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Russia's President Vladimir Putin says his country will continue its yearlong "special military operation" in Ukraine, and he accused the US-led NATO alliance of fanning the flames.
Russia-Ukraine conflict would have cost world economy $1.6 trillion in 2022, according to a study published by the German Economic Institute.
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Council President Charles Michel discussed the situation in Ukraine during a phone conversation on Friday, the Kremlin said in a statement.
Michel informed Putin of his contacts with the Ukrainian leadership during a recent trip to Kyiv, and Putin outlined his assessment of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.
Responding to a call of Michel to have direct contact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Putin reiterated that such a possibility depends on concrete results in the ongoing peace talks, during which "the Ukrainian side is showing inconsistency and is not ready to seek mutually acceptable solutions."
Russia has canceled an assault on the industrial zone of the Azovstal plant in Ukraine's Mariupol and offered all the resistant forces there an opportunity to lay down arms and "receive decent treatment", Putin said.
He explained Russia's measures to protect civilians, including the opening of humanitarian corridors.
Michel "strongly urged for immediate humanitarian access and safe passage from Mariupol and other besieged cities all the more on the occasion of Orthodox Easter," he said on Twitter.
He also reiterated the position of the European Union (EU), which supports Ukraine and its sovereignty, and condemns sanctions for Russia's operation, he tweeted.
Putin criticized the "irresponsible statements" of EU officials about the need to settle the Ukraine issue via military means and their ignoring "numerous war crimes" by the Ukrainian forces, according to the statement.
He also denounced most EU countries' Russophobic policy in the cultural, humanitarian and sports fields.
MOSCOW - One of the tasks of the Russian Armed Forces during the ongoing second stage of the special military operation is to "establish full control over Donbass and southern Ukraine", Deputy Commander of Russia's Central Military District Rustam Minnekaev said Friday.
The control of Donbass will make it possible for Russia to create a land corridor to Crimea and influence Ukraine's vital facilities, including Black Sea ports where agricultural and metallurgical products are delivered to other countries, Minnekaev said at a defense industries meeting.
The control of Ukraine's south will open another way out to Transnistria, the major general added.
LISBON - Addressing the Portuguese parliament via video link, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday called on Portugal to send "heavy weapons" and strengthen the sanctions on Russia.
"I am grateful for the opportunity in this difficult time because you know how we are feeling, fighting for our independence, but also our survival," said Zelensky, referring to what Portugal experienced in history.
Zelensky's 15-minute speech received a standing ovation in the parliament attended by Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Antonio Costa.
Portuguese president said that the speech of his Ukrainian counterpart "showed gratitude" to Portugal and "a very strong desire to integrate the European family."
Ukrainian citizens will be allowed to seek temporary refuge in the US under a program the Biden administration announced Thursday.
The "Unite for Ukraine" program will allow individual Americans and nonprofits to financially support Ukrainian refugees starting next week. They can apply through an online portal that will be available on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) website starting Monday.
Individual sponsors or nonprofits can offer to temporarily open their homes to newcomers or donate money online to help cover temporary housing costs. People can also donate airline miles or purchase needed items for refugees.
Ukrainians who are selected to travel to the US under the initiative will be granted humanitarian parole, allowing them to bypass the visa and refugee programs, which typically take years to complete.
To be eligible for the humanitarian parole, Ukrainians must have been a resident of Ukraine as of Feb 11. Ukrainians will need to be first identified by their prospective Americans sponsors, as they will not be able to apply for the program directly, administration officials said.
Sponsors in the US also must undergo background screenings to make sure they are able to support the refugees.
If the sponsorship is approved, Ukrainians will be required to undergo a background check, complete vaccinations and other public health requirement, according to a DHS press release.
The program does not offer permanent status for Ukrainian refugees. Parole would allow Ukrainians to live and work in the US for two years.
The program is the first US policy aimed at fulfilling Biden's pledge of welcoming up to 100,000 Ukrainians. More than 11 million people are believed to have fled their homes in Ukraine since the conflict began, according to the United Nations.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported that it detained more than 5,000 migrants from Ukraine in March, more than four times the 1,150 Ukrainians detained the previous month.
