NEW DELHI: In an unprecedented escalation, President Vladimir Putin on Sunday put Russian nuclear forces on an increased alert. Putin's move to up the nuclear ante came as Russian forces have failed to take control of any major Ukrainian cities even after four days of intense fight.
Russia's Vladimir Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday that a Ukraine settlement was only possible if Kyiv was neutral, "denazified" and "demilitarised" and Russian control over annexed Crimea was formally recognised, the Kremlin said.
He made the comments in a telephone call with the French leader, the Kremlin said in a readout.
"Russia is open to talks with representatives of Ukraine and expects the (talks) to lead to the desired results," it said.
Meanwhile, the sixth evacuation flight -- from Hungary’s capital Budapest -- carrying 240 Indian nationals who were stranded in Ukraine landed at the Delhi airport. Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi welcomed the Indian nationals at the airport.
"Evacuation efforts are on ... Situation on ground continues to be complex and fluid, some of them quite concerning, but we've been able to accelerate our evacuation process. About 8,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since we issued advisory, not since conflict began," the MEA said in a press briefing.
"As of now, six flights have arrived carrying around 1,400 Indian citizens. Four flights have arrived from Bucharest (Romania) and two flights from Budapest (Hungary)," said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
He added that India will send humanitarian aid, including medicines, to Ukraine.
Here are the other major developments through the day:
Ukraine, Russia talks begin
Talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials began on the Belarusian border on Monday, as Russia faced deepening economic isolation four days after invading Ukraine in the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two.
Russian forces seized two small cities in southeastern Ukraine and the area around a nuclear power plant, the Interfax news agency said on Monday, but ran into stiff resistance elsewhere.
Talks began with the aim of an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces, the Ukrainian president's office said, after a Russian advance that has gone more slowly than some expected.
Russia has been cagier about the talks, with the Kremlin declining to comment on Moscow's aim.
The talks are being held on the border with strong Russian ally Belarus, where a referendum on Sunday approved a new constitution ditching the country's non-nuclear status at a time when the former Soviet republic has become a launch pad for Russian troops invading Ukraine.
India asks citizens stranded in Kyiv to go to railway stations for onward journey
The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Monday advised all Indian students stranded in Kyiv to reach the railway station in the Ukrainian capital for their onward journey to the western parts of the war-torn country.
It said the weekend curfew in Kyiv has been lifted and they can go to the railway station to get out of the city.
"Weekend curfew lifted in Kyiv. All students are advised to make their way to the railway station for onward journey to the western parts. Ukraine Railways is putting special trains for evacuations," the embassy tweeted.
Union ministers to travel to Ukraine's neighbour countries for evacuation
Stepping up its efforts to evacuate Indian students stranded in war-hit Ukraine, the Centre on Monday decided that Union ministers Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and VK Singh will travel to its neighbouring countries to coordinate the evacuation mission and help students, government sources said.
These ministers will be going there as "special envoys" of India, they said.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Blasts hit Ukraine's capital Kyiv, Kharkiv
Blasts were heard in Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and in the major city of Kharkiv on Monday morning, Ukraine's State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection said. Kyiv had been quiet for a few hours prior to that, it said in a brief statement on the Telegram messaging app.
Facing Ukrainian ire after India’s UN move: Students
Several Indian medical students on Sunday alleged that they were harassed at checkpoints on Ukraine’s border with Poland. The students said they were kept in an almost hostage-like situation in the freezing cold and denied food, water, shelter or safe passage. They claimed that the border guards were abusing them because of India abstaining on a UNSC resolution against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The students shared videos of soldiers firing warning shots and using force to disperse them. In another clip, a Ukrainian guard was seen shoving away an Indian girl who fell on his feet and begged him to allow her to make the border crossing. Several students said Ukrainian residents have also turned hostile against them.
Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla had a meeting with both Russian and Ukrainian envoys to ask them to ensure the safety and security of Indian nationals and later said the response he got from them was reassuring.
Putin puts nuclear forces on alert
In a shocking move that unearthed long-buried fears from the Cold War era, Putin ordered Russian nuclear weapons prepared for increased readiness to launch on Sunday, ratcheting up tensions with Europe and the United States over the conflict.
The Russian president told his defense minister and the chief of the military's General Staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in "special regime of combat duty."
He said that leading Nato powers had made "aggressive statements" toward Russia in addition to stiff economic sanctions and cutting leading Russian banks from the SWIFT banking system.
Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg told CNN that Putin's invocation of Russia's nuclear arsenal was "dangerous rhetoric."
Fighting intensifies in Ukraine
Russian troops drew closer to Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, a city of almost 3 million, and street fighting broke out in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv. Strategic ports in the country's south were coming under pressure from attackers.
Ukrainian defenders put up stiff resistance that appeared to slow the invasion. But a US official cautioned that far stronger Russian forces inevitably will learn and adapt their tactics as Russia's assault goes on.
Only an occasional car appeared on a deserted main boulevard of Kyiv as a strict 39-hour curfew kept people off the streets until Monday morning. Authorities warned that anyone venturing out without a pass would be considered a Russian saboteur.
