Russia-Ukraine: 2nd round of talks to begin but conflict shows no signs of easing

Russian President Vladimir Putin began yesterday by congratulating Mikhail Gorbachev, the first and only president of the USSR, amid preparations for the second round of talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegation as the battle continues to rage on the ground.

Russia intensified its attacks on key Ukrainian cities as fighting reached the seventh day in the north, east and south, the BCC reported.

The report added that Russian paratroopers had landed in Kharkiv in the north-east, while Russia claimed it had taken control of the port of Kherson, a claim denied by the local mayor.

The much talked about 40 mile-long convoy of Russian armoured vehicles is said to now be 15 miles north of the capital Kyiv.

According to CNN, a confrontation between Ukrainian civilians and Russian forces in the town of Konotop -- a small town in the northeastern region of Sumy -- ended with an agreement to preserve peace.

Russia also informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that its forces have taken control of the territory around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said Wednesday.

Ukraine claims 5,840 Russian soldiers have lost their lives in the conflict so far, while the Russian defence ministry says its forces have destroyed over 1,500 Ukrainian military elements including 58 planes, 46 drones and 472 tanks.

Both sides have refuted the figures given out by their counterpart.

So far, more than 350 civilians, including 14 children, have said to have died in the conflict.

Elsewhere, Russia's continued aggression was US President Joe Biden's main talking point in his first State of the Union speech.

Biden told Congress that Putin badly misjudged how the West would hit back once he invaded Ukraine, reported the BBC.

In his speech, Biden vowed "an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny".

The promise was met with unanimous cheers from both democrats and Republicans.

In his hour-long address to lawmakers on Tuesday night, Biden said: "Putin's war was premeditated and unprovoked. He rejected repeated efforts at diplomacy.

"He thought the West and Nato wouldn't respond. And he thought he could divide us here at home…Putin was wrong. We were ready."

Biden also announced that the US would ban Russian aircrafts from American airspace, following similar bans by Canadian and European authorities, the BBC reported.

Biden also asked Congress to approve $6.4 billion in additional assistance, $3.5 billion of which would be to provide military equipment to Ukraine and augment the number US troops in nearby countries, the Kyiv Post reported.

Meanwhile, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) approved a resolution condemning Russia's military operation in Ukraine and calling for tough sanctions against Moscow, including restriction of oil and gas imports from Russia and disconnecting the country from SWIFT, the TASS reports.

The vote took place on Tuesday at an emergency plenary session of the European Parliament in Brussels.

The European Union is also developing a fourth package of sanctions against Russia, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg announced on Wednesday.

"We have already imposed strong sanctions. We are working on the fourth package. On Friday a special meeting of [EU] foreign ministers with US Secretary of State [Antony] Blinken will be held," he said, the TASS reported.

EU ambassadors agreed to exclude seven Russian banks from the SWIFT financial-messaging system but spared the nation's biggest lender Sberbank PJSC and a bank part-owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom PJSC, Bloomberg reported.

VTB Bank PJSC and Bank Rossiya are among the banks that face a ban, according to officials familiar with the decision. The measures are expected to be adopted overnight.

The other institutions included on the EU list are Bank Otkritie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank PJSC, Sovcombank PJSC and VEB.RF, the Bloomberg report added.

Additionally, a number of international companies, including Apple, Disney and Ford, downscaled operations in Russia, the CNN reported.

On Tuesday, Exxon announced it would quit its last Russian project, while Boeing said that it had suspended major operations in Moscow.

Other global energy players, including BP and Shell, have similarly moved to distance themselves.

"Russia's economy is experiencing serious blows," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a call with foreign journalists on Wednesday. "But there is a certain margin of safety, there is potential, there are some plans, work is underway."

Amid all this, the United Nations said 800,000 refugees have fled Ukraine since the start of the conflict.

On Wednesday, Ukraine's government for the first time acknowledged that non-Ukranians, particularly from Africa, were subjected to racism as they have tried to flee.

"Africans seeking evacuation are our friends and need to have equal opportunities to return to their home countries safely," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted Wednesday.