LIVE UPDATES: Ukrainian President Zelensky Says He's Ready to Talk With Putin

"We must act, taking into account the priorities of our country. There must be an actor than can talk to Russia. Who will talk to Russia when everyone is throwing bridges? We are not planning a package of sanctions to leave this channel open," Kalin told CNN Turk.

Dujarric declined to disclose the name and a position of the affected employee in deference to the privacy of the individual and the “sensitivity of the matter.”

Earlier, US President Joe Biden said that new anti-Russian sanctions would hit the aerospace industry, in particular, to create spacecraft, if possible. US and allied sanctions will limit Russia's imports of high-tech products by 50%, which will have a significant negative impact on "the possibility of modernizing the Russian military industry."

"It's too early to make such conclusions," Peskov said, commenting on Lukashenko's words.

The meaning of what is happening and the moment chosen for this purely hostile action are obvious — to increase pressure, increase blackmail and intimidation in order to weaken Russia's position, to deprive it of the opportunity to fully work on the UN platform, she said.

“We are not in direct communication with Russian tactical commanders on the ground [in Ukraine] or involved in this operation. I have no new conversations to speak to either between General [Mark] Milley and General Valery Gerasimov or between Secretary [Lloyd] Austin and [Russian] Minister [of Defense] Shoygu. There has been no communication,” the official said during a press briefing.

Earlier, Vladimir Zelensky called on US President Joe Biden to deliver a special message on Ukraine during his State of the Union speech later on Tuesday.

“Ukraine is the heart of Europe, and now I think Europe sees Ukraine is something special for this world. That's why [the] world can't lose this something special,” Zelensky told CNN and Reuters.

"Very powerful forces want to disrupt this process. And I pray to god that Zelensky and his team hold out and do not slide into the breakdown of the negotiation process," Lukashenko said, as quoted by the state-run Belta news agency.

On Monday, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova claimed Russia had used a thermobaric weapon during its special operation in Ukraine. Markarova did not provide any evidence to support her claim.

Canada bans Russian ships and fishing vessels from entering its ports and internal waters, Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra said on Tuesday.

"Today… Omar Alghabra, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly, and the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard Joyce Murray, announced that the Government of Canada intends to ban Russian-owned or registered ships and fishing vessels in Canadian ports and internal waters. The ban is expected to be in effect later this week through orders made pursuant to the Special Economic Measures Act," the statement read.

Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview with Reuters, said Ukraine would demand legally binding security guarantees if NATO closed the door on the country's prospects of joining the alliance.

Ukrainian media claim that there were two explosions near the TV tower.

The Mexican government will not join the sanctions and intends to maintain good relations with the Russian government, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said.

"We will not take any economic punitive measures because we want to maintain good relations with all governments," he said at a press conference.

"I want to be crystal clear finally, on that point, we will not fight Russian forces in Ukraine and our reinforcements like these reinforcements here in Tapa are firmly within the borders of NATO members and they are profoundly the right thing to do."

"A colossal stream of fakes... Now it's all filling and flooding our information space. Moreover, I want to say that real intelligence agencies are behind this, not some invented ones... This is a colossal confrontation, which is undoubtedly guided and conducted by Brussels. This is, of course, the infrastructure of NATO, which is involved," she said.

"These measures have no legal basis, in fact they are not connected ... with the current situation," Zakharova said.

"In the course of monitoring the Internet, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the shadow segment of the Network on the Hydra site, as well as in social networks and instant messengers, revealed a number of ads calling for terrorist activities," the report says.

Adidas suspended its partnership with the Russian Football Union (RFS) with immediate effect, a company spokesperson said.

A missile fired from Ukraine exploded in Taganrog; no one was injured, a source in the region's emergency services said.

"The RT France channel @rtfrance_officiel on Telegram has become unavailable in France. The channel has more than 50,000 subscribers," it says.

In December 2021, Russia's Roskomnadzor included Netflix in the register of audiovisual services after the number of Russian subscribers for Netflix exceeded 100,000. The Russian legislation on information requires platforms with a daily attendance of more than 100,000 Internet users to be included in the register and obliges the services to initiate free-to-air broadcasting of 20 Russian federal TV channels..

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has suspended all national teams, clubs and officials of Russia and Belarus from participating in international competitions, according to the organisation's website. The ban applies to all tournaments under the auspices of the FIVB, including beach and snow volleyball.

