February 24, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

China has refused to condemn Russia's attack on Ukraine Thursday, instead repeating calls for parties to "exercise restraint" and accusing the United States of "fueling fire" in the tensions.

In a Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefing that went on for more than 90 minutes, spokesperson and Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Hua Chunying dodged more than 11 questions regarding Russia's actions in Ukraine. They included repeated inquiries on whether Beijing would consider Russia's acts an invasion and whether they violated Ukraine's territorial integrity. 

Hua added that China would begin importing Russian wheat, a move that could ease the impact of Western sanctions on Russia. 

"The Ukraine issue has a very complicated historical background. It has evolved to the present situation due to the joint action of various factors ... security should be a matter of joint cooperation and sustainable security, and the legitimate security concerns of all parties should be respected and addressed," Hua said sticking closely to comments made the previous day. 

China is "closely following the latest situation" and calls on parties to "exercise restraint to avoid the situation getting out of control," Hua said repeatedly. 

"You can ask the US side. They keep fueling fires ... You can ask them if they have any plans to put out the fire."

On Thursday, China's customs administration also said they would begin allowing wheat imports as of February 24 from Russia. The two countries had announced an agreement earlier this month for China to import Russian wheat during Putin's visit to Beijing to meet with President Xi and attend the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics. 

The China-Russia friendship: Beijing is navigating a complex position as it attempts to balance deepening ties with Moscow with its practiced foreign policy of staunchly defending state sovereignty.

Though not military allies, China and Russia have been presenting an increasingly united front in the face of what they view as Western interference into their respective affairs and regions.

French President Emmanuel Macron is set to address the nation on the Ukraine situation "shortly," according to the Élysée Palace. 

Footage posted by the Élysée Palace on Twitter showed the French president convening an emergency meeting of the French National Defense Council on Thursday morning. 

During the clip, Macron is heard saying that he spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday morning. 

He added that he will speak with Zelensky again on Thursday after the National Defense Council meeting. 

In the clip, the French president tells attendees that the meeting was called to "plan all short-term actions to be taken ourselves, and initiatives to be taken at European and international level."

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has started taking steps to officially sever diplomatic ties with Russia, according to a statement.

Ukraine has also recalled its Chargé d'Affaires in the Russian Federation for consultations and has begun the evacuation of the embassy in Moscow.

“We emphasize that Russia's offensive operation is an attack on Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, a gross violation of the UN Charter and fundamental norms and principles of international law,” the statement added. 

While the Ukrainian government plans to sever diplomatic relations with Russia, it has said it will not sever consular relations. 

“We will continue to defend the rights and interests of Ukrainians in Russia, including Ukrainian political prisoners,” the statement outlined. “Consular offices of Ukraine in Russian Federation currently continue to operate on a full-time basis.”

NATO will increase land, sea and air forces on its eastern flank amid Russia’s “horrifying attack on Ukraine,” the security alliance said in a statement Thursday. 

“Russia’s actions pose a serious threat to Euro-Atlantic security, and they will have geostrategic consequences. NATO will continue to take all necessary measures to ensure the security and defence of all Allies,” the statement said.

The statement condemned Russia’s actions, which it labeled “unjustified and unprovoked,” and reaffirmed that it stood with the people of Ukraine. 

“Today, we have held consultations under Article 4 of the Washington Treaty. We have decided, in line with our defensive planning to protect all Allies, to take additional steps to further strengthen deterrence and defence across the Alliance. Our measures are and remain preventive, proportionate and non-escalatory,” the statement continued. 

“Our commitment to Article 5 of the Washington Treaty is iron-clad. We stand united to defend each other,” it stated. 

There is no longer a US diplomatic presence in Ukraine at this time, according to a US official familiar with the matter.

US diplomats had been spending their nights in Poland and their workdays in Lviv, western Ukraine, over the last few days. But after the Russian assault on Ukraine began Thursday the US diplomats did not go back into the country --- and there are no plans for them to do so anytime soon, the official said.

CNN has reached out to the State Department for comment.

Overnight the US embassy in Ukraine announced they had suspended consular services.

“On February 24, 2022, the Department of State suspended consular operations in Lviv, Ukraine, following the suspension of consular services at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv on February 12, 2022," according to the embassy's website.

After a few hours of calm in the morning hours local time, CNN teams in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa and Mariupol have reported once again hearing sounds of strikes on Thursday, although these so far appear to be less severe than the explosions reported overnight.

An eyewitness who saw and heard the latest strike in the town of Brovary on the outskirts of Kyiv described the situation as “terrifying.”

The CNN team in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, has heard around five blasts that are some distance away.

In the southern city of Odessa, our team heard a strike that was close enough to the city center that it set off car alarms. Another blast was heard along the coast of Odessa after five to six distant explosions at dawn.

In Mariupol, in the southeast of the country, the CNN team heard a barrage of artillery that lasted nearly 20 seconds.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred to Russia’s military attack on Ukraine as a “special operation” Thursday, but dodged most questions on its nature or objectives in a call with foreign journalists. 

"I cannot give you information on the military, technological and other components of this operation,” Peskov said. “The only primary source here should be our military and defense departments.”

The spokesman added that occupation was not the objective, echoing President Vladimir Putin's claims in a televised address earlier on Thursday.

In his speech, Putin said he had decided "to conduct a special military operation ... to protect people who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years," repeating a baseless claim about Ukraine's Russian-separatist-backed Donbas region.

The invasion began soon afterwards with a series of missile attacks against locations near Kyiv, as well as the use of long-range artillery against the northeastern city of Kharkiv, near the Russian border.

After months of military buildup and brinkmanship, Russian forces have begun an invasion of Ukraine.

Thursday saw reports of troops crossing the border to the north and south, explosions in multiple cities including the capital Kyiv and warnings from Russian President Vladimir Putin of bloodshed unless Ukrainian forces lay down their arms.

The first blasts were heard at around 5 a.m. Thursday, prompting immediate condemnation from the United States and its allies, which have threatened to enact "full scale" sanctions in response to Russian military aggression.

The escalation in the years-long conflict has triggered the greatest security crisis on the European continent since the Cold War, raising the specter of a dangerous showdown between Western powers and Moscow.

As air raid sirens rang out across Kyiv early Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky moved to enact martial law and government ministers accused Moscow of launching a "full-scale invasion." As dawn broke, heavy traffic could be seen clogging roads heading west out of the city, while further east, near the Russian border, the mayor of Kharkiv urged citizens not to leave their homes.

CNN teams in Russia and Ukraine also heard blasts from several parts of Ukraine, including near the capital Kyiv and the port city of Odessa, and images released by the office of President Zelensky showed large explosions to the east of the capital Kyiv with huge columns of smoke rising into the air.

See more photos from Ukraine here:

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Britain has summoned its Russian ambassador as the UK's foreign secretary warned that "severe sanctions" will be imposed on Moscow for its "illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine."

"I have summoned the Russian ambassador to meet me and explain Russia’s illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a tweet Thursday. 

Truss warned that the UK will be "imposing severe sanctions and rallying countries in support of Ukraine."

Coming up: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to address the nation soon.