Russia-Ukraine live updates: Biden skeptical of Russia’s pledge to ‘drastically reduce’ assault

Russia’s telecom regulator said it would fine Google for not removing certain videos from its YouTube video service, stepping up its threats against YouTube, the last major U.S. social media network still active in the country.

Roskomnadzor, Russia’s official digital censor, said YouTube is “one of the key platforms participating in the information war against Russia” and accused it of harboring videos from far-right Ukrainian groups Right Sector and the Azov Battalion. Searches on YouTube for the two groups primarily showed news videos about the groups and the war.

YouTube is hugely popular in Russia and has been a key way for millions of Russians to consume news and entertainment videos for years. It has more users in the country than any other social network, including Russia’s homegrown Facebook competitor, VK. Since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, the country has blocked other U.S.-owned social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, leaving YouTube as one of the few ways for Russians to see content from outside the country without having to download special software to trick their Internet providers into believing they are not inside Russia.

A Google spokesperson did not return a request for comment.

President Biden, during a news conference with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsieng Loong on Tuesday, said he would not “read anything” into Russia’s vow to reduce military attacks near Kyiv and Chernihiv until that happens.

Sanctions on Russia will continue, Biden said.

“We’ll see if they follow through with what they’re suggesting,” Biden said, noting that peace negotiations are ongoing.

Biden noted that he met earlier Tuesday with the heads of government of four other NATO nations — France, Germany, Britain, and Italy — and said there “seems to be a consensus that, let’s just see what they have to offer.”

“But in the meantime, we’re going to continue to keep strong sanctions,” Biden said. “We’re going to continue to provide the Ukrainian military with their capacity to defend themselves. And we’re going to continue to keep a close eye on what’s going on.”

According to a White House readout of the Tuesday NATO meeting, the leaders “reviewed their efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the millions affected by the violence, both inside Ukraine and seeking refuge in other countries, and underscored the need for humanitarian access to civilians in Mariupol. They also discussed the importance of supporting stable energy markets in light of current disruptions due to sanctions.”

The Russian Defense Ministry knows how to stir up the interest of the right-leaning news media in the United States — just mention Hunter Biden, the president’s son.

Russia for years has been seeding the ground to claim that the United States set up biowarfare labs in Ukraine and other former Soviet republics — claims that have been revived as part of the invasion of Ukraine. As part of his media presentation, Igor Kirillov of the Russian armed forces alleged the labs were part of the U.S. plot to study the natural immunity of the population to identify the most dangerous pathogen for people in the region.

The Defense Ministry released a complex-looking flow chart with spaghetti lines depicting not only the involvement of Hunter Biden but financier George Soros in the alleged financing of “bioweapons labs.” But the reference to Hunter Biden was catnip to the right-leaning media. Reporters immediately dug into their copies of Biden’s laptop, supposedly left behind for repair in a Delaware shop in April 2019, and dredged up emails that they suggested validated the Russian report.

First of all, as we have previously documented, these are not bioweapons labs, but biological research facilities focused on better detecting, diagnosing and monitoring infectious-disease outbreaks. Second, random emails can be easily misinterpreted without additional reporting.

We’ve dug into the records and discussed the deals in question with people involved. The reporting from those news outlets is false. Hunter Biden has come under scrutiny for business deals in places such as Ukraine and China that took place while his father was vice president. But he was not “financing” these labs. In fact, he was not part of a decision to invest in a company at the center of the Russian allegations, he did not profit from it as he was kicked out of the investment firm over cocaine allegations, and the company made little money from its tiny bit of business in Ukraine.

The European Commission is calling on member nations to repeal “golden passport” programs that let wealthy investors buy E.U. citizenship, to stop the sale of residence permits to Russian nationals and to consider stripping oligarchs of second passports already granted inside the bloc.

European officials have long warned of the risks of granting citizenship for investment, saying the practice is ethically, legally and economically objectionable — and a security problem for the continent. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought those concerns to the fore.

“European values are not for sale,” European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said Monday. “We consider that the sale of citizenship through ‘golden passports’ is illegal under E.U. law and poses serious risks to our security. It opens the door to corruption, money laundering and tax avoidance.”

All member states should end their investor citizenship programs immediately, the justice commissioner said in a statement. In addition, they should consider revoking “any ‘golden passports’ already granted to sanctioned individuals and others significantly supporting Putin’s war.”

