Russia-Ukraine war Highlights: Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov to visit India on Thursday

In call with Zelenskyy, Biden discusses how the United States is working aorund the clock to fulfill the main security assistance requests by Ukraine, says White House. 

Britain is focused on helping protect Ukrainians from the war and is not aiming to remove Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.

US intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about Russian forces’ performance in Ukraine, according to a US official.

President Joe Biden will speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday to discuss US support in his country's battle against the Russian invasion, the White House said.

During the call at 10:45 am (1445 GMT), Biden will "discuss our continued support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression," a statement said.

"Ukrainians are not naive people," said President Zelenskyy. "Ukrainians have already learned during these 34 days of invasion, and over the past eight years of the war in Donbas, that the only thing they can trust is a concrete result."

Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi says support the ‘cooling’ of the current Ukraine situation as soon as possible.

The Kremlin on Wednesday welcomed the fact that Kyiv has set out its demands for an end to the conflict in Ukraine in written form, but said there was no sign of a breakthrough yet.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia had not noticed anything really promising or that looked like a breakthrough, and said there was a long period of work ahead.

Amid war in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will pay an official visit to India from March 31 to April 1, says ministry of external affairs.

Russia denied on Wednesday a claim by Ukraine that it had struck the town of Uman, visited by tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews each year, and showed pictures of what it said were Ukrainian forces loading arms near a synagogue there.

Ukraine on Wednesday accused Russia of shelling Chernigiv in northern Ukraine despite promising to scale back military activity around the city and the capital Kyiv after more than a month of war.

The Polish government announced on Wednesday that it is cutting all Russian imports by the end of this year. 

A day after Russia said that it will significantly scale back military operations near Kyiv and Chernihiv, Ukrainian officials on Wednesday reported shelling outside Ukraine's capital and fighting around Chernihiv.

Khmelnitskyi's governor Serhiy Hamaliy said on Wednesday that Russian forces hit industrial facilities in three strikes in the region. 

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna said on Wednesday that Russian forces must withdraw from Chernobyl as Ukraine's military warned of danger of Russian ammunition exploding at the site.

Dominic Raab, the deputy Prime Minister of the UK, said on Wednesday that Russia will be tested by its actions and not words. 

Raab's comment comes after Russia said on Tuesday that it will significantly scale back military operations near Kyiv and Chernihiv.

Mariupol military officials said on Wednesday that more than 70 staff members and patients were forcibly taken from a maternity hospital in the city.

Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Wednesday that residential areas in his city have been hit by Russian heavy artillery, and a number of high-rise buildings have been damaged. 

“A number of high-rise buildings have been damaged. Information on casualties is being confirmed. Many buildings have collapsed. Rescuers are trying to save those still alive,” Gaidai wrote on Telegram. 

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in China on Wednesday, his first visit to the ally country after Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine. 

Lavrov will attend a series of meetings hosted by China to discuss ways to help Afghanistan.

Former United States President Donald Trump urged Russian Prsident Vladimir Putin to reveal any compromising information he might have on Joe Biden's son Hunter. 

The United States embassy in Moscow warned Americans not to travel to Russia amid fears of being detained. 

As the ongoing war in Ukraine escalates with each passing day, Ukrainians in China are fighting a disinformation war against pro-Russia bias, trolls and censorship. 

Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya said on Tuesday that the talks between his country and Russia showed that Moscow may be ready to make steps forward. 

"Today's negotiations in Istanbul have demonstrated that Russia may be ready to make steps forward, although it is still a long way to a sustainable ceasefire and comprehensive de-escalation," Kyslytsya said. 

The United States has accused Russia of causing a global food crisis due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. "Putin started this war. He created this global food crisis. And he is the one who can stop it," US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told the UNSC meeting on Tuesday. 

Twelve people were killed and 33 others were injured after Russian forces carried out an airstrike on a regional administration building in Ukraine's Mykolayiv city on Tuesday. According to the Ukrainian interior ministry, the airstrike destroyed the central section of the administration buidling.