Europe

BERLIN, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Germany's Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) on Wednesday announced the first stage, or the early warning level, of the gas emergency plan, saying that it's for "precautionary purposes."

"Security of supply continues to be guaranteed," said Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck, stressing that there were "no supply bottlenecks currently."

MOSCOW/KIEV, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Russian and Ukrainian delegations held "constructive" negotiations in Turkey on Tuesday, raising the curtain on concrete efforts of both sides to broker a solution to the current conflict.

During the fifth round of talks, or the fourth face-to-face meeting, which lasted for about three hours in Istanbul, the two sides finally clinched some progress in exploring possible ways out of the tensions. Local media reported that consultations will continue via video link.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland announced steps Wednesday to end all Russian oil imports by year’s end, while Germany issued a warning about natural gas levels and called on people to conserve, new signs of how Russia’s war in Ukraine has escalated tensions about securing energy supplies to power Europe.

MEDYKA, Poland (AP) — The number of people who have fled Ukraine since Russian troops invaded has surpassed 4 million, the United Nations reported Wednesday as shelling continued in places where Moscow had vowed to ease its military operations.

“I do not know if we can still believe the Russians,” refugee Nikolay Nazarov, 23, said as he crossed Ukraine’s border into Poland with his wheelchair-bound father.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis allegedly authorized negotiating an exit strategy for a key figure in the Vatican’s bungled London real estate investment and was so satisfied with the outcome that he paid for a celebratory dinner at a fancy Roman fish restaurant the night the 15-million- euro payout closed, a defendant in the Vatican’s extortion trial testified Wednesday.

MEDYKA, Poland (AP) — The number of Ukrainians who have fled the Russian war reached the dramatic new landmark of 4 million people, the United Nations announced Wednesday, as Moscow kept up its attacks — even in places where it had vowed to ease its military operations.

“I do not know if we can still believe the Russians,” said Nikolay Nazarov, a young man who fled from Kharkiv with his father in a wheelchair as he crossed the border into Poland.

Berlin, Mar 30 (AP) The German government said Wednesday it was triggering the early warning level for gas supplies amid concerns that Russia could cut off supplies unless it is paid in rubles.

Western nations have rejected the Russian demand for ruble payments, arguing it would undermine the sanctions imposed against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s pledge to scale back some military operations in Ukraine drew skepticism even as the two nations planned to return Wednesday to talks that could produce a framework for ending the war that has imposed an increasingly punishing toll.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there was no reason to believe Russia’s announcement that it would reduce military activity near Kyiv, the capital, as well as in the northern city of Chernihiv, given what’s happening on the ground.

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/: Lack of response from the Council of Europe, the EU and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to the abuse of Russian prisoners of war carried out by the Ukrainian military is criminal, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"They are keeping quiet. There is no response to these war crimes and gross violations of international humanitarian law. Their eyes are blurred by Russophobia," Zakharova noted.

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/: US President Joe Biden's personal insults to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have a negative impact on relations between the two countries, but the dialogue between Moscow and Washington is necessary in any case, it is in the interests of the whole world, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.