telegram post Tuesday, the deputy prime minister said 936 Mariupol residents and 729 residents of the nearby Zaporizhzhia region were evacuated that day along three “humanitarian corridors.”
But Vereshchuk also said evacuation buses and trucks carrying humanitarian aid were blocked in Vasylivka, a city in the Zaporizhzhia area. Ukrainian officials are “negotiating and demanding” that Russian forces allow traffic through a Vasylivka checkpoint toward Ukraine’s southern coast, she said.
Ukraine says such humanitarian issues are a focus of its in-person talks with Russia underway in Istanbul. Vereshchuk said Ukraine’s negotiators on Tuesday “conveyed a demand … for the mandatory and immediate opening of humanitarian corridors to the largest cities of Ukraine,” including Mariupol, Kharkiv and Chernihiv in the north, as well as “settlements of Kyiv region, which are difficult to reach today.”
Mariupol has been an urgent focus of evacuation efforts for weeks, as relentless shelling hit civilian targets and basic supplies dwindled with Russian forces surrounding the port city. The crisis deepened when residents lost mobile communications and power.
Vadym Boychenko, Mariupol’s mayor, said over the weekend that about half of the city’s prewar population has evacuated since Russia invaded Ukraine. Mariupol was once home to more than half a million people, he said.
U.S. Marines dispatched to Lithuania as Pentagon again bolsters Eastern European security
Hundreds of U.S. Marines have been deployed to Lithuania after completing a training assignment in Norway, the Pentagon said Tuesday, as the United States again bolstered security in an Eastern European country bordering Russia.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the Marines include a headquarters unit from Cherry Point, N.C., that recently completed the military exercise Cold Response 2022. About 10 F/A-18 jets from Beaufort, S.C., and their associated pilots and maintenance staff, and a couple of C-130 cargo planes also will go to Eastern Europe.
“We’re trying to stay flexible here,” Kirby said. “It’s based on constant conversations with our NATO allies.”
Ukraine offers neutrality in talks with Russia. What does that mean?
An important aspect of the ongoing negotiations between Russia and Ukraine is that the latter adopt a “neutral state” status in exchange for a potential halt in Russian aggression.
In the latest round of negotiations Tuesday in Turkey, Ukrainian representatives presented a number of proposals to their Russian counterparts, among them that Ukraine becomes a neutral state along with the promise to not host foreign military forces or bases in Ukrainian territory. In exchange, countries such as France, Turkey and Israel would “guarantee” the country’s security.
Here’s what you need to know about Ukraine’s proposed “neutral status.”
Russian regulators threaten YouTube with fines for ‘information war’
Russia’s telecom regulator said it would fine Google for not removing certain videos from its YouTube video service, stepping up its threats against YouTube, the last major U.S. social media network still active in the country.
Roskomnadzor, Russia’s official digital censor, said YouTube is “one of the key platforms participating in the information war against Russia” and accused it of harboring videos from far-right Ukrainian groups Right Sector and the Azov Battalion. Searches on YouTube for the two groups primarily showed news videos about the groups and the war.
YouTube is hugely popular in Russia and has been a key way for millions of Russians to consume news and entertainment videos for years. It has more users in the country than any other social network, including Russia’s homegrown Facebook competitor, VK. Since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, the country has blocked other U.S.-owned social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, leaving YouTube as one of the few ways for Russians to see content from outside the country without having to download special software to trick their Internet providers into believing they are not inside Russia.
A Google spokesperson did not return a request for comment.
Biden says he’ll wait to see if Russia fulfills vow to reduce attacks
President Biden, during a news conference with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsieng Loong on Tuesday, said he would not “read anything” into Russia’s vow to reduce military attacks near Kyiv and Chernihiv until that happens.
Sanctions on Russia will continue, Biden said.
“We’ll see if they follow through with what they’re suggesting,” Biden said, noting that peace negotiations are ongoing.
Biden noted that he met earlier Tuesday with the heads of government of four other NATO nations — France, Germany, Britain, and Italy — and said there “seems to be a consensus that, let’s just see what they have to offer.”
“But in the meantime, we’re going to continue to keep strong sanctions,” Biden said. “We’re going to continue to provide the Ukrainian military with their capacity to defend themselves. And we’re going to continue to keep a close eye on what’s going on.”
