PARIS – French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire says sanctions are “going to cause the Russian economy to collapse.”

“Russia’s foreign exchange reserves are disappearing into thin air, and Vladimir Putin’s notorious war chest is all but empty,” Le Maire said. “The market is collapsing. Inflation is rising. We’re going to see lines of Russian people trying to withdraw cash from their banks.”

Le Maire also said that the Russian Central Bank having to raise interest rates “means that companies won’t have access to loans, or at very high rates” and therefore won’t be able to invest and develop the Russian economy.

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BERLIN – German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock says unity “has become a question of survival for Europe” in light of Russia’s decision to ignore international rules with its attack on Ukraine.

Speaking ahead of a meeting with her Polish and French counterparts in Lodz, Poland, Baerbock said it was important that the three countries bring their own – often quite different – perspectives to the issue and thereby ensure Europe remains united.

“If our three countries can act as one, as we are now in our support for Ukraine, then Europe acts as one,” she said.

Baerbock said Europe’s solidarity with Ukraine could also be seen in the peace protests that have taken place in recent days “where hundreds of thousands of participants expressed their sorrow and also their anger” over the war.

(French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock meet in Lodz, Poland. – Reuters)

The city of Munich says it has fired Valery Gergiev as the chief conductor of the city’s philharmonic orchestra because of his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mayor Dieter Reiter said in a statement that Gergiev had failed to respond to a Monday deadline to distance himself from Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“I had expected him to rethink and revise his very positive assessment of the Russian leader,” said Reiter.

“After this didn’t occur the only option is the immediate severance of ties,” he added.

Additional German navy ships left the northern port of Kiel to reinforce NATO's northern flank as Alliance members rally in defence of Ukraine.

The minehunting boats "Sulzbach-Rosenberg" and "Homburg," the minesweeper "Siegburg" and the tender "Elbe" departed for the Baltic Sea on Monday.

The departing vessels follow the corvette "Erfurt" and the fleet service boat "Alster" that left on Saturday under the motto: Not on our watch.

The ships’ departure coincides with a policy shift that means Germany will now supply Ukraine with defensive anti-tank weapons, surface-to-air missiles and ammunition.

(German warships leave port to reinforce NATO's northern flank. – Reuters)

After facing criticism for refusing to send weapons to Kyiv, unlike other Western allies, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Berlin will supply Ukraine with 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles from Bundeswehr stocks.

Germany has a long-standing policy of not exporting weapons to war zones, rooted partly in its bloody 20th-century history and resulting pacifism. Countries aiming to pass on German weapons exports need to apply for approval in Berlin first.

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ROME – Italian Premier Mario Draghi is asking the country's Parliament to step up military aid to Ukraine, a day after his Cabinet approved supplying arms like anti-tank missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

Draghi told lawmakers that Russia's attack on Ukraine “obligates us to make choices that were unthinkable” until recently. Some lawmakers in parties in his wide-ranging pandemic unity government have voiced opposition to sending lethal military aid. But both chambers of Parliament are expected to approve the aid in votes this week.

Just last week, the government said it would be sending only “non-lethal” aid to Italy's military forces, such as equipment to disable land mines. But "it's necessary that a democratically elected government is able to resist invasion and defend the independence of the nation,” Draghi said, arguing for supplying lethal weaponry.

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BEIJING – China is urging restraint from “all parties” in Russia’s war on Ukraine, continuing its efforts to express support for its northern ally without outright endorsing the invasion.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin reiterated China’s call for the “reasonable security concerns” of all countries to be respected, and assertion that the Ukraine issue has “a complex reality”.

Russia’s “legitimate security demands should be taken seriously and properly addressed” in the face of NATO’s expansion eastward, Wang told reporters at a daily briefing.

“We express regret over the casualties. The current situation is not something we want to see,” Wang said.

“It is imperative that all parties maintain the necessary restraint to prevent the situation on the ground from further deteriorating or even going out of control, and make efforts to effectively safeguard civilians’ lives and property, especially to prevent a large-scale humanitarian crisis.”

China has largely aligned its foreign policy with Russia’s in recent years as part of joint efforts to challenge the US-led liberal international order. During a visit by Putin to Beijing early last month, Beijing endorsed Putin’s objections to further NATO expansion and Russia backed China’s claim to the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan.

