LIVE UPDATES: US Not Planning at Present Biden Trip to Ukraine, White House Says

Japan is imposing additional sanctions against 398 individuals and 28 organizations from Russia in light of the events in Ukraine, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Among the individuals whose assets will be frozen are members of the Russian State Duma, including Valery Rashkin, Vasily Piskarev, Pyotr Tolstoy, Leonid Slutsky, Irina Yarovaya and others. Among the military personnel, under sanctions will be Navy Commander-in-Chief Nikolai Yevmenov, First Deputy Navy Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Kasatonov, Russian Ground Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleg Salyukov and others.

Among the organizations on the sanctions list are JSC NPK Tekhmash, the Ryazan Design Bureau Globus and others.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after talks with senior Indian officials that the Biden administration hopes its allies and partners will not increase purchases of Russian energy.

Six Russian diplomats have been declared personae non gratae in France, the French Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

“After a lengthy investigation, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) on Sunday, April 10, uncovered a covert operation carried out by Russian special services on our territory. Six Russian agents operating under diplomatic cover and whose activities were contrary to our national interests have been declared personae non gratae,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that it had summoned a representative of the Russian embassy to inform him about Paris’ decision.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow will respond to the expulsion of diplomats from France.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will discuss with their Indian counterparts on Monday anti-Russia sanctions compliance and energy, a senior US administration official told reporters.

"Throughout the course of the 2 plus 2 today, Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin of course will have a chance to go over these issues and many more including sanctions compliance, again, cooperation on food supply... [and] energy," the official said.

The United States is not planning at present a visit by President Joe Biden to Ukraine, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Monday.

Moscow has informed the United Nations that a number of provocations are being prepared in Ukraine, including a staged discovery of a mass grave in Rakovka, near Kiev, to frame Russia, deputy envoy to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy said on Monday.

"Just over the past few days we have transmitted to the UN information on the following provocations that are being prepared," Polyanskiy said. "A staged discovery of mass graves in the town of Rakovka near Kiev."

In addition, Western journalists have arrived in the town of Kremennaya ahead of a false flag attack by Ukrainian forces which is intended to accuse Russian troops of shelling ambulances carrying patients.

"In the town of Belogorovka a chlorine reserve has been mined on the territory of a water canal. The plan is to blow it up when units of the national militia of the Lugansk People’s army approach," he continued. "In the town of Irpin, in the Kiev region, a provocation using the same script as in Bucha .... is being prepared. Members of the Ukrainian security forces intend to transport bodies from the morgue of the local hospital, put them in the basement in the suburb of the town. Then, the Ukrainian forces will organize a staged event of the shooting and elimination of the supposed special operation group from Russia that came from Irpin to kill witnesses of 'Russian war crimes.''

"We expect the circulation of videos of the staged events by western media," he added.

The deadly missile strike on the train station in Kramatorsk must be investigated and any clams in the case should be based on the facts, China's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United NDai Bing said on Monday.

"China deplores that dozens of civilians including women and children were killed or injured in the attack on Kramatorsk train stating," Dai told a UN Security Council meeting. "The relevant circumstances and specific cause for the incident must be investigated and any claim should be based on facts."

On April 8, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) headquarters said that Ukrainian troops used a Tochka-U missile in an attack on the railway station in Kramatorsk. The DPR authorities said at least 50 people were killed and 87 others were injured in the attack.

Several countries are considering tank deliveries to Ukraine, a senior US defense official said on Monday.

"As far as I know, there are several nations that are considering that [tank deliveries to Ukraine]. And some tanks by some nations have been delivered to Ukraine. These are tanks that they know how to use - largely T-72s," the official told reporters.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said on Saturday that the Ukrainian conflict will end on the battlefield, pledging an additional 500 million euros ($543 million) from the European Peace Facility to Kiev.

The official also added that eight to 10 flights per day are carrying military materiel into Ukraine.

"You're talking about 8 to 10 flights per day into the region and there are constant convoys on the ground of materiel that are moving into the country and that continues and we want to preserve that," the official told reporters.

The United States is not aware of any plans to provide the S-400 air defense system to Ukraine, the official noted.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on Monday that his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin was open and direct but tough.

The chancellor added that he told Putin that sanctions against Russia will stay and get tougher as "people die in Ukraine."

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares welcomed the attempts to establish a dialogue with Moscow during the meeting between Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday.

Nehammer arrived in Moscow on Sunday for talks with Putin on the situation in Ukraine. On Saturday, he visited Ukraine, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, and Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

"Of course, despite my skepticism [to the prospects of the meeting], any attempts to build bridges and establish dialogue is good," Albares told reporters before the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg.

The top Spanish diplomat expressed hesitancy over the result of the Putin-Nehammer talks.

"I don't expect anything significant from this trip," Albares added.

Austrian newspaper Kronen reported the completion of negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the meeting lasted about 90 minutes.

The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) head, Denis Pushilin, said on Monday that the DPR forces have captured the Mariupol port.