Roskomnadzor sent letters to YouTube and TikTok demanding that it lift restrictions on access to RT and Sputnik accounts, introduced in Europe as one of the sanctions measures in connection with Russia's special operation to demilitarise Ukraine, the agency reports.

The second round of the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on the Belarusian-Polish border may be held on 2 March, Belarusian political expert Yury Voskresensky, who is close to the talks' co-organizers, told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"According to my preliminary information, negotiations should take place tomorrow," Voskresensky said.

The expert noted that the meeting should take place near the Belarusian-Polish border, with delegations' members starting to arrive in Belarus on Tuesday evening.

The Russian Defence Ministry has announced that forward detachments of the DPR's militia have joined Russia’s forces on the Donetsk border. According to the Russian military, access of Ukrainian forces to sea of Azov has been completely blocked.

Last week, Tbilisi said that it will not join Western financial and economic sanctions against Russia as this will harm the country's national interests.

There are no plans so far for a conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky following the Moscow-Kiev talks in Belarus, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"No, there are not [such plans]," Peskov told reporters.

Commenting on the possibility of new negotiation formats between Russia and Ukraine, the official said that direct negotiations are underway.

More than 106 thousand people were left without electricity in Gorlovka as a result of shelling by Ukrainian troops; a the filtering station was de-energized, the DPR representative office at the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire (JCCC) reported.

The United Kingdom has passed a law providing for a complete ban for ships with any relation to Russia to enter UK ports, the UK transport minister, Grant Shapps, said on Tuesday.

"At London's Foreign Office where we've just become the first nation to pass a law involving a total BAN of ALL ships with ANY Russian connection whatsoever from entering British ports," Shapps tweeted.

The minister also called for retweeting this post "to encourage all countries to do the same in support of the people of Ukraine."

"From our point of view, sanctions should not affect individual human rights. So perhaps we need to look at those who have suffered,” she said.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday said the United Kingdom cannot impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine as it would lead to a direct military confrontation with Russia and the consequences "would be truly very difficult to control."

"Unfortunately, the implication of that [imposing a no-fly zone] is that the UK would be engaged in shooting down Russian planes. We would be engaged in direct combat with Russia and that´s not a thing that we can do or that we have envisaged," Johnson told a press conference in Warsaw.

He also said that the United Kingdom is ready for a "prolonged crisis" over Ukraine, but stressed that he cannot pretend that "this is something the UK can fix by military means."

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Ukraine had deployed the Tochka U missile system on the border with Belarus.

"Heavy weapons and missile systems, including Tochka U, were deployed at our border, which was never typical for Ukraine," Lukashenko said, as quoted by the Belta news agency.

Poland is not a party to the conflict in Ukraine and does not send its planes there, Polish President Andrzej Duda said after meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

"These banks will not be able to issue new Visa and Mastercard cards after the expiration of the cards that customers use now. With the cards of the international payment systems Visa and Mastercard issued by Russian banks, all transactions within our country will continue to work. Such transactions will be processed by the National System payment cards as usual," the National Payment Card System explained.

Ukrainian forces shelled the settlement of Yasnoye in the Donetsk People's Republic; five 120-millimeter mortars were fired, the DPR representative office at the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination of the ceasefire regime reports.

"We received documents that indicate the coordinates of, as they're called, military targets - this is what was on the territory of our republic. Almost half of these coordinates were handed over by representatives of the OSCE mission. Maybe because of this they decided to escape?" Basurin said.

Switzerland has decided to support the EU's illegitimate practice of imposing unilateral sanctions against Russia, such actions will not go unanswered by the Russian side, the press service of the Russian Embassy in Bern said.

"President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will deliver a speech in the European Parliament today. The speech is scheduled after 13.00. There is no exact time," Zerkalo Nedeli reports.

Commenting on the Moscow-Kiev talks on Monday, he said that the results of the negotiations inspire cautious optimism.

The sanctions imply a ban on servicing the bank's correspondent accounts and carrying out clearing operations in pounds.

Foreign students studying in Russia receive their scholarships and allowances via the national payment system and face no sanction-related disruptions, the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education said on Tuesday.

"All scholarships are paid to Mir payment cards regardless of the issuing bank. There are no problems related to the use of Mir cards in Russia," the ministry said on Telegram.