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LONDON – Britain’s deputy prime minister again rejected calls for NATO to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying it would risk widening the war by putting the alliance in direct conflict with Russian forces.

Dominic Raab said that Britain instead is pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin to change course by working with other countries to ratchet up sanctions and investigate war crimes during the conflict.

“We’re not going to (impose a no-fly zone) because it would put us in a position where we would have to enforce it by, in effect, shooting down Russian planes,” Raab said.

The comments came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked NATO to impose a complete no-fly zone for Russian airplanes, helicopters and missiles.

(British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki hold a joint news conference in Warsaw. – Reuters)

The UK Ministry of Defense said Russia had failed to gain control of the skies over Ukraine, forcing it to shift to night operations to reduce its losses.

Russian forces have “made little progress” in their advance on the capital, Kyiv, over the past 24 hours probably because of logistical difficulties, the ministry said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, visiting Poland, warned about the growing humanitarian crisis due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying refugee numbers could run into millions as people flee their homes.

"When I spoke to (US) President Biden last night, we focussed on the humanitarian emergency that is now beginning. Putin's invasion has already cost hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes, and we must prepare for an even larger outflow, perhaps in the millions," Johnson said from Warsaw.

"The UK will provide up to £220 million in emergency and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

"I have placed 1000 troops on standby to help the humanitarian response in neighbouring countries including Poland."

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ANKARA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a telephone call with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in which the two discussed talks between Ukraine and Russia at the Belarus-Ukraine border, the Turkish president’s office said Tuesday.

Erdogan told his Belarusian counterpart late Monday that NATO-member Turkey would continue to exert efforts to “end the war and restore peace,” it said in a statement.

Ukrainian and Russian officials met on Monday for talks aimed at ending the Russian military assault on Ukraine. The talks yielded an agreement to keep talking.

Turkey, which is trying to balance its support for Ukraine with its fragile economic ties to Russia, said it is implementing an international convention that allows the country to shut down the straits at the entrance of the Black Sea to warships, to avoid an escalation of the conflict.

Erdogan has said Turkey would “not give up” on its close relations with either Moscow or Kyiv.

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TEL AVIV – Israel has begun sending 100 tons of humanitarian aid to assist people caught up in the fighting in Ukraine.

(Workers load packages of Israeli humanitarian aid destined for Ukraine onto an aircraft at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv. – Reuters)

An El Al plane was loaded with dozens of cardboard boxes Tuesday at the country’s main international airport. Israel’s Foreign Ministry says it is sending medical equipment and medicine, water purification systems, thousands of tents, blankets, sleeping bags and coats. The planes will land in Poland and the aid will be sent to Ukraine from there.

Israel has repeatedly pledged its support for the people of Ukraine in the war. But it has been cautious in joining the West in condemning Russia.

Israel relies on Russia for security coordination in Syria, where Russia has a military presence and where Israel over recent years has repeatedly struck weapons caches destined for its enemies and other targets.

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BERLIN – Google is blocking the YouTube channels of Russian broadcasters RT and Sputnik in Europe due to the war in Ukraine.

Google said in a statement Tuesday on Twitter that the decision will be “effective immediately.”

But the company added that “it’ll take time for our systems to fully ramp up.”

“Our teams continue to monitor the situation around the clock to take swift action,” Google said.

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COPENHAGEN – The world’s biggest shipping company A.P. Moller – Maersk says that all new bookings to and from Russia “will be temporarily suspended, with exception of foodstuffs, medical and humanitarian supplies.”

The move came because “the stability and safety of our operations is already being directly and indirectly impacted by sanctions,” the Copenhagen-based group said in a statement adding the suspension applies to “all Russian gateway ports.”

The group said it is "deeply concerned by how the crisis keeps escalating in Ukraine.”

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TAIPEI – Taiwan says it sent 27 tons worth of medical supplies to Ukraine via a flight to Germany.

(A group of Ukrainian supporters in Taiwan hold posters to protest against the invasion by Russia. – AP)

Foreign affairs ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou told reporters Tuesday that Taiwan was happy to assist as “a responsible member of the international community, and a member of the democratic camp”.

Taiwan has strongly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and had said it would impose economic sanctions against Russia. It has yet to reveal what those sanctions were, but the island is a dominant manufacturer of semiconductor chips, which are crucial to tech products ranging from smartphones to cars.