‘Prove you are with us’, Zelenskiy tells EU to approve Kyiv membership, as Russia bombards Ukrainian cities

*US Biden says Putin ‘will pay’

*NATO military alliance rules out Zelenskiy’s request for members imposition of no-fly zone to stop Russia’s airforce

*As EU lawmakers reject amenddment calling Russia a “rogue state”

*Rockets hit Ukraine’s second biggest city of Kharkiv

*Russia still has more forces to throw into the fight – US Defence Official

The Russians have been surprised not only by the scale of Ukrainian resistance but also by poor morale among their own forces, some of whom surrendered without a fight, the (US defence) official said, without providing evidence, according to Reuters.

Russia has reportedly intensified bombardment of Ukrainian cities, as it warned Kyiv residents to flee. This was as civilian deaths were said to have mounted with five killed in attack on Kyiv TV tower, 21 dead in Kharkiv.

In the meantime, US President Joe Biden has announced closure of American airspace to Russian aircraft, says Russia’s Vladimir Putin will pay a “high price over the long run”.

Miles-long Russian military convoy appears stalled near Kyiv, a senior US defence official said, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a video broadcast address to EU, urged the Union to approve Kyiv membership and “prove you are with us”.

The DEFENDER, sighting Al Jazeera quoting the Ukrainian Army, reports that Russian airborne troops had earlier landed in the eastern city of Kharkiv, adding that there were immediate clashes.

“Russian airborne troops landed in Kharkiv… and attacked a local hospital,” the army said on messaging app Telegram.

“There is an ongoing fight between the invaders and the Ukrainians.”

In the meantime, Russia’s largest lender, Sberbank, has said it is quitting the European market after coming under pressure from Western sanctions levelled against the state bank.

“In the current environment, Sberbank has decided to withdraw from the European market,” the lender said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies according to Al Jazeera.

The bank’s European subsidiaries were facing “abnormal cash outflows and threats to the safety of employees and branches,” the statement said.

“Prove you are with us” – Volodymyr Zelenskiy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the European Union to prove that it sides with Kyiv as it battles invading Russian forces, a day after signing an official request to join the bloc.

“We are fighting to be equal members of Europe,” Zelenskyy told an emergency session of the European Parliament on Tuesday via video link.

“Do prove that you are with us. Do prove that you will not let us go. Do prove that you are indeed Europeans and then life will win over death and light will win over darkness,” he said in Ukrainian in a speech translated to English.

“The EU will be much stronger with us.”

Zelenskyy has remained in Kyiv to rally his people against the invasion.

As he spoke on Tuesday, a Russian armoured column was bearing down on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.

Emotion gripped the parliament during his speech, with Zelenskyy’s interpreter talking through tears as he translated the Ukrainian president’s plea.

EU legsialtors, many wearing #standwithUkraine T-shirts bearing the Ukrainian flag, others with blue-and-yellow scarves or ribbons, gave Zelenskyy a standing ovation.

“We are (with you),” European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said in response to Zelenskiy’s appeal, saying the EU would provide Ukraine with weapons, on top of slapping unprecedented sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine last week.

“And we will be with you to rebuild your beautiful country after your victory,” he said.

‘It’s going to be difficult’

Zelenskyy officially signed Ukraine’s request to join the EU on Monday.

The presidents of eight central and eastern European nations published an open letter calling for Ukraine to be granted immediate EU candidate status and for the start of formal membership talks.

Ukraine is well aware, however, that any membership process will be long and difficult, even if it manages after the war to avoid falling back under Moscow’s domination.

Charles Michel, the chairman of EU leaders, told the EU Parliament after Zelenskiy’s speech that the bloc would have to seriously look at Ukraine’s “legitimate” request to join.

But he added: “It is going to be difficult, we know there are different views in Europe (about further enlargements).”

The EU has taken unprecedented steps, including financing weapons deliveries to Ukraine, after Russia’s President Vladimir Putin launched a war on its neighbour last week.

Moscow has called its actions in Ukraine a “special operation”.

The European Parliament on Tuesday adopted a non-binding resolution – by 637 votes to 13, with 26 abstentions – calling for tougher sanctions “aimed at strategically weakening the Russian economy and industrial base, in particular the military-industrial complex”.

While Putin “recalls the most dreadful statements of 20th century dictators”, Zelenskiy is being “heroic”, they said.

