Russia-Ukraine live news: ‘Appalled’ G7 backs war crimes probe | Russia-Ukraine war News

G7 countries welcome International Criminal Court’s investigation into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine.

• US President Joe Biden renews a warning to China against helping Russia in Ukraine war.
• Biden also warns that NATO would “respond” if Russian President Vladimir Putin uses a chemical weapon in the conflict.
• G7 nations say they are “appalled” by attacks in Ukraine and back an International Criminal Court probe into possible war crimes.
• The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution demanding aid access and civilian protection in Ukraine.
• The Ukraine crisis is expected to dominate US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming trip to the Middle East.

Here are all the latest updates:

15 mins ago (20:43 GMT)

Russian space chief says cooperation with Europe now ‘impossible’

Russia’s space director has accused Europe of wrecking cooperation by imposing sanctions against his agency, saying that rockets that were meant to launch European satellites would now be used for Russian companies or countries friendly to Moscow.

Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, said in a Chinese television interview that the decision would apply to about 10 rockets.

“At this moment, after the European Space Agency and the whole European Union have taken a frenzied position on the conduct of [Russia’s] special military operation in Ukraine and introduced sanctions against Roscosmos, we consider further cooperation impossible,” Rogozin said.

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15 mins ago (20:43 GMT)

Ukraine to feature heavily in Blinken’s upcoming Middle East trip: US official

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming trip to the Middle East and North Africa will be heavily dominated by discussion of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Iran, a US official has said.

“Both of those are going to be really at the top of the agenda,” Washington’s top diplomat for Near Eastern affairs, Yael Lempert, told reporters.

Blinken is set to visit Israel, the West Bank, Morocco and Algeria from March 26 to 30.

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22 mins ago (20:36 GMT)

G7 backs ICC investigation into war crimes in Ukraine

The G7 countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the US – have backed the International Criminal Court’s probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine, saying they are “appalled” by Russian attacks on Ukrainian towns and cities.

“We will work together to support the gathering of evidence of war crimes,” the G7 said in a joint statement.

“The siege of Mariupol and other Ukrainian cities, and the denial of humanitarian access by Russian military forces are unacceptable. Russian forces must immediately provide for safe pathways to other parts of Ukraine, as well as humanitarian aid to be delivered to Mariupol and other besieged cities.”

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25 mins ago (20:33 GMT)

Biden renews warnings to China against aiding Russia in Ukraine

US President Joe Biden has reiterated his warnings to China against coming to Russia’s aid in Ukraine, saying that he made clear “the consequences” of such assistance to Chinese President Xi Jinping during a phone call last week.

The US president said Xi understands that China’s economic interests are with the West, not China.

“I made no threats, but I pointed out the number of American and foreign corporations who left Russia as a consequence of their barbaric behaviour,” Biden told reporters of his conversation with Xi.

Read more here.

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Welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the Ukraine-Russia crisis.

Read all the updates from Thursday, March 24 here.