Terrified residents instead hunkered down in homes, underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a full-scale Russian assault.
Russia and Ukraine to hold talks
After rejecting Putin's offer to meet in the Belarusian city of Homel on the grounds that Belarus was helping the Russian assault, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to send a Ukrainian delegation to meet Russian counterparts at an unspecified time and location on the Belarusian border.
The announcement came hours after Russia announced that its delegation had flown to Belarus to await talks. Ukrainian officials initially rejected the move, saying any talks should take place elsewhere. Belarus has allowed Russia to use its territory as a staging ground for the invasion of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy, who has refused to abandon the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, named Warsaw, Bratislava, Istanbul, Budapest or Baku as alternative venues for talks, before accepting the Belarus border.
Many Ukrainians flee, some return to fight
Those fleeing Europe's largest armed conflict since World War II grew to 368,000 Ukrainians - mostly women and children, the United Nations' refugee agency said. That figure more than doubles the agency's estimate from the day before.
The line of vehicles at the Poland-Ukraine border stretched 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) long, and those fleeing had to endure long waits in freezing temperatures overnight. Over 100,000 people have crossed into Poland alone, according to Polish officials. An additional 66,000 refugees have entered Hungary, with more than 23,000 entering on Saturday alone, according to the Hungarian officials.
In the rush to escape the bombs and tanks, a trickle of brave men and women headed home to defend Ukraine. At a border crossing in southern Poland, Associated Press journalists spoke to people in a line heading against the tide. They included 20 Ukrainian truck drivers who worked in Europe and wanted to face combat.
World moves to punish Russia further
Following massive economic sanctions, the European Union moved to close its airspace to Russia's airlines and fund supplies of weapons to Ukraine as well as target pro-Kremlin media outlets that are spreading disinformation about the invasion.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday "we are shutting down the EU airspace for Russians." She also said the commission wants "for the first time ever" to finance the purchase and delivery of weapons to a third-party county under attack.
Japan joined the US and European nations in cutting top Russian banks off from the SWIFT international financial messaging system. Japan will also send $100 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
And petroleum giant BP said Sunday it is cutting ties with Rosneft, a state-owned Russian oil and gas company. That means BP exiting its stake in Rosneft and BP officials resigning positions on the Russian company's board.
Signs of financial difficultly in Russia
There were some early signs that the initial economic damage to the Russian economy is significant, as Russia's attack and retaliatory sanctions from much of the rest of the world stretched into their fourth day.
While official quotes for the Russian ruble were unchanged at roughly 84 rubles to the dollar on Sunday, one online Russian bank, Tinkoff, was giving an unofficial exchange rate of 163 rubles over the weekend.
Videos from Russia showed long lines of Russians trying to withdraw cash from ATMs, while the Russian Central Bank issued a statement calling for calm, in an effort to avoid bank runs. Reports also showed that Visa and Mastercard were no longer being accepted for those with international bank accounts.
Russia may have to close certain bank branches temporarily or declare a national bank holiday to protect its financial system, analysts said.
Germany announces significant military move
A day after Germany, the EU's economic motor, announced it would send military aid to Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his government will increase its own defense spending to rearm. This move showed how Russia's invasion of Ukraine was challenging decades of European security and defense policies.
Scholz's pledge to dedicate 100 billion euros ($113 billion) to a special fund for its armed forces would raise Germany's defense spending above 2% of GDP, satisfying a longstanding request by NATO allies for Europe's largest economy to do more for the continent's security.
Germany announced Saturday that it would send 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine. Those weapons are in addition to the 400 German-made anti-tank weapons Germany also approved to be shipped from the Netherlands.
Russians against the war
Defying crackdowns by police, demonstrators marched in city centers from from Moscow to Siberia chanting "No to war!"
In St. Petersburg, where several hundred gathered in the city center, police in full riot gear were grabbing one protester after another and dragging some into police vans, even though the demonstration was peaceful. Footage from Moscow showed police throwing several female protesters on the ground before dragging them away.
According to the OVD-Info rights group that tracks political arrests, by Sunday evening police detained at least 1,474 Russians in 45 cities over antiwar demonstrations that day, bringing the total detained in the last few days to over 5,000.
Russia admits casualties
The Russian military acknowledged that it has suffered casualties in Ukraine, without putting a number on them. "There are dead and wounded among our comrades," said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov.
Each side in the war has made claims about casualties and military damage inflicted on the other side but the numbers they have floated have not been verified. Konashenkov's statement was the first by Russian military officials to admit any troop losses of their own.
Ukraine acknowledged casualties early on. Its estimates of how many have not been verified.
UN to hold meet
The UN Security Council has voted to allow the 193-member General Assembly to hold an emergency session on the invasion. It's to be held Monday.
The vote on Sunday was 11 in favor of the session and Russia against it, with China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining. There is no veto on a procedural vote, so it was approved. The 11-1-3 vote was the same as on a resolution Friday demanding that Moscow stop its attack. But in that case, Russia used its veto and the resolution was defeated.
(With inputs from agencies)
