Europe

LVIV, Ukraine, March 14 (Reuters) - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on the West on Monday to supply Ukraine with weapons and apply more sanctions on Russia to help prevent other countries being dragged into a wider conflict.

Ukraine has repeatedly urged its allies to do more to help it resist the Russian invasion that began on Feb. 24. Some Western governments fear that doing so could pull other countries, including NATO member states, into the war.

LVIV, Ukraine, March 14 (Reuters) - The fourth round of talks between Ukraine and Russia on Monday will focus on achieving a ceasefire, troop withdrawals and security guarantees for Ukraine, one of the Ukrainian negotiators Mykhailo Podolyak said.

Ukraine's position remained unchanged in insisting on a ceasefire before talks on future relations could happen, he said in a social media post and accompanying video.

MOSCOW/KIEV, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Russian and Ukrainian delegations will resume talks on Monday via video link, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

"Negotiations go non-stop in the format of video conferences. Working groups are constantly functioning. A large number of issues require constant attention. On Monday, March 14, a negotiating session will be held to sum up the preliminary results," Mykhailo Podoliak, advisor to the Head of the President's Office of Ukraine, tweeted on Sunday night.

AMSTERDAM (AP) — The Dutch and Australian governments have launched a legal case against Russia at the International Civil Aviation Organization seeking to hold Moscow accountable for its alleged role in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

The case announced Monday in The Hague and Canberra is the latest bid to hold Russia legally responsible for the missile strike that brought down the passenger jet over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board.

PARIS (AP) — France lifted most COVID-19 restrictions on Monday, abolishing the need to wear face masks in most settings and allowing people who aren’t vaccinated back into restaurants, sports arenas and other venues.

The move had been announced earlier this month by the French government based on assessments of the improving situation in hospitals and following weeks of a steady decline in infections. It comes less than a month before the first round of the presidential election scheduled on April 10.

BERLIN (AP) — More than 1,000 security personnel walked off their jobs Monday at airports across Germany, leading to dozens of flight cancellations and delays.

Security staffers at airports in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hannover and elsewhere began their one-day strike at midnight to press for higher wages, German news agency dpa reported.

The walkouts are part of a wage dispute between Verdi union and the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies. The union is negotiating with the employers’ association for a new agreement for about 25,000 security staff nationwide.

LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s military forces kept up their punishing campaign to capture Ukraine’s capital with fighting and artillery fire in Kyiv’s suburbs Monday after an airstrike on a military base near the Polish border brought the war dangerously close to NATO’s doorstep.

Residents of besieged Ukrainian cities held out hope that renewed diplomatic talks might open the way for more civilians to evacuate or emergency supplies to reach areas where food, water and medicine are running short.

MARIUPOL, Ukraine (AP) — A pregnant woman and her baby have died after Russia bombed the maternity hospital where she was meant to give birth, The Associated Press has learned. Images of the woman being rushed to an ambulance on a stretcher had circled the world, epitomizing the horror of an attack on humanity’s most innocent.

BELGRADE, March 13. /TASS/: Serbia will remain a military neutral state and will not join NATO, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who is running for a second term, said at the election rally of the Serbian Progressive Party in Backa Palanka on Sunday.

"Someone says: "Never say never, maybe we will join NATO someday." But I say: we don't need to join NATO. I think Serbia should remain militarily neutral, protect its military neutrality and develop its army," the Serbian President said.

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/: Half of the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Bank of Russia have been frozen due to sanctions, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in an interview with the Rossiya 1 TV channel.

"This is about half of these reserves that we had. We have a total amount of reserves of about $640 bln. Currently we cannot use about $300 billion of these reserves," he said.