Russia

One month after Mr Putin launched an unprovoked war against Russia's neighbour Ukraine, despite being warned of the serious consequences if he did that, the leaders attending the summits in Brussels  had one important message: Mr Putin, we will not let you get away with this. We are united in making sure that your aggression against Ukraine fails. It cannot be otherwise, writes Dennis Sammut in this op-ed. If Putin destroys the Ukrainian state, and the rest of the world does nothing, then we will be back to the dark days of the 1930s. No country or society in the world will be able to feel safe again.

A Ukrainian man who survived imprisonment in three Nazi concentration camps in World War II, was killed when his house in Kharkiv was destroyed by the bombs of the Russian invaders. The administration of the Buchenwald memorial centre in Germany has said a man who survived a number of concentration camps during World War Two was killed in the bombing on his home in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv on Friday, according to his relatives. Boris Romantschenko, who was 96, "actively campaigned for the memory of the crimes of Nazism and was vice president of the Buchenwald-Dora International Committee", they said in a series of tweets. Romanchenko survived the Buchenwald, Peenemünde, Dora-Mittelbau and Bergen-Belsen camps. Information about the man's death was confirmed by his granddaughter.

In an extraordinary meeting this morning, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, decided, in the context of the procedure launched under Article 8 of the Statute of the Council of Europe, that the Russian Federation ceases to be a member of the Council of Europe as from today, after 26 years of membership. The Russian flag was later lowered from in front of the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg.

Armenia is one of the countries that have had to make difficult decisions whilst positioning itself in the current stand-off between Russia and Ukraine. Despite the fact that it has little room for manoeuvre, and is very dependent on Russia in many spheres, Armenia has taken a pragmatic but principled position, writes Bojan Stojkovski in this op-ed for commonspace.eu

United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres told reporters at the UN Headquarters, that the conflict in Ukraine can turn into a nuclear one. "The possibility of nuclear conflict, which was once unthinkable, is now possible again," he said. Noting that Russia's raising the nuclear alert level is a "creepy" development, Guterres said, "The possibility of nuclear conflict, which was once unthinkable, is now possible again. "Ukraine is on fire. The country is being destroyed before the eyes of the world."  Saying that the impact of Russia's war against Ukraine on civilians has reached "terrible dimensions", Guterres told the assembled journalists, "Whatever the outcome, there will be no winners in this war, only losers."

Pope Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has made an passionate appeal for an end to the war in Ukraine. At the conclusion of the Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis recalled that the city that bears the name of the Virgin Mary, Mariupol, has become a city of martyrs in the terrible war ravaging Ukraine. He expressed horror over the barbarity of the killing of children, innocents and unarmed civilians, and called for an end to the unacceptable armed aggression, before it reduces cities to cemeteries. "With pain in my heart I join my voice to that of the common people, who implore an end to the war. In the name of God, let the cries of those who suffer be heard and let the bombings and attacks cease! Let there be a real and decisive focus on negotiation, and let the humanitarian corridors be effective and safe. In the name of God, I ask you: stop this massacre!"