The European Parliament also urged EU leaders to be tougher on oligarchs and officials close to Putin, restrict oil and gas imports from Russia, ban Russia and its ally Belarus entirely from the SWIFT bank messaging system, and to close all EU ports to Russian ships or ships headed to or from Russia.

However, EU lawmakers rejected an amendment calling Russia a “rogue state”.

“The message from Europe is clear. We will stand up, we will not look away when those fighting in the street for our values stand down Putin’s war machine,” EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola said, speaking in front of the EU and Ukrainian flags.

So far, at least 136 civilians, including 13 children, have been killed and 400 others, including 26 children, injured in Ukraine, according to UN figures.

More than 660,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said on Tuesday.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine had had the effect of uniting countries against Russia.

“If Putin was seeking to divide the European Union, to weaken NATO, and to break the international community, he has achieved exactly the opposite,” von der Leyen told the EU Parliament, a blue and yellow ribbon pinned to her jacket.

Google blocks RT, Sputnik from Play app store in Europe

Alphabet Inc’s Google has said it has blocked mobile apps connected to RT and Sputnik from its Play store, in line with an earlier move to remove the Russian state publishers from its news-related features.

A number of tech companies have limited distribution and advertising tools to Russian news outlets in recent days as the European Commission readies a ban on them out of concern that they are spreading misinformation about the war in Ukraine.

Moscow Exchange won’t resume stock trading on Wednesday – Central Bank

Russia’s Central Bank kept stock market trading on the Moscow Exchange suspended for a third day in a row on Wednesday, but said it would allow a limited range of operations for the first time this week.

Reuters had reported Tuesday 1 March, 2022 that Russia bombed a TV tower in Ukraine’s capital and rained rockets on the city of Kharkiv as Moscow intensified its bombardment of Ukrainian urban areas in a shift of tactics after its six-day invasion stalled.

A U.S. official said a miles-long armoured column bearing down on the capital Kyiv had not made any advances in the past 24 hours, frozen in place by logistics problems, short on fuel and food, and perhaps pausing to reassess tactics.

Russia’s defence ministry urged Kyiv residents to flee and said it would strike unspecified areas used by Ukraine’s security services and communications.

Speaking in a heavily guarded government compound in Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia must “first stop bombing people” before peace talks could make any headway.

In a joint interview with Reuters and CNN, Zelenskiy also urged NATO members to impose a no-fly zone to stop Russia’s airforce, something the military alliance has ruled out.

As Zelenskiy, unshaven and wearing simple khaki clothes, spoke, news came that a Russian missile had struck a TV tower near the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial site in Kyiv, killing at least five people.

Zelenskiy, who also spoke by phone for 30 minutes with U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday, said the artillery barrages on the eastern city of Kharkiv amounted to “state terrorism”.

Biden and Zelenskiy discussed how Russia had intensified attacks on sites used by civilians, the White House said. The U.S. president is expected to highlight Western unity over Ukraine in his State of the Union address later on Tuesday.

‘Shambolic’

Reuters’ report also had it that President Vladimir Putin has drawn global condemnation and sanctions that have already sent the rouble into freefall and forced Russians to queue outside banks for their savings.

The West has imposed heavy sanctions on Russia to shut off its economy from the global financial system, pushing international companies to halt sales, cut ties, and dump tens of billions of dollars’ worth of investments.

But nearly a week since Russian troops poured over the border, they have not captured a single major Ukrainian city after running into far fiercer resistance than they expected.

“Looking at the Russian operation so far, they’re having tremendous problems with logistics and communications. The whole effort seems shambolic,” Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military at Washington’s Wilson Center, wrote in a tweet.

Many Western military analysts fear that Russia will now fall back on tactics which call for crushing bombardment of built-up areas before trying to enter them.

A senior U.S. defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said:

“One reason why things appear to be stalled north of Kyiv is that the Russians themselves are regrouping and rethinking and trying to adjust to the challenges that they’ve had.”

The Russians have been surprised not only by the scale of Ukrainian resistance but also by poor morale among their own forces, some of whom surrendered without a fight, the official said, without providing evidence, according to Reuters.

Russia still has more forces to throw into the fight, though.

Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the “special military operation” would continue until it had achieved its goals, defined by Putin as disarming Ukraine and capturing the “neo-Nazis” he says are running the country.

Rocket strikes on Tuesday in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second biggest city, killed at least 10 people and wounded 35, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said.