A Ukrainian border guard who reportedly voiced a defiant message to approaching Russian troops has received an award for demonstrating “the firmness and strength of the Ukrainian spirit,” Ukrainian officials said.

Roman Hrybov returned to central Ukraine’s Cherkasky region after Russian forces took him prisoner from his base on Snake Island during the first days of the invasion, Ihor Taburets, the region’s governor, said in a statement. Taburets said he presented the guard with a commendation “For Merits to Cherkasy Region.”

Hrybov is credited with telling an approaching Russian warship to “go f--- yourself” in a recording that attracted widespread attention and became a rallying cry for supporters of Ukraine. Thirteen guards on the desolate island in the Black Sea were first believed to have been killed, but the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine later said the soldiers may have survived. On Thursday, Ukrainian officials said 19 sailors from Snake Island were freed in a prisoner exchange with Russia.

In a video of the award presentation, Taburets hands Hrybov a pin in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, shakes his hand and smiles warmly.

Taburets said the soldiers on Snake Island demonstrated that Ukraine has true defenders and exemplified “the fortitude of the Cossack spirit.”

Hrybov thanked Ukrainians for their support.

“Strength is behind us, truth is behind us,” he said. “Together we will win. Glory to Ukraine.”

President Biden has called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “killer,” a “butcher,” the leader of a “paranoid regime,” as well as a war criminal. He has repeatedly said the former KGB officer lacks a soul. Concerned about hurting Kremlin feelings, Biden is not. At all.

Still, Biden apparently felt he needed to personally clear up his comment over the weekend that Putin “cannot remain in power,” assuring the world he’s not planting a regime-change flag at the heart of the allied response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“I was expressing the moral outrage that I feel, and I make no apologies for it,” Biden told reporters at the White House. “But it doesn’t mean we have a fundamental policy to do anything to take Putin down in any way.”

Was it, as Biden said, “ridiculous” for anyone to hear his remarks and worry about a shift in U.S. policy? It’s not like Washington doesn’t have a rich history — a rich and recent history — of embracing regime change, albeit not in a nuclear-armed rival like Russia.

The price of oil briefly dipped below $100 per barrel and stocks climbed Tuesday as cease-fire talks raised hopes of progress, with Ukraine outlining a peace proposal and Russia promising to drastically reduce its military activity near Kyiv.

The U.S. crude benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, fell 6 percent to about $99.50 per barrel before inching back above the centennial mark. At midday, it was trading above $101. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was down 3.8 percent to roughly $108 per barrel.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up around 180 points, or 0.5 percent, in early afternoon after easing off earlier gains. The broader S&P 500 index jumped 0.6 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.2 percent.

Oil prices have shown significant volatility since Russia invaded its neighbor in late February, typically moving inversely to stocks amid news from Ukraine. Oil surged past $130 per barrel in early March before retreating, surging again, and falling again. The price fell 7 percent Monday as Shanghai said it would go into lockdown to combat a resurgence of the novel coronavirus.

The increase and volatility in oil prices have had a significant effect on retail fuel prices: On Tuesday, the U.S. average for a gallon of gasoline stood at $4.24 a gallon — 63 cents higher than last month and $1.38 more than a year ago.

Investors are also anticipating a string of reports this week that could refocus attention on the U.S. economy. A report on home prices from S&P Case-Shiller reported that home prices rose 19 percent in the one-year period ending in January. The results of the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey will be released Tuesday, as will new data on consumer confidence. The widely followed monthly jobs report is to be published Friday.

Several European Union countries announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats Tuesday, deepening the standoff between Europe and Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

Belgium expelled 21 Russian diplomats based in the embassy in Brussels or the consulate in Antwerp, the country’s Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday. The ministry said the individuals were working for Russian intelligence services.

The move came as the Netherlands expelled 17 Russian diplomats for allegedly using diplomatic cover to do intelligence work. Around the same time, Ireland said it had asked four Russian diplomats to leave, saying their conduct was not in accordance with international standards of diplomatic behavior.

Last week, Poland expelled 45 Russian diplomats. “With full consistency and determination, we are breaking up the agents of the Russian secret services in our country,” Poland’s interior minister, Mariusz Kaminski, said on Twitter.

In 2018, more than two dozen countries expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats over a nerve-agent attack in Salisbury, England. It was the largest expulsion of Russian diplomats since the Cold War.