Ukraine Crisis LIVE: NATO accuses Russia of trying to ‘rewrite the entire global security architecture’ world News

Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albers, recommended today that Spaniards temporarily leave Ukraine as soon as possible, Reuters reported.

“We recommend that you leave the country temporarily as soon as possible and advise against traveling to Ukraine under any circumstances,” Albers told a parliamentary committee.

Albers confirmed that about 334 Spaniards remain in Ukraine.

The European Union has now adopted its first sanctions package “in response to the Russian Federation’s decision to proceed with the recognition of the non-government controlled regions of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk Regions as independent entities, and the subsequent decision to send Russian army in these areas.

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said:

Such decisions are illegal and unacceptable. They violate international law, Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, Russia’s own international commitments, and exacerbate the crisis.

A quote from NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, at the Coalition’s Stronger Together conference taking place today:

There is a lot at stake in today’s crisis; The risk of conflict is real. Russia is not only using force and ultimatums to redraw borders in Europe, but is attempting to rewrite the entire global security architecture.

NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, currently speaking at a conference with the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Root, highlighted some developments in the Russia-Ukraine situation.

You can also watch the conference here.

Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation confirmed that Ukrainian banks had been hit by a DDoS attack on Wednesday, following a series of cyber attacks last week, Reuters reported.

Several Ukrainian state websites, such as the government and foreign ministry home pages, were unavailable today.

Ukrainian officials also confirmed that they saw warnings online this week that hackers were planning major attacks on government agencies, banks and other sectors.

This story is evolving – stay tuned.

Reuters, citing Interfax, is reporting that another DDoS cyber attack has begun in Ukraine.

The Guardian understands that the attack affected the websites of parliament, cabinet ministers, the foreign ministry and the Security Service.

It follows earlier cyber attacks.

The TASS news agency reported on Wednesday, citing a representative of the Russian embassy in Kiev, that Russia has begun removing diplomatic staff from all its missions in Ukraine.

The embassy and consulate in Odessa were seen with Russian flags on Wednesday.

“Several cars left the consulate area in the morning,” a member of the Ukrainian National Guard on duty near the Russian consulate in Odessa told Reuters.

Russia’s foreign ministry on Tuesday announced the evacuation of diplomatic staff from Ukraine for security reasons, a day after President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of two separate regions in Ukraine’s east and called on Russian troops to “keep the peace”. ” While together established the army. Ukraine’s borders.

(via Reuters)

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for “immediate” security guarantees from the West and Moscow to quell fears of a Russian invasion.

Zelensky made his remarks after Russia began removing diplomats from its Kiev embassy after Moscow formally approved the use of military force abroad.

During a joint media appearance with guest leaders from Poland and Lithuania on Wednesday, Zelensky said:

Ukraine needs security guarantees. Clear, specific and immediate. I believe that Russia should be among the countries giving clear security guarantees.

Zelensky said he had repeatedly offered to meet with President Putin in an effort to tackle the threat of an all-out conflict in Eastern Europe.

Several times now, I have given the Russian President a chance to sit and talk at the negotiating table. It is a question of dialogue.

He also thanked Poland and Lithuania, two of Ukraine’s closest allies, who kept their embassies in Kiev open despite growing fears of a Russian attack.

Australian Foreign Minister Maris Payne has said it is an “obscene perversion” for Putin to refer to Russian soldiers acting as peacekeepers in Ukraine.

Speaking during a visit to Prague, Payne said:

Any suggestion that Russia’s actions have a legitimate basis is pure propaganda and propaganda.

President Putin’s claim of Russian soldiers acting as peacekeepers is actually an obscene distortion of the great and important role played by generations of peacekeepers around the world.

(via Reuters)