Groups of Ukrainian refugees walk along the road between Lviv and Shehyni, in Volytsya, Ukraine, March 5, 2022. The number of Ukrainians forced from their country since the Russian invasion has been increasing on a daily basis. (MARC SANYE / AP)
WASHINGTON/KYIV/MOSCOW/COPENHAGEN – US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced the imposition of an energy embargo on Russia, banning US imports of oil, liquified natural gas and coal from Russia over its ongoing military operations in Ukraine.
The move came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country is ready to hold a dialogue with Russia on security guarantees and the future of Donetsk, Lugansk and Crimea, said a press release posted on the official website of the Ukrainian president Tuesday.
Announcing the embargo on Russia from the White House, President Biden said: "This means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable to US ports."
He claimed the move will deal a "powerful blow" to Russia's ability to sustain funding for its military operations, while also admitting that it will backfire on Americans at home by causing continued price hike at gas stations.
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The gas price at the pump, Biden said, "went up 75 cents" since Russia launched the military operations. "With this action, it's going to go up further," he added.
We are ready for any guarantees of our country's security from the respective states that must guarantee. And Russia is also among these states, because Russia is our neighbor.
Volodymyr Zelensky, President, Ukraine
The average price for US gasoline hit a record high of $4.173 per gallon on Tuesday, according to the American Automobile Association, whose data showed the price was 15 percent higher than a week earlier and 21 percent higher than a month earlier.
Meanwhile, the European Union, which relies on Russia for some 40 percent of its natural gas supplies, announced earlier Tuesday a set of comparatively limited measures, reducing imports of Russia natural gas by two-thirds this year and aiming to be free from dependence before 2030.
The United States is far less dependent on Russian energy than European countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said at a meeting with women flight crews of Russian airlines that the wave of Western sanctions is akin to a "declaration of war."
It was "a difficult decision" to launch a special military operation in Ukraine, but there are "absolutely real threats" to Russia, Putin said.
If Ukraine joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the whole military bloc is obliged to support Kyiv militarily, he added.
Ukraine ready for talks
In an interview with ABC News, President Zelensky said Ukraine is ready to hold a dialogue with Russia on security guarantees and the future of Donetsk, Lugansk and Crimea, according to a press release posted on the official website of the Ukrainian president Tuesday.
Ukraine needs to have a collective security agreement with all its neighbors and the US, France, Germany and Turkey, said the release.
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"We are ready for any guarantees of our country's security from the respective states that must guarantee. And Russia is also among these states, because Russia is our neighbor.”
"These will be guarantees not only for Ukraine. These will be guarantees for Russia as well, about which it is constantly talking," Zelensky said.
Russian, Turkish ministers talk
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed the situation in Ukraine with his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, on Tuesday.
They discussed developments around Ukraine and "addressed issues of cooperation within the framework of the defense departments of both countries," according to a statement published by the Russian Defense Ministry.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba are expected to meet on Thursday in Turkey's southern province of Antalya on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomatic Forum, according to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The meeting would be held in a tripartite format, Cavusoglu said at a press conference on Monday, while hoping it would "be a turning point."
A Ukrainian serviceman walks past the vertical tail fin of a Russian Su-34 bomber lying in a damaged building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, March 8, 2022. (ANDREW MARIENKI / AP)
Humanitarian principles key
A World Health Organization official on Tuesday urged that health and humanitarian principles should play as key drivers of peace in Ukraine.
"Through personal experience in other conflicts, I firmly believe that health and humanitarian principles remain key drivers of peace, and I am using all diplomatic resources that are at my disposal as elected WHO leader to reduce the impact of this human catastrophe," Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said during a virtual press briefing.
The WHO has prioritized ensuring "safe passage" of needed health supplies into Ukraine, making sure that neighboring countries have "the infrastructure and expertise in place to meet the urgent needs of those arriving," and there is "continuity of care" within Ukraine, specifically through a fully-functioning WHO operations center in west Ukraine.
Although Ukraine has "remarkably" maintained its COVID-19 surveillance and response system, the current conflict could disproportionately affect the elderly in the country, because only one-third of those over 60 have been fully vaccinated, Kluge said.
2 million Ukrainians fled country
Also on Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said on Twitter that about 2 million people have entered neighboring countries from Ukraine since Russia launched a special military operation in the country.
Grandi estimated that around 4 million Ukrainians, or about 10 percent of the country's population, may leave Ukraine because of the conflict.
