Evacuations halted as Ukraine accuses Russia of continued shelling

The Biden administration authorized the landing of a Russian plane at Dulles International Airport on Saturday. The plane will be used to repatriate 12 Russian officials from its UN mission in New York, as well as a Russian national working for the UN who have been accused by the US of engage in espionage and declared personae non gratae, a diplomatic term meaning that it is no longer welcome.

President Biden had earlier announced in his State of the Union address that he was closing US airspace to Russian aircraft.

The plane will fly from Dulles to New York’s JFK International Airport on Sunday afternoon, a spokesman for the Russian mission told CBS News. Once in New York, he will pick up the 13 Russians accused of espionage, as well as their families and a group of other Russian Mission staff members who are also returning home.

Diplomatic expulsions have been underway for several months, the U.S. Mission to the UN said, and are taking place at a time of rising tensions between the U.S. and Russia over military attacks in Ukraine.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that China opposes any measures that “add fuel to the flames” in Ukraine.

Blinken says the world is looking to see which nations uphold the principles of freedom and sovereignty.

The two spoke by telephone on Saturday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

Wang called for negotiations to resolve the immediate crisis, as well as talks to create a balanced European security mechanism. Wang says the United States and Europe should pay attention to the negative impact of NATO’s eastward expansion on Russia’s security.

The U.S. State Department says Blinken stressed that the world is acting in unison in response to Russian aggression and ensuring that Moscow pays a high price.

China has broken with the US, Europe and others who have imposed sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. China says that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations must be respected, but that sanctions create new problems and disrupt the political settlement process.

Visa and Mastercard announced on Saturday that they were suspending operations in Russia.

Visa said it would “stop all Visa transactions” in Russia in the coming days. Once the process is complete, transactions will not be processed for Visa cards issued in Russia abroad or for cards issued abroad used in Russia.

Similarly, Mastercard announced that “cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be compatible with the Mastercard network. And any Mastercard issued abroad will not work for Russian merchants or ATMs.”

Ukrainian President Zelensky said on Saturday that he had spoken by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. The conversation came after Bennett met in person with Russian President Putin in Moscow.

Bennett traveled to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Reuters reports.

The World Health Organization on Saturday released a report on what it called “the emergence of Ukraine.” Based on information collected between February 24 and March 3, the report summarizes the priority health issues in Ukraine:

1. Conflict-related injuries and traumadue to invasion and worsened by lack of access to adequate health care.
2. Excessive morbidity and death from common diseases due to disruption of health careincluding newborn and child diseases and cancer.
3. Spread of infectious diseasesincluding COVID, HIV and measles.
4. Mental health and psychosocial healthdue to the stress of the invasion.

In response, the WHO said it is working with local health officials. It is also stepping up surveillance and record keeping in the area to detect possible outbreaks, control attacks on health systems, ensure the safety and security of its personnel, and provide the necessary supplies to Ukraine.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, on Saturday …