According to a White House readout of the Tuesday NATO meeting, the leaders “reviewed their efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the millions affected by the violence, both inside Ukraine and seeking refuge in other countries, and underscored the need for humanitarian access to civilians in Mariupol. They also discussed the importance of supporting stable energy markets in light of current disruptions due to sanctions.”
Analysis: The truth about Hunter Biden and the Ukrainian ‘bio labs’
The Russian Defense Ministry knows how to stir up the interest of the right-leaning news media in the United States — just mention Hunter Biden, the president’s son.
Russia for years has been seeding the ground to claim that the United States set up biowarfare labs in Ukraine and other former Soviet republics — claims that have been revived as part of the invasion of Ukraine. As part of his media presentation, Igor Kirillov of the Russian armed forces alleged the labs were part of the U.S. plot to study the natural immunity of the population to identify the most dangerous pathogen for people in the region.
The Defense Ministry released a complex-looking flow chart with spaghetti lines depicting not only the involvement of Hunter Biden but financier George Soros in the alleged financing of “bioweapons labs.” But the reference to Hunter Biden was catnip to the right-leaning media. Reporters immediately dug into their copies of Biden’s laptop, supposedly left behind for repair in a Delaware shop in April 2019, and dredged up emails that they suggested validated the Russian report.
First of all, as we have previously documented, these are not bioweapons labs, but biological research facilities focused on better detecting, diagnosing and monitoring infectious-disease outbreaks. Second, random emails can be easily misinterpreted without additional reporting.
We’ve dug into the records and discussed the deals in question with people involved. The reporting from those news outlets is false. Hunter Biden has come under scrutiny for business deals in places such as Ukraine and China that took place while his father was vice president. But he was not “financing” these labs. In fact, he was not part of a decision to invest in a company at the center of the Russian allegations, he did not profit from it as he was kicked out of the investment firm over cocaine allegations, and the company made little money from its tiny bit of business in Ukraine.
E.U. wants ‘golden passports’ ended, Russian oligarchs’ citizenship revoked
The European Commission is calling on member nations to repeal “golden passport” programs that let wealthy investors buy E.U. citizenship, to stop the sale of residence permits to Russian nationals and to consider stripping oligarchs of second passports already granted inside the bloc.
European officials have long warned of the risks of granting citizenship for investment, saying the practice is ethically, legally and economically objectionable — and a security problem for the continent. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought those concerns to the fore.
“European values are not for sale,” European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said Monday. “We consider that the sale of citizenship through ‘golden passports’ is illegal under E.U. law and poses serious risks to our security. It opens the door to corruption, money laundering and tax avoidance.”
All member states should end their investor citizenship programs immediately, the justice commissioner said in a statement. In addition, they should consider revoking “any ‘golden passports’ already granted to sanctioned individuals and others significantly supporting Putin’s war.”
Ukrainian soldier from Snake Island is presented with an award for defying Russian warship
A Ukrainian border guard who reportedly voiced a defiant message to approaching Russian troops has received an award for demonstrating “the firmness and strength of the Ukrainian spirit,” Ukrainian officials said.
Roman Hrybov returned to central Ukraine’s Cherkasky region after Russian forces took him prisoner from his base on Snake Island during the first days of the invasion, Ihor Taburets, the region’s governor, said in a statement. Taburets said he presented the guard with a commendation “For Merits to Cherkasy Region.”
Hrybov is credited with telling an approaching Russian warship to “go f— yourself” in a recording that attracted widespread attention and became a rallying cry for supporters of Ukraine. Thirteen guards on the desolate island in the Black Sea were first believed to have been killed, but the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine later said the soldiers may have survived. On Thursday, Ukrainian officials said 19 sailors from Snake Island were freed in a prisoner exchange with Russia.
In a video of the award presentation, Taburets hands Hrybov a pin in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, shakes his hand and smiles warmly.
Taburets said the soldiers on Snake Island demonstrated that Ukraine has true defenders and exemplified “the fortitude of the Cossack spirit.”
Hrybov thanked Ukrainians for their support.
“Strength is behind us, truth is behind us,” he said. “Together we will win. Glory to Ukraine.”
