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ABC News

Russia-Ukraine updates: Putin says 'certain positive movements' in negotiations

PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at the Kremlin in Moscow, March 11, 2022.
2:28
Sputnik/via Reuters
How Russia’s Ukraine invasion might come to an end
By Morgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, Julia Jacobo, Nadine El-Bawab, Meredith Deliso, Ivan Pereira, Kevin Shalvey, Bill Hutchinson, Celia Darrough
Last Updated: March 11, 2022, 4:06 PM

Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.

The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation."

Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance, coming within about 9 miles as of Friday.

Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.

For previous coverage, please click here.

Two Men at War
Two Men at Wartitle
Two Men at War
A look at the two leaders at the center of the war in Ukraine and how they both rose to power, the difference in their leadership and what led to this moment in history.

Latest headlines:

  • Ukrainian air force claims Russia carried out false flag airstrike in Belarus
  • UN has credible reports of Russian cluster bomb use, attacks on health care
  • Putin claims 'certain positive movements' in Ukraine negotiations
  • Russian general prosecutor wants Meta declared 'extremist organization'
  • Putin orders Russian military to help volunteer fighters from Middle East travel to Ukraine
Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Mar 11, 2022 4:06 PM

Ukrainian air force claims Russia carried out false flag airstrike in Belarus

Ukraine's air force claimed Friday that Russia carried out an alleged false flag airstrike in a Belarusian village near the border with Ukraine.

In a post on Facebook, Ukraine's air force claimed Russian jets took off from a base in Belarus and entered Ukraine's airspace, then a fire started in the village of Kopani.

Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksy Reznikov earlier claimed in a Facebook post that Russian forces would launch a strike against Kopani to "pull the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus into the war with Ukraine."

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell


Mar 11, 2022 3:39 PM

Ukraine claims Russia planning false flag airstrikes on Belarus to push it into the war

Ukraine Defense Minister Oleksy Reznikov on Friday accused Russia of preparing to carry out airstrikes against Belarusian villages close to the border with Ukraine in order to create a pretext for Belarus entering the war more directly.

Until now, Belarus has largely only acted as a base for Russia’s invasion forces and for missile and air strikes to be launched from its territory.

Ukraine claims it has information that Russia is planning to launch a series of false flag airstrikes against Belarusian villages to try to change that and create a push for war within Belarus, Reznikov said in a post online.

"I appeal to the Belarusian people. Friends. According to information in which we are completely sure and which we have confirmed, at the present moment the command of the Russian occupation troops is preparing a series of bloody provocations," he said.

Reznikov added, "According to their criminal conspiracy, Russian aviation is preparing to launch a strike on a range of population centers on the territory of Belarus, located close to the Ukrainian-Belarusian border."

He named the village of Kopani in the Brest region.

He denied Ukraine would ever launch strikes and said, "the goal of the provocation is to push the acting leadership of Belarus towards war against Ukraine. Moscow is trying to bind you with blood."

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell


Mar 11, 2022 4:11 PM

US Restricts the export of luxury goods to Russia, Belarus

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Friday that it will restrict the export of U.S. luxury goods to Russia and Belarus, as well as "certain Russian and Belarusian oligarchs and malign actors located worldwide," as a result of their actions in Ukraine.

The Department of Commerce said it will impose restrictions on the export, reexport and transfer of luxury items including certain spirits, tobacco products, clothing items, jewelry, vehicles and antique goods.

"Putin’s war of choice in Ukraine continues to take a devastating toll on innocent civilians in Ukraine, fueling one of the worst humanitarian crises Europe has seen in decades," Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

Raimondo added, "Putin and the oligarchs who fund him have gotten rich off of Putin’s rampant corruption and the exploitation of the Russian people. We will not allow Putin and his cronies to continue living in opulence while causing tremendous suffering throughout Eastern Europe. Today’s action takes away another source of comfort and reminds them that Russia is increasingly isolated."

-ABC News' Luke Barr



Mar 11, 2022 3:16 PM

WHO advised Ukraine to destroy pathogens to prevent 'accidental spill'

The World Health Organization said Friday that it is urging Ukraine to now destroy its pathogen samples because Russia's war in the country risks an "accidental spill," according to WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević.

PHOTO: The logo of the World Health Organization (WHO) is pictured on the facade of the WHO headquarters.
Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
The logo of the World Health Organization (WHO) is pictured on the facade of the WHO headquarters.
Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

"This is part of us providing a public health advice to every country to try to ensure there is a minimized risk of any harm to population because of any possible accidental leak of pathogens," Jašarević said Friday from Lviv.

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan


Mar 03, 2022 3:58 PM

Macron says the 'worst is yet to come' after call with Putin: Source

After a call between France President Emmanuel Macron and Russia President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, an Elysée source said the risk of Russia's war extending beyond Ukraine to neighboring countries exists.

"The worst is yet to come," the source told reporters, saying France takes this under consideration in its exchanges with its partners

The Elysée source told reporters that the reality of Ukrainian power has nothing to do with Nazism and that Macron told Putin how much of a "lie" that is.

The two leaders spoke on the phone for an hour and a half, according to the Elysée.

The French president insisted this war will plunge Russia into isolation and that it will be under sanctions for a long time, according to the Elysée.

According to the Elysée source, Putin wants the neutralization and the demilitarization of Ukraine. He is ready to obtain it through negotiation if the Ukrainians are ready to do so, or continue the war until he achieves these objectives.

PHOTO: Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a damaged logistic center after shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 3, 2022.
Efrem Lukatsky/AP
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a damaged logistic center after shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 3, 2022.
Efrem Lukatsky/AP

The Kremlin echoed this in its statement.

"Putin set out in detail the principled approaches and conditions in the context of the talks with Kyiv's representatives. It was confirmed that [the talks] focused primarily on the demilitarization and neutral status of Ukraine, so that no threat would ever emanate from its territory to the Russian Federation," the Kremlin said in a statement.

The Kremlin said the "objectives of the special military operation will be fulfilled any way, and that the attempts to play for time by dragging out the talks will only lead to our negotiating position presenting Kyiv with further demands."

Regarding the Ukrainian request for a 'no-fly' zone, the Elysée source said that the answer is not necessarily in the sky. These are tanks that deploy on Ukrainian soil. A no fly zone requires considerable resources and is not enough to prevent the risk of ground warfare.

“I know of only one case of a no fly zone that was effectively implemented, it was in Iraq after the first Gulf War to protect the Kurdish populations," said the Elysée source. "But you can see that we are in a different situation”.

- ABC News' Christine Theodorou and Ibtissem Guenfoud


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