US immigration officials have processed nearly 15,000 undocumented Ukrainians in the past three months, most of them along the Mexican border, a senior DHS official said during a call with reporters Thursday.
In early March, US officials at border crossings were directed to consider admitting Ukrainians under humanitarian exemptions to the Title 42 pandemic restrictions, which are pandemic restrictions deployed by the Trump administration to expel migrants on the basis of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the administration said on Thursday that when the new parole program goes live, Ukrainians who present themselves at a border port of entry will be denied entry into the US like other nationalities.
"Ukrainian nationals who present and do not have a visa or have not gone through the 'Uniting for Ukraine' program will no longer be paroled, unless they have some other factor that would lead a border official, a CBP officer, to make a case-by-case determination that do they merit a humanitarian exception for Title 42," the senior DHS official told reporters on Thursday.
Ukrainians "may be refused entry under our existing laws. As I think everybody knows, we are continuing to enforce the public health authority under Title 42 at the land border to the 23rd [of May]. That will be the case for all nationalities," an administration official said.
Ukrainians entering the US through the parole program could face legal limbo if they decide to stay permanently in the country because they have no clear path to the US residency, just like tens of thousands of Afghan evacuees who were paroled last year after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan.
The Biden administration set out to resettle up to 125,000 refugees from across the globe in fiscal year 2022. Now halfway through this fiscal year, 8,758 refugees have been admitted so far, State Department figures show. In March, a dozen Ukrainians entered the US as refugees.
"Relying on temporary parole amounts to putting bandages on open wounds. The administration cannot continue to lurch from one crisis to another without increasing overall capacity for permanent protection in the United States," Sunil Varghese, Policy Director at the International Refugee Assistance Project, told ABC News.
State-owned buildings in Italy - including schools, libraries, and government offices - will be hotter than usual this summer because of a federal drive to reduce reliance on Russian gas.
The Mediterranean country, where August temperatures usually exceed 30 C, announced this week it will not let the managers of public buildings set air conditioners to anything less than 25 C. During the winter, public buildings must not be heated above 19 C.
The rules will kick in on May 1 and remain in place until the end of March.
The government said it made the move because of the prohibitively high cost of energy, and also to signal to Russia its disapproval of the situation in Ukraine.
"Do we want to have peace or do we want to have the air conditioning on?" Prime Minister Mario Draghi said ahead of the unveiling of Operation Thermostat.
Rome also agreed on Wednesday to buy more natural gas from the southern African country of Angola. It recently signed deals with countries including Algeria, Egypt, and the Congo Republic to buy more of their gas exports.
Draghi told the Corriere della Sera newspaper: "We do not want to depend on Russian gas any longer, because economic dependence must not become political subjection. Diversification is possible and can be implemented in a relatively short amount of time-quicker than we imagined just a month ago."
He said Italy will also support any sanctions or embargos the European Union places upon Moscow, in spite of the fact that it has traditionally imported around 45 percent of its natural gas from Russia.
The Il Messaggero newspaper said people who break the rules could face fines of between 500 euros and 3,000 euros ($546 and $3,275).
The paper said hospitals will be exempted from the rules, but family homes could end up being included.
Renato Brunetta, the minister for public administration, said the move should save between 2 billion and 4 billion cubic meters of gas a year. However, the savings are small in comparison to Italy's gas imports from Russia, which total around 29 billion cubic meters a year.
The Guardian newspaper quoted lawmaker Angela Masi as saying Italy's government is "setting a good example" by "cutting waste and raising awareness among citizens about rationalizing consumption".
"It's a simple way to contribute and reduce dependency on gas," Masi said.
The Reuters news agency said Rome thinks it will be able to wean itself off Russian gas by the second half of next year.
The country's ecological transition minister, Roberto Cingolani, told La Stampa newspaper on Thursday Europe's willingness to buy Russian gas had been a "serious geopolitical mistake of the last 20 years".
