Russia shuts taps on gas to Finland

Action follows payment impasse, while Ukraine rules out cease-fire

KYIV/OSLO－Russia stopped providing gas to Finland in an escalation of a row over energy payments with the West on Saturday, as Ukraine ruled out a cease-fire amid intensified fighting in the Donbass region.

Russia's state-owned gas company, Gazprom, said it had halted gas exports to Finland after it refused to agree to Russian demands to pay for Russian gas in roubles because of Western sanctions imposed over Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine.

Finland and Sweden applied last week to join the NATO military alliance, a decision spurred by the Ukraine conflict.

Finnish state-owned gas wholesaler Gasum, the Finnish government and individual gas-consuming companies in Finland have said they were prepared for a shutdown of Russian flows and that the country will manage without.

Most European supply contracts are denominated in euros or dollars and Moscow cut off gas to Bulgaria and Poland last month after they refused to comply with the new payment terms.

In addition to trying to isolate Russia through sanctions, Western countries have stepped up weapons supplies to Ukraine.

Kyiv got another huge boost on Saturday when US President Joe Biden signed a bill to provide nearly $40 billion in military, economic and humanitarian aid to the country.

Moscow says Western arms deliveries to Kyiv, and the imposition of sanctions amount to a "proxy war" by the United States and its allies.

More sanctions

In a retaliatory move, Russia on Saturday published a list of 963 leading US citizens, including US President Joe Biden, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg and Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman banned from entering the country.

Those named in the list on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website also include US government officials, lawmakers and other leading figures.

Moscow had already announced sanctions targeting many of those on the list, in particular Biden, his Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin.

Ukraine has ruled out a cease-fire or concessions to Moscow as Russia intensifies an offensive in the eastern Donbass region.

After ending weeks of resistance by the last Ukrainian fighters in the strategic southeastern city of Mariupol, Russia is waging a major offensive in Lugansk, one of two provinces in Donbass.

Russian-backed separatists already controlled swaths of territory in Lugansk and the neighboring Donetsk before the Feb 24 start of the military operation, but Moscow wants to seize the last remaining Ukrainian-held territory in Donbass.

"The situation in Donbass is extremely difficult," Zelensky said in his nightly address. The Russian army was trying to attack the cities of Sloviansk and Sievierodonetsk, but Ukrainian forces were holding off their advance, he said.

Commenting on the situation on the battlefield, Zelensky adviser Mykhailo Podolyak ruled out agreeing to a cease-fire and said Kyiv would not accept any deal with Moscow that involved ceding territory. Making concessions would backfire on Ukraine because Russia would hit back harder after any break in fighting, he said.

"The war will not stop (after concessions). It will just be put on pause for some time," Podolyak, Ukraine's lead negotiator, told Reuters in an interview in the heavily guarded presidential office. "They'll start a new offensive, even more bloody and large-scale."

The last Ukrainian forces holed up in Mariupol's vast Azovstal steelworks surrendered on Friday, Russia's Defence Ministry said. It said 2,439 defenders had surrendered in the past few days.

Agencies Via Xinhua