Russian, Ukrainian troops in street-fighting

BELGIUM, US: Russian troops pushed farther into a key eastern Ukrainian city and fought street by street with Kyiv’s forces Monday in a battle the mayor said has left the city in ruins and driven tens of thousands of people from their homes.

Military analysts painted the fight for Sievierodonetsk as part of a race against time for the Kremlin. The city is key to Russian efforts to complete the capture of the eastern industrial region of the Donbas quickly — before more Western arms arrive to bolster Ukraine’s defense.

Meanwhile, the EU leaders, on the first day of the summit in Brussels, agreed to ban “more than 2/3rd” of Russian oil imports, European Council President Charles Michel said on Tuesday.

“Agreement to ban the export of Russian oil to the EU. This immediately covers more than 2/3 of oil imports from Russia, cutting a huge source of financing for its war machine. Maximum pressure on Russia to end the war,” Michel tweeted.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU, after reaching an agreement on a partial ban on Russian oil, will cut oil imports from Russia by 90 per cent by the end of 2022.

Meanwhile, the United States will not send Ukraine rocket systems that can reach into Russia, President Joe Biden said on Monday. The comments followed reports that the Biden administration was preparing to send advanced long-range rocket systems to Kyiv for its fight against Russia.

“We’re not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems” that can reach into Russia, Biden told reporters after arriving back at the White House after a weekend in Delaware.

Ukrainian officials have sought a longer-range system called the Multiple Launch Rocket System, or MLRS, that can fire a barrage of rockets hundreds of miles away.

– IANS, THE TELEGRAPH INDIA, JAPAN TODAY