"It is pointless to think of solving it in a month," he said, but he insisted it would, nevertheless, eventually be resolved.
Blockade of steel plant ordered in place of military force to spare lives
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered a blockade of the Azovstal steel plant in the port city of Mariupol instead of storming it, local media reported.
The order was given after Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told Putin that the Russian military had controlled Mariupol apart from the plant where Ukrainian soldiers were still holed up, said the report.
Putin said plans to storm the plant were "inappropriate" during a meeting with Shoigu, preferring a blockade instead, according to the Kremlin.
"We must always think about preserving the lives and health of our soldiers and officers," Putin said, adding that the industrial area should nonetheless be blocked off entirely "so a single fly doesn't pass through".
Shoigu said more than 2,000 militants are blocked inside the plant, adding that the operation there would be completed within three or four days.
"We once again offer everyone who has not yet laid down their arms to do so," Putin said, adding that those soldiers who do so would be spared and receive necessary medical attention.
Commenting on the issue, a Ukrainian presidential adviser said Russia understands it cannot take Azovstal by force.
As for the fate of peace talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Moscow was still waiting for Kyiv's response after it had handed a document in connection with peace talks to the Ukrainian side.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday he had not seen or heard about the document that the Kremlin said it had sent to Ukraine.
Russia-Ukraine talks are continuing, Peskov added.
Ukraine had proposed talks with Moscow for the evacuation of troops and civilians from Mariupol after the deadline for a Russian-issued surrender-or-die ultimatum passed on Wednesday.
Ukraine had said it was ready for a "special round of negotiations "with no conditions "to save our guys, (the far right) Azov (battalion), military, civilians, children, the living and the wounded," negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted.
Missile test
The proposal from the Ukrainian government came as Russia drew attention to its military might with the test launch of a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile.
The Sarmat missile, which Putin said would make Moscow's enemies "stop and think", was test-launched for the first time from Plesetsk in northwestern Russia. The missile hit targets nearly 6,000 kilometers away on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East.
The attention surrounding the new missile also comes in the context of an order by Putin－days after he announced the special military operation on Feb 24－for the country's nuclear forces to be put on high alert.
The nuclear forces will start taking delivery of the new missile "in the autumn of this year" once testing is completed, state-owned news agency TASS quoted Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Roscosmos space agency, as saying on Wednesday.
Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of Russia's National Defence magazine, told the RIA news agency that the missile test was a signal to the West that Moscow was capable of meting out "crushing retribution that will put an end to the history of any country that has encroached on the security of Russia and its people".
Ukraine's Defense Ministry was not immediately available for comment.
European Council President Charles Michel made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Wednesday, and pledged European solidarity with Ukraine during a meeting with Zelensky.
Michel said the EU had provided Ukraine with 1.5 billion euros ($1.63 billion) of military equipment as well as imposed sanctions on Russia but would look for more ways to respond to Russia's military operation.
"I am convinced… that sooner or later we will target oil and gas," he said, without giving details.
Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.
MOSCOW -- Russia has imposed personal sanctions on 29 US citizens, including US Vice President Kamala Harris and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and 61 Canadian citizens, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
A total of 29 US citizens are included in Russia's "stop list" in response to the anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the US Joe Biden administration, the ministry said.
"Top US leaders, businessmen, experts and journalists, who are pursuing a Russophobic agenda, as well as the spouses of a number of high-ranking officials" are among those added to the list, and they will be denied entry to Russia for an indefinite term.
Russia has also included a group of Canadian government, defense, and media representatives in the country's "stop list" in response to "the Russophobic course" pursued by Canada. Sixty-one Canadian citizens will be prohibited from entering Russia.
The foreign ministry said the "stop list" would be expanded in the near future, in response to the hostile actions carried out by the United States and Canada.
MOSCOW - Russia has ordered the closure of Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian consular missions in St. Petersburg in a tit-for-tat move, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday.