Analysis: On Russia, Biden divorces his ‘moral outrage’ from U.S. policy
Still, Biden apparently felt he needed to personally clear up his comment over the weekend that Putin “cannot remain in power,” assuring the world he’s not planting a regime-change flag at the heart of the allied response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“I was expressing the moral outrage that I feel, and I make no apologies for it,” Biden told reporters at the White House. “But it doesn’t mean we have a fundamental policy to do anything to take Putin down in any way.”
Was it, as Biden said, “ridiculous” for anyone to hear his remarks and worry about a shift in U.S. policy? It’s not like Washington doesn’t have a rich history — a rich and recent history — of embracing regime change, albeit not in a nuclear-armed rival like Russia.
Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland expel Russian diplomats
Several European Union countries announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats Tuesday, deepening the standoff between Europe and Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
Belgium expelled 21 Russian diplomats based in the embassy in Brussels or the consulate in Antwerp, the country’s Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday. The ministry said the individuals were working for Russian intelligence services.
The move came as the Netherlands expelled 17 Russian diplomats for allegedly using diplomatic cover to do intelligence work. Around the same time, Ireland said it had asked four Russian diplomats to leave, saying their conduct was not in accordance with international standards of diplomatic behavior.
Last week, Poland expelled 45 Russian diplomats. “With full consistency and determination, we are breaking up the agents of the Russian secret services in our country,” Poland’s interior minister, Mariusz Kaminski, said on Twitter.
In 2018, more than two dozen countries expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats over a nerve-agent attack in Salisbury, England. It was the largest expulsion of Russian diplomats since the Cold War.
Banksy art sold for four times its value. The money’s going to Ukraine.
Natalia and her 7-year-old daughter, Varvara, were fleeing their home outside Kyiv — hoping to escape a constant barrage of Russian shelling in Ukraine — when a mine exploded near their car.
Shrapnel tore into their legs.
They are but two patients who have flooded into Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital since the start of the war on Feb. 24. Doctors and nurses — used to treating children for cancer — have found themselves grappling with war wounds like those suffered by Natalia and Varvara. Working tirelessly, hospital staffers have moved much of their operations into the basement to protect patients from Russian strikes.
Now, the hospital is getting help from an unlikely source — Banksy.
Or rather, the help is coming from one of the street artist’s most famous antiwar works. On Sunday, MyArtBroker sold one of 700 prints of “CND Soldiers” after a 10-day silent auction. Proceeds from the winning bid of $106,505 will go to Ohmatdyt, which normally treats about 20,000 patients a year in Kyiv as the country’s largest children’s hospital.
Blinken expresses skepticism about Ukraine talks in Turkey
RABAT, Morocco — Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed skepticism about the latest round of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey, saying Moscow’s continued military offensive leaves little room for optimism.
“There is what Russia says and what Russia does. We’re focused on the latter, and what Russia has been doing is the brutalization of Ukraine and its people,” said Blinken, during a joint news conference with his Moroccan counterpart in the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Blinken deferred to Ukrainian officials to characterize “whether there is genuine progress and whether Russia is engaging meaningfully,” he said.
He vowed that the United States would fully back Ukraine if it does see potential for progress, but underscored that Russia’s military offensive continues in Ukraine, noting that half of Ukraine’s children have been displaced from their homes.
When asked if the United States detects that Russia has been shifting its military offensive away from Ukraine’s capital and toward the country’s east, as it has stated, Blinken said he couldn’t say.
“I can’t tell you whether these statements reflect a reorientation on eastern and southern Ukraine or whether this is a means by which Russia is trying to deflect and deceive,” he said, speculating that Russia could be using negotiations to regroup its military.
Blinken also said that merely focusing on Ukraine’s east would be unacceptable to the United States.
“If they somehow believe that an effort to subjugate only the eastern part of Ukraine and the southern part of Ukraine can succeed, then once again they are profoundly fooling themselves,” he said.
