LIVE UPDATES: DPR Forces Urge Ukrainian Military to Discuss Humanitarian Corridor From Mariupol

Semyonov added that the safest route for evacuation from Mariupol is a Novoazovsk humanitarian corridor, because an exit towards Zaporizhzhia, proposed by the Ukrainian authorities, is dangerous due to fighting.

Dujarric added that Guterres is also in talks with Ukrainian and Russian officials.

The whole facility was affected by the conflict, Grossi said. The project was the product of cooperation between Ukraine and the Obama administration and its destruction is "very regrettable," he added.

The recent pullout of the largest oil and gas companies out of Russia is very significant and will have a profound impact on the global energy market, US Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry said on Monday.

"I think the decision of some of our largest oil and gas producing companies in the world to pull out of Russia is very significant and will have profound impact," Kerry said during the opening of the Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) Week conference. "And many other companies are pulling back. I think that's part of this movement, if you will, people realize it's a serious moment for all of us in the world."

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday an extra 175 million pounds ($230 million) in aid for Ukraine and called on "Ukraine’s friends" around the world to create a coalition of humanitarian, economic and defensive military support to ensure that Russia's military operation "fails."

"I am announcing a further £175 million of UK aid to Ukraine, £100 million of which will be provided directly to the Ukrainian government," Johnson told a press briefing alongside his Canadian and Dutch counterparts, Justin Trudeau and Mark Rutte.

He said the new funds would take the UK’s total aid to Ukraine to 400 million pounds.

US sanctions on Russia over their ongoing military operation in Ukraine carry costs including volatile energy prices that are already being seen in the market, Climate Envoy John Kerry said on Monday.

"I think it is clear that we should do exactly what we are doing with President Biden and our allies. There may be costs, and obviously energy is turbulent right now. We see the volatility of price and demand," Kerry said during the opening of the Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) Week conference.

The city of Mariupol in the Donbass is completely surrounded, the cleansing of areas has begun, said Alexander Semyonov, deputy commander of the Vostok battalion of the DPR.

"You can't simply close down use of oil and gas overnight, even from Russia. That's obviously not something that every country around the world can do," Johnson told a press briefing alongside his Canadian and Dutch counterparts. "Clearly, there is going to be a transitional period. We are going to have to look for supply, we are going have to look for substitute supplies from elsewhere."

Car manufacturer Toyota Motor Corp. along with other Japanese car producers has instructed personnel located in Russia to return home to ensure their safety amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, Japanese Kyodo news agency reported on Monday.

Toyota plans to evacuate around 30 employees with 20 of their family members, claiming its decision is "based on the advice of the Japanese government and the situation of local businesses," the report said.

Japanese automakers Nissan, Subaru and Mitsubishi, which earlier halted vehicles supplies to Russia, have made similar arrangements regarding staff withdrawal, Kyodo said.

Kiev is ready to comply with the ceasefire agreement in Donbas to evacuate civilians through humanitarian corridors amid Russia's military operation in the country, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

"Evacuation through humanitarian corridors is possible only if the ceasefire regime is observed, for which the Ukrainian side is ready," the diplomatic mission wrote on Facebook.

The ministry also regarded the evacuation of the population through humanitarian corridors to the territory of Russia and Belarus as unacceptable.

Germany, the Netherlands and several other EU nations insist that the EU’s executive body should express its opinion about Ukraine’s readiness for the membership process, the report said. These countries want to focus on providing practical support to Kiev and helping end the current conflict in Ukraine rather than launching a process that could take many years, it added.

On Sunday, Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said that Moldova is currently not in a state of conflict. However, he urged the authorities to be ready for any scenario.

A road designated as a humanitarian corridor out of Ukraine's Mariupol turned out to be mined, the director of operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday.

Dominik Stillhart told a BBC morning show that the ICRC was leading a convoy of displaced Ukrainian civilians out of the southern port city on Sunday. He did not say which side of the conflict was suspected of mining the route.