The ministry added that the cards of international payment systems issued by foreign banks operate in Russia according to the rules of payment systems, both for payment in stores and for cash withdrawals at ATMs, taking into account currency conversion rates.

Russia introduced restrictions to the flights of Swiss civil aircraft over its airspace on February 28 as a response measure, the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) said on Tuesday.

The Swiss Federal Council said on Monday that it closed its airspace to Russian flights with the exception of the ones that travel for humanitarian, medical or diplomatic reasons.

"Yesterday, in accordance with international law, as a response to the Swiss ban on flights of civil aircraft operated by Russian air carriers and/or registered in Russia, a restriction was introduced on the flights of civil aircraft operated and/or registered in Switzerland," Rosaviatsiya said in a statement.

The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) recommended on Tuesday refraining from non-official trips to foreign countries in the near future as Russia's operation in Ukraine continues.

"We recommend that you refrain from non-official trips to foreign countries in the near future," the agency said in a statement.

A missile fired from the Tochka U missile system was shot down over the city of Khartsyzk in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the DPR territorial defense headquarters said on Tuesday, adding that its fragments damaged houses.

"Overnight into March 1, a rocket fired from the Tochka U missile system was shot down over Khartsyzk. During the fall, the ammunition was divided, fragments damaged houses in Khartsyzk. A white powder, presumably phosphorus, was found in the cassette part of the charge," the headquarters wrote on Telegram.

The DPR did not indicate which side the missile belongs to.

Kazakhstan is ready to mediate the conflict in Ukraine by providing a platform for the negotiations between Moscow and Kiev, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Tuesday.

"Kazakhstan, for its part, is ready to provide all kinds of assistance, including intermediary services, if, of course, they are needed," Tokayev told a meeting of the ruling party.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, both Warner Bros. and Sony followed suit, announcing similar moves later on Monday.

"In light of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, WarnerMedia is pausing the release of its feature film The Batman in Russia," a WarnerMedia spokesperson said in a statement quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.

Sony said that it was pausing the release of Morbius in Russia.

"Given the ongoing military action in Ukraine and the resulting uncertainty and humanitarian crisis unfolding in that region, we will be pausing our planned theatrical releases in Russia, including the upcoming release of Morbius," a Sony Pictures Entertainment spokesperson said as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.

The Batman was to open in Russia this week, Morbius was due out at the end of March, while Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red had been slated to open on March 10.

Amid Russia's ongoing operation in Ukraine to demilitarise and 'denazify' the country, American financial services corporation Visa has issued a statement, saying that it "is taking prompt action to ensure compliance with applicable sanctions, and is prepared to comply with additional sanctions that may be implemented".

The Remstroyservis internet provider based in the Kazakh town of Shakhtinsk said on Tuesday that it had restored broadcasts of Russian federal TV channels on its network.

Remstroyservis suspended broadcasts of Russian federal TV channels on its network on Monday due to their position on covering the situation in Ukraine.

"Dear subscribers! The broadcasting of Russian channels has been restored. We apologize for the temporary inconvenience," the provider posted on Telegram.

The federation also said it will not be sending its athletes or officials to events in Russia and Belarus.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Walt Disney Company says it is halting the release of theatrical films in Russia over the Ukraine situation.

"Given the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the tragic humanitarian crisis, we are pausing the release of theatrical films in Russia, including the upcoming Turning Red from Pixar," Disney said in a statement posted on its official Twitter page on Monday.

The company added that it was working with non-governmental organizations "to provide urgent aid and other humanitarian assistance to refugees."

Disney said it was going to make future decisions "based on the evolving situation."

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian army has destroyed 1,146 military infrastructure facilities in Ukraine, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov told reporters.

"Since the beginning of the special operation, the Russian Armed Forces have hit 1,146 objects of the military infrastructure of Ukraine," Konashenkov said.

"Among them: 31 command posts and communications centers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 81 S-300, Buk M-1 and Osa anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as 75 radar stations," he added.

Also, according to Konashenkov, "operational-tactical aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit 6 columns of armored vehicles of the Ukrainian armed forces."

In addition, 311 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 42 aircraft and helicopters (including on the ground), 51 multiple rocket launchers, 147 field artillery pieces and mortars, 263 units of special military vehicles were destroyed, Konashenkov said.

It noted that the meeting "also touched upon some other issues on the bilateral agenda, including in the military-political sphere."