“I don’t read anything into it until I see what their actions are,” Biden said of Russia’s pledge. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby echoed this stance, saying that “nobody should be fooling” themselves by believing the Kremlin’s claim. Kirby confirmed an assessment by a top U.S. general that a small number of Russian troops had moved away from Kyiv but said officials believe it is “a repositioning, not a real withdrawal.” A major offensive in other parts of Ukraine is still possible, he said.During the peace talks, which took place in Istanbul, Ukrainian representatives outlined a proposal that included an agreement by their country to drop its bid to join NATO and a 15-year timeline for negotiations with Russia over the status of Crimea.Still, as diplomats met in Turkey, the fighting continued in Ukraine.Here’s what to knowVladimir Medinsky, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, appeared to suggest that Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could meet in person if a peace agreement were signed.Members of the Ukrainian delegation said they proposed that countries such as Israel, Turkey and France would “guarantee” Ukraine’s security in the future, in exchange for Kyiv’s neutrality and its pledge to not host foreign military bases or forces.The governor of Mykolaiv said a missile struck a local government building. Ukraine’s emergency services said that seven people died and 22 were injured in the attack, and that a search-and-rescue operation is ongoing.The Washington Post has lifted its paywall for readers in Russia and Ukraine. Telegram users can subscribe to our channel for updates.UNDERSTANDING THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICTPentagon casts doubt on Russia’s vow to reduce attacks in northern UkraineReturn to menuThe Pentagon cast doubt Tuesday on the sincerity of Russian officials who said they will reduce attacks in northern Ukraine, asserting that only a “small number” of Russian forces had withdrawn from near the capital, Kyiv, and that Russia is probably repositioning for future attacks.Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that “nobody should be fooling” themselves by the Russian offer, citing continued strikes on Kyiv on Tuesday. It’s too early to tell, he said, noting that Russia made the offer only after Ukrainian forces squelched Russia’s early efforts to seize major Ukrainian cities.“We continue to see Kyiv being struck from the air,” Kirby said at a Pentagon news conference. “We’re not convinced that the threat to the capital city has been radically diminished.”He said it appears that Russia is moving the “goal posts” by reprioritizing its operations in Ukraine, focusing now on seizing control in the Donbas region in the eastern part of the country even as it negotiates with Ukraine. Russian troops have intensified efforts to capture towns and villages there and reinforce their positions, Kirby said.The British Defense Ministry also said Tuesday that Russia is likely to divert forces from the north to the east, where pro-Russian separatists controlled territory even before the invasion.Signs so far of withdrawal from the Kyiv area “may indicate Russia’s acceptance that it has now lost the initiative in the region,” the Defense Ministry wrote in an assessment shared on social media.“Repeated Russian setbacks and successful counter attacks by Ukrainian forces mean it is almost certain that the Russian offensive has failed in its objective to encircle Kyiv,” the ministry said.Updates continue below advertisementDow jumps more than 300 points, oil prices fall after cease-fire negotiationsReturn to menuThe Dow surged more than 300 points in Tuesday’s rally and oil prices dropped as cease-fire talks raised hopes of progress, with Ukraine outlining a peace proposal and Russia promising to drastically reduce its military activity near Kyiv.The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 338.30 points, or nearly 1 percent, to 35,294.19. The broader S&P 500 index jumped 56.08 points, or 1.2 percent, to settle at 4,631.60. The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 264.73 points, or 1.8 percent, to end at 14,619.64.Oil prices fell sharply in early trading, with West Texas Intermediate crude briefly dipping below $100 before surging back above the centennial mark. By late afternoon, it had cut its losses to 0.7 percent and was trading above $105. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 0.9 percent to roughly $111.50 per barrel.Oil prices have shown significant volatility since Russia invaded its neighbor in late February, typically moving inversely to stocks amid news from Ukraine. Crude swelled past $130 per barrel in early March before retreating, surging again, and falling again. Prices dropped 7 percent Monday after Shanghai announced lockdowns to combat a resurgence of the novel coronavirus.The increase and volatility in oil prices have had a significant effect on retail fuel prices: On Tuesday, the U.S. average for a gallon of gasoline stood at $4.24 a gallon — 63 cents higher than last month and $1.38 more than a year ago.Updates continue below advertisementEvacuations from southern Ukraine resumed Tuesday, officials sayReturn to menuEvacuations from the largely destroyed city of Mariupol and another region