Ukraine Crisis Updates: UK, western nations considering sanctions targeting Russian energy exports

New Delhi [India], March 7 : UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday said that London and other Western governments are seriously considering sanctions on Russian energy exports in response to the ongoing military operation in Ukraine.
President of European Union Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the EU will table proposals to 'quickly get rid' of the dependency on Russian fossil fuels.
She noted that the approach to reduce dependency on Russia is by diversifying suppliers, switching to LNG and pipeline gas and by investing in renewables.
Hungary, on the other hand, said it will not support the expansion of anti-Russian sanctions in the energy sector as this would threaten both the national currency and welfare of Hungarians.
The third round of negotiations between the delegations of Ukraine and Russia kicked off in Belarus. Moreover, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet in Turkey's coastal Antalya province, according to their Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
After the diplomatic efforts by Turkey, Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Russia have agreed to meet in Turkey on Thursday amid the ongoing tensions after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Permanent Representative of President of Ukraine in Crimea, Anton Korynevich, told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Kyiv intends to prove the groundlessness of Russia's accusations of genocide against Ukraine. He slammed Russia for "disrespecting the international law."
US President Joe Biden, during a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, welcomed the decisions of Visa and Mastercard to suspend services in Russia, the White House said.
Earlier, Zelenskyy said on Twitter that he held phone talks with Biden on Saturday, discussing Western support for Kyiv and anti-Russia sanctions.
The Russian government approved a list of countries and territories that are 'unfriendly' with Russia and has imposed sanctions against the country after the start of a special military operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine.
Ukraine's MFA shared the details of the losses that Russia has incurred since the invasion of Ukraine started noting that a total of 11,000 Russian forces were killed till Monday (local time).
According to the MFA data, 999 armoured vehicles of different types, 46 aircraft, 68 helicopters, 290 tanks, 117 artillery pieces and 50 MLRs were hit during the combat.
Ukrainian forces have retaken control of Mykolaiv airport, local media reported citing Mykolaiv governor Vitaliy Kim. Earlier, Kim had said that the Russian forces had taken control of Mykolaiv international airport.
Russian Defense Ministry said a total of 150 civilians were used as a human shield in Mariupol while the Ukrainian nationalists opened fire on the Donetsk People's Republics (DPR) fighters from behind the civilians' back.
Furthermore, Under Operation Ganga, 83 flights have brought over 17,100 Indians back to India from war-hit Ukraine so far including a total of 1,250 on board 7 flights that landed in the last 24 hours. Nearly 22,000 Indians have exited Ukraine since the issuance of advisory in January 2022.
In a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin said that the Russian military personnel are making every effort to ensure the evacuation of the Indian citizens from the Ukrainian city of Sumy.