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Turkey, a NATO member that has struggled to balance its ties with both Russia and Ukraine, has been eager to offer itself as an intermediary in the conflict. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed his desire for a cease-fire in a phone call Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, state media reported. Discussions are set to take place Monday to Wednesday, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said.
In the past day, military operations northwest of Kyiv appear to have paused, as the Kremlin recalibrates its strategy after failing to capture the capital. Pentagon intelligence suggests Russia is changing its focus to controlling the eastern Donbas region, where pro-Kremlin separatist forces have long fought the Ukrainian government. Satellite images and videos verified by The Washington Post show that Kremlin-backed forces began building a camp in Russian-controlled territory just east of the besieged city of Mariupol in recent weeks, amid allegations from local officials that residents were being forcibly taken to “filtration camps.”
Here’s what to know
Finland suspends passenger rail service between Russia and E.U.
Return to menuFinland’s public railway operator on Monday will suspend passenger service between Helsinki and St. Petersburg, citing sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the operator, VR, said in a statement.
VR had kept the passenger service, Allegro, running until Sunday to provide Finnish citizens living in Russia “safe passage” back to Finland, Topi Simola, a VR official, said in a statement.
“During these weeks, the people, who have wanted to depart from Russia, have had adequate time to leave,” Simola said. “Now, due to the sanctions, we will discontinue the service for now.”
On Sunday, VR suspended freight traffic from Russia, saying it is “no longer possible because of the sanctions imposed on Russian Railways.”
The Allegro train from St. Petersburg to Helsinki became a popular means of transportation for Russians hoping to leave their county behind. As Western sanctions set in, Russia became increasingly isolated, and some Russians harbored anger over the invasion. The trains were often overbooked, and Russians arrived at Helsinki’s main railway station by the hundreds.
VR was among the last train lines between Russia and the European Union, Reuters reported, although the Russia-Finland border remains open for crossings by car.
Here’s the status of Ukrainian cities under Russian attack
Return to menuBiden says he’s not advocating regime change in Russia, echoing Blinken
Return to menuPresident Biden said Sunday that he is not advocating regime change in Moscow, echoing aides who have scrambled to clarify Biden’s unscripted comment a day earlier that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.”
As Biden left church Sunday, a reporter asked whether he wanted Putin removed and was calling for regime change. “No,” Biden responded.
Biden’s comment about Putin during a visit to Poland drew international scrutiny and a rebuke from Moscow as the president met with European leaders and sought to bolster the NATO alliance.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier that the remark was not meant to suggest that the United States would undertake military or economic action to unseat Putin. Blinken said it was instead intended to convey that Putin “cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else.”
“We do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia — or anywhere else, for that matter,” Blinken said, speaking Sunday during a visit to Israel.
He said the United States does have a strategy to support Ukraine to fend off Russia’s “onslaught of planes and tanks and other weapons,” and to provide humanitarian support to the country.
Blinken defended Biden’s address as an “incredibly powerful speech.”
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