No word for Surrender in Ukraine

High level negotiations between Ukraine and Russian officials, the first since the invasion began last month have failed to end in an agreement on Thursday. Ukraine’s foreign minister say that Ukraine will not “surrender.”

The Russians are warning Western countries against sending more weapons to Ukraine.

BREAKING NEWS: Britain will send the world’s most advanced anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine.#UkraineWar #Ukraine️ #Russia pic.twitter.com/aqNLzcg7H8

— GNR NEWS (@globalnewsGNR) March 10, 2022

As well Sergei Lavrov, the Russian negotiation also claims that Russia will overcome a rising battery of sanctions.

The talks seeking a ceasefire in the war zone to allow humanitarian aid in and civilians out are being held with Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba and Russia’s Sergei Lavrov. The latest round of talks were facilitated by Turkey and lasted about an hour and a half.

“Ukraine received no response to its proposals for a 24-hour cease-fire as well as humanitarian relief for the besieged city of Mariupol”, said Kuleba. The Ukraine negotiation also said that “It appears that his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov doesn’t have the authority to agree to the cease-fire and would take the issue to other decision-makers in Russia”.

“Ukraine is strong. Ukraine is fighting. Ukraine made Russian initial plans fail,” Kuleba said. “We are ready to seek balanced diplomatic solutions to put an end to this war, but we will not surrender.”

These are the estimates of Russia's losses as of March 10, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/7BUHJDJ9eJ

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 10, 2022

Digital Battles Being Won by Ukraine

The digital war continues. There are marked escalations on the digital battleground in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Increasingly the access for Russians to western digital information is being choked off. A major step has been taken by YouTube.

No more YouTube monetization in Russia

YouTube has suspended monetization for all Youtube creators based in Russia. This move also includes revenue streams linked to YouTube Premium and YouTube Music subscriptions, sponsorship, “Super Chat,” “Super Stickers,” and merchandise sales.

The service previously disabled showing ads to users in Russia.

YouTube has been a major platform for independent content in Russia.

Google also informed Android users that paid apps and games will soon become unavailable in Russia on the Google Play store due to problems with the existing payment system.

Apple is ending Apple Pay in Russia, and TikTok has restricted access by Russian users.

That move appears to have hit Russian President Putin directly. Russia’s federal media regulator is ordering TikTok to unblock a video address from President Vladimir Putin. Roskomnadzor says TikTok has restricted access to “the video” for foreign users.

Very likely President Putin in planning his invasion of Ukraine did not include the possibility that the move would result in digital sanctions against his country and its digital economy.

Russia Leaves European Council

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has stated that Russia will no longer participate in the European Council. The Russia Foreign Ministry is claiming that the European Council has become a NATO platform.

“Let them enjoy talking to each other without Russia,” is the claim from the Ministry.

“The withdrawal from the European Council means that it is possible that Russia will also now be in a position to reject both the organization’s charter and the European Convention on Human Rights”, says Senator Konstantin Kosachev, who chairs the Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee.

Human rights lawyer Pavel Chikov says procedures make it impossible for Russia to leave the European Council any sooner than 2023, and even then, the European Court of Human Rights will still be able to review complaints received previously from Russian nationals.

Russia Blaming US for Bio-War Efforts in Ukraine

Russia’s Defense Ministry is accusing Ukraine of accepting U.S. funding to create and develop bio-labs that it then used to conduct experiments on Coronavirus samples from bats.

On behalf of the Pentagon, Ukrainian scientists were studying mechanisms for the covert spread of deadly pathogens, claims Moscow, vowing to present “documents” to prove its outlandish allegations. White House spokesperson Jen Psaki has warned that Russian allegations about supposed U.S. biological weapons labs in Ukraine mean “We should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them.”