Europe

MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev speculated that Russia may nationalize property of people registered in the US, the EU and other unfriendly jurisdictions amid new anti-Russian sanctions.

He noted that Russia is being threatened with arrests of assets of Russian citizens and companies abroad - "just like that, without any sanctions," "in a carpet fashion," "out of spite." According to the politician, "this must be responded to in a quite symmetric manner."

BERLIN, February 27. /TASS/. The European Union member states will close their airspace for Russian planes, the ARD television reported on Saturday citing own sources.

The channel did not specify when the ban will be imposed. The following countries have already closed their airspace for Russian aircraft: the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Latvia, Lilthuania and Estonia.

PARIS, February 27. /TASS/. France is set to toughen economic sanctions against Russia and increase its supplies of military equipment to Ukraine, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported, citing a statement of the presidential administration.

During a session of the country’s security and national defense council on Saturday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron "made a decision to toughen economic and financial sanctions in coordination with European countries and the United States."

MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. The Ukrainian side has picked Gomel, a city in Belarus, as a venue for talks with Russia, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Sunday.

"The city of Gomel was suggested by the Ukrainian side itself as a venue for talks. As we said, the Russian delegation is ready for these talks," Peskov said.

Russia will not suspend the military operation in Ukraine during the talks with the Ukrainian side, Peskov said.

KIEV, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Kiev is still under the control of Ukrainian forces as of Sunday morning, the Kyiv City State Administration said in a statement.

"The situation in Kiev is calm, the capital is completely controlled by the Ukrainian army and defense. There were several clashes with sabotage groups at night," said Mykola Povoroznyk, first deputy head of the administration.

MEDYKA, Poland (AP) — Dragging suitcases and carrying children, tens of thousands of Ukrainians rushed to the borders Saturday as invading Russian troops pressed on with their march toward Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and European nations agreed Saturday to impose the most potentially crippling financial penalties yet on Russia over its unrelenting invasion of Ukraine, going after the central bank reserves that underpin the Russian economy and severing some Russian banks from a vital global financial network.

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday that Germany is committing 100 billion euros to a special fund for its armed forces, raising its defense spending above 2 percent of GDP.

“It’s clear we need to invest significantly more in the security of our country, in order to protect our freedom and our democracy,” Scholz told a special session of the Bundestag in Berlin Sunday morning.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Street fighting broke out in Ukraine’s second-largest city and Russian troops squeezed strategic ports in the country’s south Sunday, advances that appeared to mark a new phase of Russia’s invasion following a wave of attacks on airfields and fuel facilities elsewhere in the country.

26 Feb 2022; MEMO: Former head of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn has called for the immediate and unconditional recognition of the State of Palestine.

During a discussion in Parliament regarding the recognition of the State of Palestine on Thursday, Corbyn asserted: "We should support the immediate and unconditional recognition of the State of Palestine."

Corbyn also tweeted a video of his speech in Parliament in which he spoke about the abuses of the Israeli settlement policy.