"Our people were leading that convoy. They arrived at the first checkpoint only to realize that the road they were supposed to take was actually mined," Stillhart said.

The health aid charity is holding conversations with Russia and Ukraine to organize military-to-military talks and agree on roads and times for evacuations, "otherwise it will be difficult... to facilitate the agreement," Stillhart added.

Helicopters delivered members of the Ukrainian delegation to the place of negotiations with Russia in the Brest region of Belarus, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the scene.

The Ukrainian delegation arrived in two helicopters, they landed at a site not far from the place where the negotiations will take place.

The UK Foreign Office on Monday announced that it has dropped in-person consular assistance in Ukraine due to the “deteriorating security situation” following Russia's ongoing military operation in Ukrainian territory.

“The UK Government can no longer provide in-person consular assistance in Ukraine due to the deteriorating security situation,” the ministry said on Twitter.

The foreign office said that UK nationals should instead call its 24-hour helpline.

Russia and Ukraine plan to discuss political, humanitarian aspects and a military settlement during the third round of talks in Belarus, the head of the Russian delegation, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said on Monday.

"All the same issues will be discussed: three blocks of issues — the issue of internal political settlement, international humanitarian aspects and issues of military settlement," he told reporters.

Russia will try again today to discuss with Ukraine the organization of humanitarian corridors, Medinsky said.

"We will try again today with the Ukrainian side to discuss the mode of operation of humanitarian corridors, since in all the cities in which we promised, these corridors are open from the side of our army and the armed forces of Donbass, the fire has ceased," he told reporters.

The third round of negotiations between the delegations of Ukraine and Russia will begin at 14:00 GMT, the composition of the Ukrainian delegation will remain the same, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office and a member of the Ukrainian delegation, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Monday.

"Negotiations with the Russian Federation. Third round. Beginning at 16.00 Kiev time. Delegation unchanged," Podolyak tweeted.

A meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is planned on the sidelines of the Diplomacy Forum in Antalya with the participation of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik on Monday.

"In accordance with the agreement reached during a telephone conversation between the presidents of Russia and Turkey, on the initiative of the Turkish leader, on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomatic Forum, a meeting is planned between ... Lavrov and ... Kuleba with the participation of ... Cavusoglu," Zakharova said.

EU believes that China can contribute to ending the conflict in Ukraine thanks to its close relations with Russia, Peter Stano, the spokesman for the external affairs of the European Union, said on Monday.

"China has the potential to reach out to Moscow because of the relationship, obviously, and we would like China to use its influence to press for a ceasefire," Stano told a briefing.

An airplane carrying Russian diplomats and their families expelled from the United States has landed in Moscow, Russian Presidential Office Spokeswoman Elena Krylova told Sputnik on Monday.

The plane carrying about 50 people, including members of Russia's UN mission and their families, left the John F. Kennedy International Airport on Sunday.

"The airplane has successfully landed," Krylova said.

Ukrainian nationalists again prevent the residents of Mariupol and Volnovakha from leaving through the humanitarian corridors, the spokesman for the People's Militia of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Eduard Basurin, said on Sunday.

The aerospace company Boeing said it is suspending buying titanium — crucial for manufacturing its commercial jets and military aircraft — from Russia, as well as closes its engineering offices in Moscow and Kiev, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The company has also decided to stop sending spare plane parts to Russian airlines, the newspaper added.

An additional 400 troops will arrive in Lithuania from the United States in the coming days, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday.

"An additional 400 personnel from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team will be arriving in Lithuania in the days to come," Blinken told reporters during his visit to Lithuania, as broadcast by LRT.

He reiterated the US commitment to Article 5 of the NATO Charter, noting that in the event of aggression against NATO countries, the US, with partners and allies, will defend "every inch of NATO territory."

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, on Monday threatened Russia with invasion as Moscow's operation in Ukraine continues.

"We remember everyone and everything, and we will never forget anyone. You will not hide anywhere: neither behind the fences of your houses, nor in villas in Miami, nor on a yacht in the Seychelles or in a bunker in the Urals ... You came to our land and to our families — we will come to yours," Danilov wrote on Facebook.