The ambassadors of Latvia and Estonia and the Lithuanian charge d'affaires were summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry Thursday in protest over the closure of Russian consulates and expulsion of staff in these countries.
On the basis of reciprocity, and taking into account the military assistance that these countries are providing to Ukraine, Russia decided to "withdraw consent to the activities" of the three countries' consulate generals in St. Petersburg, as well as Latvia's consulate and Estonia's office in Pskov, a city close to the border with Estonia, according to the statement.
"The heads and other consular officials of the Estonian and Latvian consular missions are declared 'personae non gratae,'" the ministry added.
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered a blockade of the Azovstal plant in the port city of Mariupol instead of storming it, local media reported.
The order was given after Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin that the Russian military had controlled Mariupol apart from the plant where Ukrainian servicemen were still holed up, said the report.
Putin said plans to storm the plant were "inappropriate" during a meeting with Shoigu, preferring a blockade instead, according to the Kremlin.
"We must always think about preserving the lives and health of our soldiers and officers," Putin said, adding that the industrial area should nonetheless be blocked off entirely "so a single fly doesn't pass through".
Shoigu said more than 2,000 militants are currently blocked inside the plant, adding that the operation there would be completed within three or four days.
"We once again offer everyone who has not yet laid down their arms to do so," Putin said, adding that those soldiers who do so would be spared and receive necessary medical attention.
KYIV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday met with European Council President Charles Michel, appreciating the European Union (EU) for the support of Ukraine amid its conflict with Russia, Zelensky's press service reported.
"European partners have made a significant contribution to our military capabilities," Zelensky said.
In particular, he thanked the EU for allocating 1.5 billion euros (some $1.63 billion) within the European Peace Fund to finance the military needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Besides, Zelensky appreciated the EU for imposing sanctions on Russia and called for strengthening the restrictive measures by imposing a full energy embargo on Russia, including oil and gas imports.
For his part, Michel said the EU adopted a decision to provide military support to Ukraine, including equipment and weapons, in the first days of the conflict.
In addition, EU member states provided assistance at the bilateral level at the request of the Ukrainian state, Michel said.
"We will do everything we can for Ukraine to win, because we want the victory of Ukraine," said the president of the European Council.
Later in the day, Michel tweeted that the EU will create a Solidarity Trust Fund to help Ukraine in post-conflict recovery.
Michel arrived in Kyiv earlier in the day.
UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders to receive him to discuss steps to bring about peace following Russia's special military operation in its neighbor.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the secretary-general, said on Wednesday in a statement that separate letters were sent Tuesday afternoon to the permanent missions of Russia and Ukraine to the UN, asking Vladimir Putin to receive Guterres in Moscow and Volodymyr Zelensky to receive him in Kyiv.
"The secretary-general said, at this time of great peril and consequence, he would like to discuss urgent steps to bring about peace in Ukraine and the future of multilateralism based on the Charter of the United Nations and international law," Dujarric said.
"He noted that both Ukraine and the Russian Federation are founding members of the United Nations and have always been strong supporters of this organization," the spokesman added.
The top UN official on Tuesday called for a four-day humanitarian pause in fighting in Ukraine to allow for the opening of humanitarian aid corridors during the Orthodox Christian Holy Week.
During the proposed pause, Guterres stated, civilians would be evacuated from "current or expected areas of confrontation" and humanitarian aid would be delivered to desperately in needy places such as Mariupol, Donetsk, Lugansk and Kherson.
California's southern border has increasingly become a destination for Ukrainian refugees as thousands of them are traveling to Mexico's northern border to seek asylum in the United States.
The US government announced last month that the country would accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, but it hasn't said when the formal resettlement process will begin.
Many Ukrainians have chosen to arrive in Mexico, a country they can enter without a visa, to ask US immigration agents to let them in on humanitarian grounds.
In the Mexican border city of Tijuana, which has recently become a popular transit point for Ukrainian refugees, authorities have turned a sports complex into a makeshift shelter.
The new arrivals wait days in the shelter for their turn to be allowed entry into California. Some sleep in tents or on the floor of converted gyms, according to a Wednesday's report by The New York Times.