of southern Ukraine resumed Tuesday, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.On Monday, efforts to evacuate civilians were halted as too dangerous, Vereshchuk said earlier, citing Ukrainian intelligence on “possible provocations” from Russia. In a Telegram post Tuesday, the deputy prime minister said 936 Mariupol residents and 729 residents of the nearby Zaporizhzhia region were evacuated that day along three “humanitarian corridors.”But Vereshchuk also said evacuation buses and trucks carrying humanitarian aid were blocked in Vasylivka, a city in the Zaporizhzhia area. Ukrainian officials are “negotiating and demanding” that Russian forces allow traffic through a Vasylivka checkpoint toward Ukraine’s southern coast, she said.Ukraine says such humanitarian issues are a focus of its in-person talks with Russia underway in Istanbul. Vereshchuk said Ukraine’s negotiators on Tuesday “conveyed a demand … for the mandatory and immediate opening of humanitarian corridors to the largest cities of Ukraine,” including Mariupol, Kharkiv and Chernihiv in the north, as well as “settlements of Kyiv region, which are difficult to reach today.”Mariupol has been an urgent focus of evacuation efforts for weeks, as relentless shelling hit civilian targets and basic supplies dwindled with Russian forces surrounding the port city. The crisis deepened when residents lost mobile communications and power.Vadym Boychenko, Mariupol’s mayor, said over the weekend that about half of the city’s prewar population has evacuated since Russia invaded Ukraine. Mariupol was once home to more than half a million people, he said.Updates continue below advertisementU.S. Marines dispatched to Lithuania as Pentagon again bolsters Eastern European securityReturn to menuHundreds of U.S. Marines have been deployed to Lithuania after completing a training assignment in Norway, the Pentagon said Tuesday, as the United States again bolstered security in an Eastern European country bordering Russia.Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the Marines include a headquarters unit from Cherry Point, N.C., that recently completed the military exercise Cold Response 2022. About 10 F/A-18 jets from Beaufort, S.C., and their associated pilots and maintenance staff, and a couple of C-130 cargo planes also will go to Eastern Europe.“We’re trying to stay flexible here,” Kirby said. “It’s based on constant conversations with our NATO allies.”Updates continue below advertisementUkraine offers neutrality in talks with Russia. What does that mean?Return to menuAn important aspect of the ongoing negotiations between Russia and Ukraine is that the latter adopt a “neutral state” status in exchange for a potential halt in Russian aggression.In the latest round of negotiations Tuesday in Turkey, Ukrainian representatives presented a number of proposals to their Russian counterparts, among them that Ukraine becomes a neutral state along with the promise to not host foreign military forces or bases in Ukrainian territory. In exchange, countries such as France, Turkey and Israel would “guarantee” the country’s security.Here’s what you need to know about Ukraine’s proposed “neutral status.”Updates continue below advertisementRussian regulators threaten YouTube with fines for ‘information war’ Return to menuRussia’s telecom regulator said it would fine Google for not removing certain videos from its YouTube video service, stepping up its threats against YouTube, the last major U.S. social media network still active in the country.Roskomnadzor, Russia’s official digital censor, said YouTube is “one of the key platforms participating in the information war against Russia” and accused it of harboring videos from far-right Ukrainian groups Right Sector and the Azov Battalion. Searches on YouTube for the two groups primarily showed news videos about the groups and the war.YouTube is hugely popular in Russia and has been a key way for millions of Russians to consume news and entertainment videos for years. It has more users in the country than any other social network, including Russia’s homegrown Facebook competitor, VK. Since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, the country has blocked other U.S.-owned social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, leaving YouTube as one of the few ways for Russians to see content from outside the country without having to download special software to trick their Internet providers into believing they are not inside Russia.A Google spokesperson did not return a request for comment.Updates continue below advertisementBiden says he’ll wait to see if Russia fulfills vow to reduce attacksReturn to menuPresident Biden, during a news conference with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsieng Loong on Tuesday, said he would not “read anything” into Russia’s vow to reduce military attacks near Kyiv and Chernihiv until that happens.Sanctions on Russia will continue, Biden said.“We’ll see if they follow through with what they’re suggesting,” Biden said, noting that peace negotiations are ongoing.Biden noted that he met earlier Tuesday with the heads of government of four other NATO nations — France, Germany, Britain, and Italy — and said there “seems to be a consensus that, let’s just see what they have to offer.”