Europe

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Vladimir Putin vowed Tuesday that Russia’s bloody offensive in Ukraine would continue until its goals are fulfilled, and insisted the campaign was going as planned, despite a major withdrawal in the face of stiff Ukrainian opposition and significant losses.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine investigated a claim that a poisonous substance was dropped on besieged Mariupol, as Western officials warned Tuesday that any use of chemical weapons by Russia would be a serious escalation of the already devastating war.

WARSAW, April 11. /TASS/: Polish authorities have occupied a building in Warsaw, which is Russian diplomatic real estate, Russian Ambassador to Poland Sergey Andreev told Russian journalists on Monday.

"This morning, bailiffs arrived to the object of our diplomatic property in Warsaw at Sobieski, 100 and demanded to give the Polish state treasury represented by the Warsaw City Hall this building," the ambassador said.

MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer have finished their talks at the Russian president’s residence in Novo-Ogaryovo, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told TASS on Monday.

"Yes, the meeting is over," he said. He did not say however how long the talks lasted.

It was the first contact between the two leaders after Nehammer took office late in 2021. Apart from that, Nehammer’s visit was the first visit by an EU leader to Russia since the launch of the special military operation in Ukraine.

MOSCOW, April 11./TASS/: The seizure of Russian diplomatic property in Poland may prompt a ‘long trail’ of consequences for both sides, Russian Ambassador in Warsaw Sergey Andreyev warned on Monday.

"This should be properly considered, since it is clear that when one of the parties violates the law this way, this entails certain consequences, decisions for the other side," the Russia diplomat told Channel One TV channel.

VIENNA, April 11. /TASS/: The talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin were very harsh and open, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said after the meeting in Moscow, the Austrian Press Agency reported Monday.

According to Nehammer’s statement, "this was not a friendly visit."

"My most important message to Putin was that this war must finally end, because there are losers on both sides of a war," he said.

The Chancellor expressed his opinion that the people involved in "serious war crimes in [Ukraine’s] Bucha ad other places" must be brought to responsibility.

BRUSSELS, April 11 (Reuters) - The European Union will halt part of its training of Mali's armed forces, the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday, citing a lack of guarantees from Malian authorities that Russian military contractors would not interfere in the work.

The decision is likely to add to international concern about the longevity of the U.N. peacekeeping mission (MINUSMA) and the European Union's EUTM and EUCAP missions, after France and its allies began withdrawing from Mali earlier this year.

PARIS, April 11 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday he was prepared to travel to Kyiv or any other city in Ukraine only if he felt his visit would help in the current crisis.

"I am ready to go anywhere and even to Kyiv if it could be useful, if it would help start a dialogue," Macron told BFM television.

KYIV, April 11 (Reuters) - Ukraine's deputy prime minister on Monday accused Russia of holding civilians, including journalists, activists and elected officials, in prisons on Russian territory.

"We have many priests, journalists, activists, mayors, and in general civilians who are in prisons, not, for example, even on the territory of Ukraine, but in (the) Kursk, Bryansk, Rostov (regions of Russia)... They are forcibly held" there, Iryna Vereshchuk said in televised comments.

April 11 (Reuters) - Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv came under heavy shelling on Monday, causing multiple casualties including one dead child, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said in a televised interview.

When asked about the risk of a new Russian assault on the city, which Ukraine's defence ministry recently warned of, Terekhov said that Ukrainian forces were focused and ready to defend the city.

"There is no panic in the city," Terekhov said.