March 26, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Ukrainian authorities said Saturday that bus convoys trying to evacuate civilians were being stopped and held by Russian forces, as part of what they claimed to be a pressure campaign to force some residents to go to Russia. 

In a statement, Oleksandr Starukh, the head of the Zaporizhzhia regional administration, said an evacuation convoy of more than 50 buses driving from the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia was held overnight at a Russian checkpoint in Vasylivka, about 35 miles south of Zaporizhzhia. Starukh said the convoy included two ambulances carrying three children requiring urgent medical care. 

Petro Andriushchenko, adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, said Russians were holding thousands of Mariupol evacuees near Vasylivka in poor conditions without food and water. Some of the residents looking to flee Mariupol, Andriushchenko claimed, were being taken directly to the city of Donetsk — which is under Russian control — and then onward into the Russia. 

CNN could not independently verify those reports, but Andriushchenko said any announcement of evacuation routes from Mariupol could be a potential "trap," as there were no routes from government-held Ukraine into the city.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said “supplies of gas are not only in the Gulf” while at the Doha Forum on Saturday.

“The Gulf is a big provider of gas, but it is not the only one, in fact today our inflows of gas are not coming from the Gulf,” Borrell said in response to a question on Gulf oil and gas producers saying they will not provide more supply to the energy market.  

In the face of energy uncertainty, Qatar has been approached by some European countries to supply more liquified natural gas (LNG), but the only way Qatar can replace Russian gas imports to Europe is by diverting cargo from other customers who have signed long term contracts, such as those in Asia, something it hasn't been willing to do. By doing so it may incur compensation claims from those buyers.

Instead, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi told CNN’s Becky Anderson on Thursday that the gas-rich country will stand “in solidarity” with Europe by not diverting away current gas contracts.

Al-Kaabi also told the forum on Saturday that they have been working on bringing more volume into Europe over the next few years, but 85% of today’s volume is non-divertible gas contracts to Asian customers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked Qatar and other countries to increase oil and gas output to avoid Russia’s global “blackmail,” during a surprise virtual appearance at the conference. 

US President Joe Biden and his counterpart at the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Friday announced a joint task force aimed at finding alternative supplies of LNG and reducing overall demand for natural gas moving forward.

Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova on Saturday repeated calls for a collective security agreement to protect Ukraine, comprised of the permanent five members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany and Turkey. 

Dzhaparova said during an interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson in Doha that she met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Saturday morning to discuss potential negotiations. 

“What actually can be performed of a draft of these security guarantees? We believe it’s P5+2 countries, Germany and Turkey, and then there could be an agreement signed…and the logic behind would be the same logic as Article 5 of the NATO charter has, meaning that in case Ukraine will be attacked, these countries will have to protect Ukraine,” she said.                 

The permanent members Security Council include Russia, China, the United States, the United Kingdom and France. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that any deal with Russia will require the Ukrainian people to approve it through a referendum. The deputy foreign minister said that is "under consideration, but because of the war, it’s quite difficult to understand what is the technical way to have any kind of referendum.”

“We are trying to open up every single window that is there. We’ve been requesting many countries including Turkey, Israel, Prime Minister Bennett has also performed certain efforts,” she said. 

A NATO membership "would permanently increase tensions with Russia" along Finland’s border with Russia, President Sauli Niinistö said Saturday in an interview with the country’s public broadcaster Yle TV1.

Niinistö said the greatest benefit of a NATO membership would be "gaining a preventive effect," but there would also be a risk for various types of Russian retaliation, including hybrid threats.

The president also said that the benefits of being part of NATO would outweigh the negative ramifications, and that it is most important to find solutions to increase his country’s security.

"Sufficient security is where Finns can feel that there is no emergency and there won't be one," he said, while also adding that being part of the alliance would provide the "most sufficient" security.

Since Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland has been considering joining the military alliance, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told CNN's Becky Anderson earlier this month.

US President Joe Biden declared forcefully Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power," but the White House said afterward that it was not a call for regime change.

"For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power," Biden announced at the very conclusion of a capstone address delivered at the Royal Castle in Warsaw.

“The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change," a White House official said.

Biden's line that Putin "cannot remain in power" was not in his prepared remarks, a White House official said.

US officials had said previously said removing Putin from power was not their goal.

"For us, it's not about regime change. The Russian people have to decide who they want to lead them," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier this month.

The Kremlin's response: “This is not to be decided by Mr. Biden," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "It should only be a choice of the people of the Russian Federation.”

US President Joe Biden gave a direct message to the Russian people while speaking from Warsaw Saturday telling them, “You… are not our enemy.” 

Biden also said Putin’s actions in Ukraine are “not the actions of a great nation” and called on Russians who were alive during the Soviet Union and heard of it from their families to speak up. 

“These are not memories of the past," Biden said. "This is exactly what the Russian army is doing in Ukraine right now."

“This is not who you are. This is not the future you deserve for your families and your children. I’m telling you the truth. This war is not worthy of you, the Russian people,” Biden said. 

US President Joe Biden, standing along NATO’s eastern edge in Poland, issued a stern warning to Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Saturday: “Don't even think about moving on one single inch of NATO territory.” 

Biden delivered the notice during a speech in Warsaw. He said the US was committed to the collective protection obligations laid out in NATO’s charter “with the full force of our collective power.”

But Biden made clear the current conflict in Ukraine — not a NATO member — doesn’t require America to become directly involved.

“American forces are not in Europe to engage in conflict with Russian forces, American forces are here to defend NATO allies,” he said.

Maksym Kozytsky, the head of the Lviv regional military administration, said there were three additional explosions following a Russian strike earlier on a fuel depot.

"Another strike near Lviv," Kozytsky said on his Telegram account. "There were three more powerful explosions. The air alarm remains!"

After the initial strike on the fuel depot, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said another strike had hit the city.

"As a result of new missile strikes on Lviv, significant damage was inflicted on infrastructure facilities," Sadovyi said in a tweet.

Residential buildings were not damaged, the mayor added.

US President Joe Biden, speaking in Warsaw, said that Russia has "strangled democracy" in its invasion of Ukraine and called out Russian President Vladimir Putin's lies in justifying the war.

"Over the last 30 years, the forces of autocracy have revived all across the globe. Its hallmarks are familiar ones: contempt for the rule of law, contempt for democratic freedom, contempt for the truth itself," Biden said.

Biden then referenced US President Abraham Lincoln, who said "right makes might."

Biden also addressed the Russian president's criticism of NATO.

"A criminal wants to portray NATO enlargement as an imperial project aimed at destabilizing Russia. Nothing is further from the truth. NATO is a defensive alliance. It has never sought the demise of Russia," Biden said.

Putin made the choice to engage in war, Biden said.

He then outlined steps to stymie Russia, including sanctions and other economic actions.