“But in the meantime, we’re going to continue to keep strong sanctions,” Biden said. “We’re going to continue to provide the Ukrainian military with their capacity to defend themselves. And we’re going to continue to keep a close eye on what’s going on.”According to a White House readout of the Tuesday NATO meeting, the leaders “reviewed their efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the millions affected by the violence, both inside Ukraine and seeking refuge in other countries, and underscored the need for humanitarian access to civilians in Mariupol. They also discussed the importance of supporting stable energy markets in light of current disruptions due to sanctions.”Updates continue below advertisementAnalysis: The truth about Hunter Biden and the Ukrainian ‘bio labs’Return to menuThe Russian Defense Ministry knows how to stir up the interest of the right-leaning news media in the United States — just mention Hunter Biden, the president’s son.Russia for years has been seeding the ground to claim that the United States set up biowarfare labs in Ukraine and other former Soviet republics — claims that have been revived as part of the invasion of Ukraine. As part of his media presentation, Igor Kirillov of the Russian armed forces alleged the labs were part of the U.S. plot to study the natural immunity of the population to identify the most dangerous pathogen for people in the region.The Defense Ministry released a complex-looking flow chart with spaghetti lines depicting not only the involvement of Hunter Biden but financier George Soros in the alleged financing of “bioweapons labs.” But the reference to Hunter Biden was catnip to the right-leaning media. Reporters immediately dug into their copies of Biden’s laptop, supposedly left behind for repair in a Delaware shop in April 2019, and dredged up emails that they suggested validated the Russian report.First of all, as we have previously documented, these are not bioweapons labs, but biological research facilities focused on better detecting, diagnosing and monitoring infectious-disease outbreaks. Second, random emails can be easily misinterpreted without additional reporting.We’ve dug into the records and discussed the deals in question with people involved. The reporting from those news outlets is false. Hunter Biden has come under scrutiny for business deals in places such as Ukraine and China that took place while his father was vice president. But he was not “financing” these labs. In fact, he was not part of a decision to invest in a company at the center of the Russian allegations, he did not profit from it as he was kicked out of the investment firm over cocaine allegations, and the company made little money from its tiny bit of business in Ukraine.Updates continue below advertisementE.U. wants ‘golden passports’ ended, Russian oligarchs’ citizenship revokedReturn to menuThe European Commission is calling on member nations to repeal “golden passport” programs that let wealthy investors buy E.U. citizenship, to stop the sale of residence permits to Russian nationals and to consider stripping oligarchs of second passports already granted inside the bloc.European officials have long warned of the risks of granting citizenship for investment, saying the practice is ethically, legally and economically objectionable — and a security problem for the continent. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought those concerns to the fore.“European values are not for sale,” European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said Monday. “We consider that the sale of citizenship through ‘golden passports’ is illegal under E.U. law and poses serious risks to our security. It opens the door to corruption, money laundering and tax avoidance.”All member states should end their investor citizenship programs immediately, the justice commissioner said in a statement. In addition, they should consider revoking “any ‘golden passports’ already granted to sanctioned individuals and others significantly supporting Putin’s war.”Ukrainian soldier from Snake Island is presented with an award for defying Russian warshipReturn to menuA Ukrainian border guard who reportedly voiced a defiant message to approaching Russian troops has received an award for demonstrating “the firmness and strength of the Ukrainian spirit,” Ukrainian officials said.Roman Hrybov returned to central Ukraine’s Cherkasky region after Russian forces took him prisoner from his base on Snake Island during the first days of the invasion, Ihor Taburets, the region’s governor, said in a statement. Taburets said he presented the guard with a commendation “For Merits to Cherkasy Region.”Hrybov is credited with telling an approaching Russian warship to “go f— yourself” in a recording that attracted widespread attention and became a rallying cry for supporters of Ukraine. Thirteen guards on the desolate island in the Black Sea were first believed to have been killed, but the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine later said the soldiers may have survived. On Thursday, Ukrainian officials said 19 sailors from Snake Island were freed in a prisoner exchange with Russia.In a video of the award presentation, Taburets hands Hrybov a pin in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, shakes his hand and smiles warmly.Taburets said the soldiers on Snake Island demonstrated that Ukraine has true defenders and exemplified “the fortitude of the Cossack spirit.”Hrybov thanked Ukrainians for their support.