More than 5 million Ukrainians have escaped their country since Feb 24, according to the UN Refugee Agency. Tijuana has seen "a surprising influx" of Ukrainian refugees since the city started seeing arrivals as of March 11, Enrique Lucero, director of migrant affairs for the city, told CNN.
While he expects all the migrants to enter the US, Lucero said the American authorities have been slow to process them and that's why so many people have gathered.
The Department of Homeland Security is allowing Ukrainians, on a case-by-case basis, to be exempted from Trump-era pandemic restrictions that automatically expel migrants encountered at the US-Mexico border to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in holding facilities.
The Biden administration has kept the restrictions on migrants seek entry except unaccompanied children and some families. Those restrictions will end on May 23, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced recently.
Dozens of Ukrainian children have been separated from relatives, friends or older siblings with whom they have traveled to the southern border because of a law devised to prevent migrant children from being trafficked, according to the Times report.
The law requires US border authorities to place "unaccompanied minors" in government shelters, where they must remain until their guardians have been screened and approved.
The separations became controversial in 2018 when the administration of President Donald Trump intentionally removed children from migrant parents to discourage border crossings. The children, fleeing gang violence in Central America, were sent to government shelters.
Different from Trump's zero-tolerance policy, which caused thousands of family separations, President Joe Biden has reversed that practice, allowing entry to unaccompanied minors and some families.
US authorities haven't released figures on how many Ukrainian children have been separated from caregivers, but volunteers working with the refugees said they have counted at least 50. Up to 20 children have lately been arriving daily in Tijuana with someone other than a parent, they said.
Hundreds of Ukrainians seeking asylum at the border have already crossed into California from Mexico. They will likely go to cities that already have strong Ukrainian communities.
The Sacramento area in California is home to the highest concentration of Ukrainian immigrants in the US, with one in every 125 residents of Ukrainian descent, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The Seattle, Chicago and New York City areas are also hubs.
KYIV - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday his country stands ready for any format of prisoner exchange with Russia to free people from the besieged city of Mariupol, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.
"We are ready for any format of exchange for the sake of our people, both military and civilian," Zelensky said during a joint briefing with European Council President Charles Michel in Kyiv.
Currently, some 120,000 civilians remain in Mariupol, Zelensky said, noting that the humanitarian situation in the city is deteriorating.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that Ukraine and Russia have reached a preliminary agreement on establishing a humanitarian corridor to evacuate women, children and the elderly from the embattled city.
Mariupol, a key Azov Sea port city in eastern Ukraine, saw one of the worst violence in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Russia launched dozens of airstrikes across eastern Ukraine overnight on Tuesday amid "another phase" of the conflict, and United States President Joe Biden vowed to send more artillery to Ukraine.
Russia's defense ministry said that "high-precision air-based missiles" had hit 13 Ukrainian positions in parts of the Donbass region, while other airstrikes "hit 60 military assets," including in towns close to the eastern front line.
Ukraine's armed forces also confirmed that fighting had increased throughout the east, just hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia had kicked off a widely anticipated offensive in Donbass, Ukraine's industrial heartland.
"The Russian occupiers intensified offensive operations along the entire line of contact," the general staff of Ukraine's armed forces said in a report published early Tuesday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov appeared to acknowledge the new offensive during an interview with a leading Indian media outlet.
"Another phase of this operation is beginning, and I am sure it will be a very important moment in this entire special operation," Lavrov told India Today on Tuesday.
Ahead of the advance, Ukrainian authorities had urged people in Donbass to flee west to escape, even as officials called off evacuations from front-line cities for a third straight day due to ongoing fighting.
"No matter how many Russian soldiers are brought here, we will fight. We will defend ourselves," Zelensky had said late Monday on messaging app Telegram.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the United States, Britain and Canada pledged to send more artillery weaponry to Ukraine.