As a result of shelling by Ukrainian troops, part of the Petrovsky district of Donetsk was left without electricity, according to the DPR representative office in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire (JCCC).

The Hague District Court Judge, Hendrik Steenhuis, said on Monday that the court considers it appropriate to continue investigating the case of flight MH17's downing in 2014, despite the situation in Ukraine.

The Philippine Foreign Ministry has raised the alarm level for Ukraine, and has made the evacuation of Filipinos from the country mandatory, CNN Philippines reports.

Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday called for imposing new sanctions on Russia, a boycott of Russian exports, in particular, the rejection of oil and oil products, as well as a boycott of imports.

"If the invasion continues and Russia has not abandoned its plans against Ukraine, then a new sanctions package is needed. New sanctions, new sanctions steps against war, for the sake of peace. Boycott of Russian exports, in particular, the rejection of oil and oil products from Russia, this can be called an embargo ... Boycott of imports to Russia," Zelensky said in a video address.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk on Monday called on Russia to agree to the opening of humanitarian corridors, with people being evacuated to Ukrainian territory.

Evacuations of people, including citizens of foreign countries and more than 2,000 students, should take place exclusively to the settlements located on the territory of Ukraine, Vereshchuk told a briefing.

The official called on the leadership of France, the UK and the US to help open "real" humanitarian corridors.

On Sunday, Turkish and Russian presidents, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin, held telephone conversation on the situation in Ukraine. The negotiations lasted about an hour. On Monday, the Russian armed forces announced a ceasefire from 10:00 a.m. (07:00 GMT) for the residents of Ukraine's Kiev, Mariupol, Kharkiv, Sumy to leave the cities.

Russia's delegation has left for Belarus for the third round of negotiations with Ukraine expected on Monday, a Sputnik corresponded reported.

Belarus has already hosted the two previous rounds of the Moscow-Kiev talks — on 28 February and 2 March, respectively.

The United States and NATO have provided Ukraine with more than 17,000 anti-tank weapons in less than a week, The New York Times newspaper reported.

The supplies included Javelin missiles, which were transported over the borders of Poland and Romania. They were unloaded from giant military cargo planes so they can make the trip by land to Kiev and other major cities, the newspaper added.

The Chinese Embassy in Ukraine said on Monday that Beijing had evacuated most of its nationals from Ukraine amid Russia's special military operation.

"By now the majority of Chinese compatriots have been evacuated from Ukraine," the embassy posted in Chinese messenger WeChat.

The embassy noted that the situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate, therefore the embassy advised Chinese nationals still remaining in Ukraine to leave the country as soon as possible.

According to the embassy, some 6,000 Chinese nationals were in Ukraine, mostly students and employees of various enterprises with Chinese capital. On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin told a briefing that over 3,000 citizens have been already evacuated from Ukraine.

Additionally, the minister noted that the Russian-Chinese relations are not directed against third countries, and are based on the principle of non-alignment with blocs, noting that the two countries will continue to develop relations, despite any international changes.

The list also includes Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, and foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, among others.

On Sunday, US State Secretary Antony Blinken said that the US and the European Union were exploring the possibility of banning the import of Russian oil and energy products.

The humanitarian corridors will be opened for residents of Kiev, Kharkov, Mariupol, and Sumy at 07:00 GMT.

"Given the catastrophic humanitarian situation and its sharp aggravation in the cities of Kiev, Kharkov, Sumy and Mariupol, as well as at the personal request of the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the Russian Armed Forces announce a ceasefire and open humanitarian corridors from 10.00 [07:00 GMT] March 7, 2022," the statement said.

NEW YORK (Sputnik) - Russian diplomats who have been expelled from the United Nations by the US have left New York with their families and are now headed to Moscow, the Russian mission to the UN told Sputnik.

A plane carrying a total of about 50 people departed the John F. Kennedy International Airport on Sunday.