“Strength is behind us, truth is behind us,” he said. “Together we will win. Glory to Ukraine.”Analysis: On Russia, Biden divorces his ‘moral outrage’ from U.S. policyReturn to menuStill, Biden apparently felt he needed to personally clear up his comment over the weekend that Putin “cannot remain in power,” assuring the world he’s not planting a regime-change flag at the heart of the allied response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.“I was expressing the moral outrage that I feel, and I make no apologies for it,” Biden told reporters at the White House. “But it doesn’t mean we have a fundamental policy to do anything to take Putin down in any way.”Was it, as Biden said, “ridiculous” for anyone to hear his remarks and worry about a shift in U.S. policy? It’s not like Washington doesn’t have a rich history — a rich and recent history — of embracing regime change, albeit not in a nuclear-armed rival like Russia.Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland expel Russian diplomats Return to menuSeveral European Union countries announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats Tuesday, deepening the standoff between Europe and Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.Belgium expelled 21 Russian diplomats based in the embassy in Brussels or the consulate in Antwerp, the country’s Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday. The ministry said the individuals were working for Russian intelligence services.The move came as the Netherlands expelled 17 Russian diplomats for allegedly using diplomatic cover to do intelligence work. Around the same time, Ireland said it had asked four Russian diplomats to leave, saying their conduct was not in accordance with international standards of diplomatic behavior.Last week, Poland expelled 45 Russian diplomats. “With full consistency and determination, we are breaking up the agents of the Russian secret services in our country,” Poland’s interior minister, Mariusz Kaminski, said on Twitter.In 2018, more than two dozen countries expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats over a nerve-agent attack in Salisbury, England. It was the largest expulsion of Russian diplomats since the Cold War.Banksy art sold for four times its value. The money’s going to Ukraine. Return to menuNatalia and her 7-year-old daughter, Varvara, were fleeing their home outside Kyiv — hoping to escape a constant barrage of Russian shelling in Ukraine — when a mine exploded near their car.Shrapnel tore into their legs.They are but two patients who have flooded into Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital since the start of the war on Feb. 24. Doctors and nurses — used to treating children for cancer — have found themselves grappling with war wounds like those suffered by Natalia and Varvara. Working tirelessly, hospital staffers have moved much of their operations into the basement to protect patients from Russian strikes.Now, the hospital is getting help from an unlikely source — Banksy.Or rather, the help is coming from one of the street artist’s most famous antiwar works. On Sunday, MyArtBroker sold one of 700 prints of “CND Soldiers” after a 10-day silent auction. Proceeds from the winning bid of $106,505 will go to Ohmatdyt, which normally treats about 20,000 patients a year in Kyiv as the country’s largest children’s hospital.Blinken expresses skepticism about Ukraine talks in TurkeyReturn to menuRABAT, Morocco — Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed skepticism about the latest round of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey, saying Moscow’s continued military offensive leaves little room for optimism.“There is what Russia says and what Russia does. We’re focused on the latter, and what Russia has been doing is the brutalization of Ukraine and its people,” said Blinken, during a joint news conference with his Moroccan counterpart in the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Blinken deferred to Ukrainian officials to characterize “whether there is genuine progress and whether Russia is engaging meaningfully,” he said.He vowed that the United States would fully back Ukraine if it does see potential for progress, but underscored that Russia’s military offensive continues in Ukraine, noting that half of Ukraine’s children have been displaced from their homes.When asked if the United States detects that Russia has been shifting its military offensive away from Ukraine’s capital and toward the country’s east, as it has stated, Blinken said he couldn’t say.“I can’t tell you whether these statements reflect a reorientation on eastern and southern Ukraine or whether this is a means by which Russia is trying to deflect and deceive,” he said, speculating that Russia could be using negotiations to regroup its military.Blinken also said that merely focusing on Ukraine’s east would be unacceptable to the United States.“If they somehow believe that an effort to subjugate only the eastern part of Ukraine and the southern part of Ukraine can succeed, then once again they are profoundly fooling themselves,” he said.