In a 90-minute video call, Biden and the allies discussed their diplomatic engagements and coordinated efforts to further impose "severe economic costs to hold Russia accountable," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
Biden, when asked by reporters during a visit to New Hampshire if the US would be sending more artillery to Ukraine, replied yes.
Biden is expected to announce another military aid package for Ukraine about the same size as the $800 million in aid announced last week, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
If the aid package is as large as expected, it would bring total US military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched a major military operation in February to well over $3 billion.
In London, United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson told lawmakers, "This will become an artillery conflict, they need support with more artillery, that is what we will be giving them ... in addition to many other forms of support."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would be sending Ukraine heavy artillery.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday the Russian armed forces shouldn't be allowed to win in Ukraine.
"Together with our partners in the (EU) and NATO, we are completely united in the opinion that Russia must not win this war," Scholz said.
Agencies contributed to this story.
ADDIS ABABA - The African Union (AU) on Tuesday called for dialogue and a peaceful solution to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat made the appeal during a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"I stressed for the need to respect international law and urged for dialogue for a peaceful solution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine," Mahamat tweeted.
According to the Russian Embassy in Ethiopia, Lavrov briefed Mahamat on the reasons and goals of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.
Formally established in July 2002, the 55-member pan-African bloc is headquartered in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.
UNITED NATIONS - The fundamental way to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine is to put an early end to the conflict, China's permanent representative to the United Nations Zhang Jun said on Tuesday.
"We call on Russia and Ukraine to adhere to the general direction of dialogue and negotiation, continuously narrow differences, and accumulate conditions for a ceasefire," Zhang told the Security Council meeting on the humanitarian issue of Ukraine.
On the protection of civilians, Zhang said that every effort must be made to reduce the harm to civilians caused by conflict.
"China once again calls on all parties to the conflict to exercise maximum restraint, strictly abide by international humanitarian law, protect civilians and civilian facilities, and facilitate evacuation and humanitarian assistance operations," said the envoy.
"The parties concerned should strengthen communication on humanitarian issues, and conduct coordination and cooperation on issues such as opening humanitarian corridors and organizing the safe evacuation of personnel," he added.
China appreciates the fact that the neighboring countries of Ukraine have provided "safe havens and humanitarian assistance," he said.
Speaking about sanctions, the envoy said, "We must pay attention to and eliminate the negative impact of sanctions."
"The vast number of developing countries that are not parties to the conflict have paid a heavy price for it. This is neither fair nor reasonable. The international community should strengthen coordination to keep food and energy supplies and prices stable, and avoid unnecessary export restrictions," Zhang said.
He pointed out that "arbitrary freeze of foreign exchange reserves of other countries also constitutes a violation of sovereignty, and is tantamount to weaponizing economic interdependence."
He called for an early end to such practices as they "undermine the foundation of world economic stability and bring new uncertainties and risks to international relations."
UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for a four-day humanitarian pause in fighting in Ukraine to allow for the opening of humanitarian aid corridors during the Orthodox Christian Holy Week.
"Today, I am calling for a four-day Holy Week humanitarian pause beginning on Holy Thursday and running through Easter Sunday, April 24th to allow for the opening of a series of humanitarian corridors," Guterres told reporters standing in front of the "Knotted Gun," or "Non Violence," an iconic sculpture of a large gun, the barrel of which is tied in a knot. The sculpture is the first thing that many visitors to UN headquarters in New York see as they enter the compound and symbolizes the world body's commitment to world peace.
Due to the intensifying Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine as Easter approaches, the UN chief said a humanitarian pause is all the more important.
During the proposed pause, Guterres stated, civilians would be evacuated from "current or expected areas of confrontation" and humanitarian aid would be delivered to desperately in needy places such as Mariupol, Donetsk, Lugansk and Kherson.
The top UN official said that more than 4 million people in those areas need assistance.
"The four-day Easter period should be a moment to unite around saving lives and furthering dialogue to end the suffering in Ukraine," Guterres said.
A day earlier, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths suggested that the time might be right for a ceasefire as the Orthodox Easter holiday approaches.
