Europe

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/: Kiev is proposing that Ukraine become a Swedish or Austrian version of a demilitarized state that has its own armed forces, said Kremlin Aide Vladimir Medinsky, who leads Russia’s delegation at the talks.

"The preservation and development of Ukraine’s neutral status, a demilitarization of Ukraine, a whole range of issues related to the size of the Ukrainian armed forces are being discussed," he said. "Ukraine is proposing the Austrian, Swedish versions of a neutral demilitarized state, which is a state that has an army and a navy."

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/: Moscow’s move to sanction US President Joe Biden does not mean that Russia refuses to hold contacts with the United States, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

"These sanctions don’t mean a refusal to hold contacts," he pointed out. "Contacts can resume if need be," Peskov added.

He also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had not talked with his US counterpart after the launch of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.

KHARKIV, Ukraine, March 16 (Reuters) - In Kharkiv's regional infectious diseases hospital, doctors escort those COVID-19 patients they can down to the bomb shelter in the basement when the air raid sirens sound.

But the most seriously ill, needing constant oxygen supply, cannot be moved, even if this means leaving them vulnerable to Russian bombardment.

"The ones in critical condition remain in their rooms. If we bring them down here they will simply die," said Pavlo Nartov, the hospital's director.

PUTNA, Romania, March 16 (Reuters) - When 75-year-old Svetlana and her family from the city of Krivoy Rog in central Ukraine reached the snow-covered Putna Monastery in the rolling hills of northeastern Romania, they had been on the road for four days.

The monks living at the remote 15th century Romanian Orthodox monastery, a pilgrimage site that sits in a valley covered in dense forest, have opened its doors to people like Svetlana who have fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries in their millions since Russia began its invasion on Feb. 24.

LISBON, March 16 (Reuters) - Portugal will implement all sanctions decided at EU level against Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich but is not able to ban him from entering the country because he is a citizen, Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said on Wednesday.

KYIV/LVIV, Ukraine, March 16 (Reuters) - New talk of compromise from both Moscow and Kyiv on a status for Ukraine outside of NATO lifted hope on Wednesday for a potential breakthrough after three weeks of war.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said negotiations were becoming "more realistic", while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said proposals now being discussed were "close to an agreement".

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered his troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, said Moscow was ready to discuss neutral status for its neighbour.

MOSCOW, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Russia on Tuesday sent a notice of withdrawal from the Council of Europe to the organization's Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric, Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"The states of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the European Union, abusing their majority in the Council of Europe, are consistently turning this organization into an instrument of anti-Russian policy, refusing equal dialogue and all the principles on which this pan-European structure was created," the ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Council President Charles Michel discussed the Ukrainian situation during a phone conversation on Tuesday, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The leaders exchanged views on Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and measures to evacuate civilians, said the statement.

Putin outlined his assessments of the ongoing negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations on a possible settlement of the crisis, it said.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that talks were “moving forward” for the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been detained in Iran for almost six years.

Johnson confirmed a negotiating team was at work in Tehran to free Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who holds dual U.K.-Iranian citizenship. Johnson’s comments were made on a visit to the Middle East, coming a day after Iran returned the passport of the charity worker.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations’ top court is set to rule Wednesday on a request by Ukraine for its judges to order Russia to halt its devastating invasion.

But it remains to be seen if Moscow would comply with any order made by the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, which is sometimes known as the World Court.

Russia snubbed a hearing last week at which lawyers for Ukraine accused their powerful neighbor of “resorting to tactics reminiscent of medieval siege warfare” in its brutal assault.