Russia seizes a lot of weapons supplied by West to Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on Thursday morning that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.

The Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.

Russia has launched a military operation on Ukraine that opened with air and missile attacks on Ukrainian military facilities before troops and tanks rolled across the borders. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address early on Friday that 137 people, both servicemen and civilians, have been killed and hundreds more wounded.

Here are all the latest updates:

Biden joins emergency NATO session on Ukraine development

President Joe Biden joined an emergency NATO summit Friday to strengthen the frantic Western response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and fears for the security of Europe.

Russia suspended from Council of Europe

Russia has been suspended from the Council of Europe, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said.

The Council of Europe was formed after World War II to protect human rights and the rule of law across the continent. It is separate from the European Union.

“The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, of which Italy holds the presidency, has taken the decision to exclude the Russian Federation from its membership,” Di Maio said in a statement.

Ukrainian official says 2,800 Russian troops killed

Ukraine’s deputy defence minister has claimed that approximately 2,800 Russian troops have been killed in fighting so far.

Ukrainian forces had also destroyed about 80 Russian tanks, 516 armoured combat vehicles, 10 aircraft and seven helicopters as of 3 pm local time (13:00 GMT), Hanna Malyar said in a statement posted on Facebook.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that there was no immediate response to the claims from Moscow, and it was unable to independently verify the figures provided.

Putin suggests Ukrainian military seize power 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Ukraine’s military to seize power from Zelenskyy’s government.

“I once again appeal to the military personnel of the armed forces of Ukraine: do not allow neo-Nazis and Ukrainian radical nationalists to use your children, wives and elders as human shields,” Putin said at a televised meeting with Russia’s security council.

“Take power into your own hands, it will be easier for us to reach agreement,” he added.

EU set to freeze assets of Russian President Putin, FM Lavrov

The EU is set to freeze the assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Financial Times reported.

Russia ready for talks with Ukraine: Kremlin spokesman 

Russia is ready to send a delegation to the Belarusian capital Minsk for talks with Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says.

Peskov told Russian news agencies that the contingent of officials could include representatives from the country’s foreign and defence ministries.

His remarks came after an adviser of Zelenskyy suggested Kyiv was ready for talks with Moscow, including on adopting a neutral status regarding NATO.

Peskov said demilitarisation would need to be an essential part of that.

EU threatens Russia with further sanctions

The European Union’s executive arm has warned Moscow that the bloc could impose more sanctions on Russia yet, a day after its leaders agreed on a robust package of measures.

“When it comes to the sequencing of packages we have always said we have a massive package prepared and we will be applying this package in a progressive way, responding to concrete actions by Russia, and we are not at the end,” European Commission spokesman Peter Stano told a daily news conference.

Russia successfully conducts landing operation at Gostomel Airfield outside Kyiv: MoD

The Russian armed forces have successfully conducted a landing operation at the Gostomel airfield located on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital – Kyiv – the Russian Defence Ministry has stated. The ministry noted that the success of the operation was assured by the Russian military's work on suppressing the area's air defences and isolation of the combat zone via the use of aviation, Sputnik reported.

Xi says China supports dialogue

Chinese state television CCTV reports that the country’s president, Xi Jinping, has told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that Beijing supports Moscow in efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis via dialogue.

The leaders held talks on the situation by phone, CCTV reported.

Syria’s President offers Putin his backing

Bashar Al-Assad has called Putin to express his support for Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, according to a statement issued by the Syrian president’s office.

“During the call, they talked about the situation in Ukraine and the special military operation by the Russian Federation to protect the civilian population in the Donbas region,” the statement said.

“His Excellency [Assad] stressed that Syria stands with the Russian Federation, based on its conviction of the correctness of its position,” it added.

UK’s Boris Johnson pledges further support for Ukraine in coming days

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday pledged that the United Kingdom will provide further support to Kyiv "in the coming days," Downing Street said in a statement.

"The Prime Minister committed to providing further UK support to Ukraine in the coming days", Johnson’s office said in the readout of the telephone conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday morning.

According to the statement, Zelenskyy updated Johnson on the most recent developments in Ukraine and the "terrible developments in Kyiv in the early hours of this morning."

Zelensky invites Putin to negotiating table

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to sit down for talks, Sputnik reported.

"There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.Russia has launched a military operation on Ukraine that opened with air and missile attacks on Ukrainian military facilities before troops and tanks rolled across the borders"

"I want to appeal to the president of the Russian Federation once again […] let's sit down at the negotiating table to stop the death of people", Zelensky said in a video message published on his Telegram channel.

"This morning has gone down in history, but this history is absolutely different for our country and Russia. And we have broken off diplomatic ties with Russia", he told a news briefing.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has meanwhile stressed that Moscow is ready for negotiations on Ukraine at any moment, as soon as the Ukrainian military lay down their arms.

Moscow says Ukraine must lay down arms before talks can take place

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow will only be ready to hold talks with Kyiv once Ukraine’s military has laid down its arms.

"We are ready for negotiations. At any moment, as soon as the armed forces of Ukraine respond to the call of our president [Vladimir Putin], stop resisting and lay down their arms. No one is going to attack them, no one is going to oppress them, let them return to their families”, Lavrov told reporters on Friday.

Kyiv ready to negotiate neutral status with Putin, says advisor to President

Ukraine is ready to negotiate a neutral status with Russia, but it must also receive security guarantees, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the President of Ukraine has said in a statement.

“This war must be stopped. These hostilities must be stopped,” he has said.

Russia preparing retaliatory sanctions against Western states

Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko said on Friday that Moscow has prepared retaliatory sanctions against Western countries.

"As for retaliatory sanctions, they are also prepared.

They will not mirror the [West's] sanctions against Russia, but we are well aware of the weak points of the West, and we have also prepared a whole package of sanctions, which will be applied against those states who have sanctioned Russia", she told reporters.