Russia-Ukraine updates: Putin says 'certain positive movements' in negotiations

A third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine ended without any resolution.

Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.

The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation."

Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance, coming within about 9 miles as of Friday.

Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.

For previous coverage, please click here.

Hulu

Two Men at War

A look at the two leaders at the center of the war in Ukraine and how they both rose to power, the difference in their leadership and what led to this moment in history.

Mar 10, 2022, 1:12 PM EST

Biden Administration 'trapped in cycle of passivity,' McConnell says of MiG-29 debacle

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell decried the Biden administration on the Senate floor Thursday over the "bizarre argument" that played out in public after the U.S. refused to accept Poland’s offer to donate MiG-29 aircrafts to Ukraine’s military resistance.

Two Polish Air Force Russian-made MIG-29 fighter jets fly above and below two Polish Air Force U.S.-made F-16's fighter jets, during the Air Show in Radom, Poland, Aug. 27, 2011.
Alik Keplicz/AP, FILE

McConnell accused the Biden Administration of "contradicting themselves" and of proving incapable to coordinate assistance efforts with NATO allies.

"The world needs President Biden and his team to be leading, taking the initiative and shaping circumstances, calmly soberly, but with confidence and decisiveness," McConnell said. "They seem to be trapped in a cycle of passivity indecision self-determines."

-ABC News' Trish Turner

Mar 10, 2022, 12:54 PM EST

Russia claims mercenaries from US and UK attacking Russian medics

Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov held another press briefing in which he accused NATO countries of committing war crimes.

Konashenkov claimed Thursday that mercenaries from the U.K. and U.S. are increasingly attacking Russian military medics who are accomplishing humanitarian missions in Ukrainian territory.

"Attacks on Russian medics and special medical vehicles by the Ukrainian nationalists and mercenaries that came earlier from the U.S., Britain and Europe to Ukraine have become more frequent over the past few days," Konashenkov said.

Ukrainian servicemen search the damaged maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 9, 2022.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP

Konashenkov also denied reports that the Russian military had carried out a strike on a children’s hospital in Mariupol on Wednesday, dismissing reports on the matter as an "an information provocation staged by the Kyiv regime."

"The alleged airstrike that took place is a completely staged provocation in order to maintain the anti-Russian public outcry in the Western audience," he alleged.

Russian forces have destroyed nearly 3,000 military installations in Ukraine since the invasion began, Konashenkov claimed. In the last 24 hours, 68 installations, including two sites of the Ukrainian troop control system, 12 material and technical support centers and three Osa air defense missile systems, were obliterated, he said.

Mar 10, 2022, 12:48 PM EST

Harris meets with Ukrainian refugees, US embassy staff in Poland

As part of her trip to Poland, Vice President Kamala Harris met with 7 people who fled the Russian invasion of Ukraine and some members of the U.S. embassy staff Thursday to discuss their experiences.

"I have invited in these very important people to join me for a conversation about their experiences, and also their thoughts about what we can do the United States and our allies in this region and around the world to support the many people that have been displaced through the necessity to flee Ukraine and the harm that it represents at this moment," Harris said to the group.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris holds a roundtable discussion with people displaced from Ukraine at the American School of Warsaw, in Warsaw, Poland, March 10, 2022.
Saul Loeb/AP

Harris thanked the group for meeting with her to share their experiences.

"The conversation we will have this afternoon will help inform me, the President of the United States, and the American people about what you have experienced, so that we can best support you and your family," Harris said to the group.

Before the press was ushered out, Harris sought to reassure the participants.

"We are here to support you and you are not alone. And I know there's so much about the experience that you've had that has made you feel alone. You are not alone," she pledged.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Mar 10, 2022, 12:39 PM EST

Lukashenko to meet with Putin in Moscow on Friday

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will travel to Russia on Friday for a meeting with his close ally and Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

The two leaders will meet in Moscow where they "will discuss key issues concerning bilateral relations, the development of union cooperation and economic cooperation in conditions of sanctions pressure," according to the Pool of the First Man channel on Telegram, which is reportedly linked to Belarusian state media.

"The situation in the region and in Ukraine is on the agenda as well," the channel said.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a meeting with members of the Council of Ministers and Security Council in Minsk, Belarus, March 1, 2022.
Nikolai Petrov/BelTA/Handout via Reuters, File

Related Topics