War in Ukraine: Latest developments
Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:
- Blinken to visit Ukraine -
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Kyiv on Sunday as the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its third month.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who announced the visit, also issues a new call for a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin "to end the war".
- UN chief criticised -
Zelensky criticises a decision by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to visit Moscow on Tuesday, instead of travelling first to Kyiv.
Guterres will meet Zelensky on Thursday, but the Ukrainian leader argues there is "no justice and no logic" in his visiting Russia first.
- Eight killed in Odessa -
A Russian strike on a residential building on Saturday kills eight people, including a baby, and wounds at least 18 others in Ukraine's Black Sea city of Odessa, Kyiv says.
Nearby, a depot containing weapons delivered by the United States and European countries to Ukrainian forces is struck by a missile, Russia's defence ministry announces.
- Pope urges Easter truce -
Pope Francis renews calls for a truce over the Orthodox Easter weekend, "to ease the suffering of exhausted people".
"It is sad that on these most holy and solemn days for Christians we hear more of the murderous noise of weapons than that of the bells announcing the resurrection" of Christ, says the pontiff.
- UN calls for 'stop' in Mariupol fighting -
UN Ukraine crisis coordinator Amin Awad calls for an "immediate stop" to fighting in Mariupol to allow the evacuation of trapped civilians in the battered city "today".
"The lives of tens of thousands, including women, children and older people, are at stake in Mariupol," Awad says in a statement. "We need a pause in fighting right now to save lives."
- Zelensky Mariupol warning -
Ukraine leader Zelensky stresses that Kyiv will abandon peace talks with Moscow if its troops in the besieged port city are killed.
- EU to press India over Ukraine -
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives in India, where she will press leaders over the country's neutral stance on the Ukraine war.
New Delhi has long walked a tightrope in its relations with the West and Moscow -- which supplies most of India's arms.
- OSCE 'concerned' over missing members -
The world's largest security body says it is "extremely concerned" after several of its Ukrainian members were believed to have been arrested in pro-Russian separatist territories in the country's east.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) evacuated many of its staff from the country after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
- UK urges France and Germany to do more -
Britain says "it would be good to see more from France and Germany" to support the Ukraine war effort.
Minister Oliver Dowden tells the BBC that the West should "continue to tighten the ratchet on Russia" as Moscow ramps up its offensives in the south and east of Ukraine.
- Russia blocks chess website -
The popular website Chess.com, which boasts 50 million members worldwide, is blocked in Russia after publishing two critical articles on the situation in Ukraine branded "false information" by the authorities.