Kyiv - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday he had discussed the increase of aid for Kyiv with the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The parties talked about the increase of security assistance to Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia and the post-war reconstruction, Zelensky tweeted.
The Ukrainian leader also said he informed von der Leyen about the provision of the completed European Union (EU) questionnaire, which is a step toward Ukraine's EU integration.
For her part, von der Leyen tweeted that in their talks, the sides touched upon financial and security assistance for Kyiv, and Ukraine's replies to the questionnaire on EU membership.
On Monday, Zelensky handed over the questionnaire aimed at achieving his country's candidate status for the EU membership to the EU Ambassador to Ukraine Matti Maasikas.
Von der Leyen handed over a questionnaire to Zelensky during her visit to Kyiv on April 8.
Russia launched a major military operation in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as the country opened a new phase of its campaign.
With Moscow's special military operation now refocused on the eastern region of Donbass, United States officials were due to hold a video meeting with representatives of its allies on Tuesday to discuss the conflict.
"We can now confirm that Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbass, which they have been preparing for a long time," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the Telegram app late on Monday.
"No matter how many Russian soldiers are brought here, we will fight. We will defend ourselves."
Ahead of the widely anticipated advance, Ukrainian authorities had urged people in Donbass to flee west to escape. Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said the "second phase of the war" has started.
Shortly before Zelensky's address, the regional governor of the Lugansk region, Sergiy Gaiday, also announced the beginning of Russia's much-anticipated attack.
Russia's intensified move on the Donbass comes as much of the world's attention focuses on the besieged southern city of Mariupol, where vastly outnumbered Ukrainian troops are holding out against Russian forces.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich said Russian forces had not conquered the city.
Despite the desperate situation in Mariupol, where the last remaining Ukrainian forces have taken a final stand, a senior US Defense Department official said the port city "is still contested".
Amid the shift in Russia's military focus, the Ukrainian presidential office said on Monday that Zelensky had given the head of the European Union delegation in Kyiv a completed questionnaire that paves the way for Ukraine to gain the status of candidate for EU membership.
"This is an important signal. We believe that this procedure will take place in the coming weeks and that it will be positive for the history of our people," Zelensky said.
In other battlefield developments on Monday, Russia's Defense Ministry said it had hit 16 military targets across Ukraine.
Among the sites struck was a depot near the western city of Lviv that Moscow said held weapons recently delivered from the US and Europe.
Russia has also added 11 battalion tactical groups－consisting of, among other things, artillery, helicopters, and logistical support－to its forces in eastern Ukraine, the official added, bringing the total to 76 in the country.
More military supplies
Monday also saw the first shipments of a new US military aid package arrive at Ukraine's borders to be handed over in its fight against the Russian troops.
Fresh attacks were also reported on Russia's border with Ukraine.
Social media accounts based in Russia's Belgorod region shared photographs of what were said to be farm buildings allegedly destroyed in the attacks.
"There was shelling from Ukraine of the Golovchino village," Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on social media, referring to a settlement 13 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
The Belgorod region has reported 12 incidents, including shelling, oil terminal explosions and military vehicle accidents, since the Feb 24 start of the military operation.
Ukraine has not confirmed the shelling that Moscow blames on Kyiv.
Google Maps denied reports on Monday that it had made Russia's strategic facilities visible to users, allegedly revealing details of the country's military infrastructure.
Earlier reports said Google had removed the blurring of satellite imagery of nuclear weapons stores, submarines, and military bases in Russia.
Google spokesperson Genevieve Park, in an email quoted by US website The Verge, said: "We haven't made any blurring changes to our satellite imagery in Russia."
KYIV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday submitted to the parliament a bill to further extend martial law in the country, the parliament press service said in a statement.
If lawmakers pass the bill, according to a report released by The Kyiv Independent, the martial law will be extended for two months, until June 24.
Kyiv imposed martial law after Russia launched a special military operation against Ukraine on Feb 24.
On March 15, the Ukrainian parliament voted to extend the martial law till April 25.
