Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Moscow said it saw its economic ties growing with China amid its isolation by the West over the Ukraine conflict. FIGHTING * Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday revealed Ukraine's worst military losses from a single attack of the war, saying 87 people had been killed last week when Russian forces struck a barracks at a training base in the north. * A total of 12,500 Russians were trying to seize Luhansk, the region's governor, Serhiy Gaidai, said on Telegram.

The European Union will likely agree on an embargo on Russian oil imports "within days", according to its biggest member Germany, while U.S. President Joe Biden said the crisis in Ukraine was a global issue and not just a regional one. Moscow said it saw its economic ties growing with China amid its isolation by the West over the Ukraine conflict.

FIGHTING * Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday revealed Ukraine's worst military losses from a single attack of the war, saying 87 people had been killed last week when Russian forces struck a barracks at a training base in the north.

* A total of 12,500 Russians were trying to seize Luhansk, the region's governor, Serhiy Gaidai, said on Telegram. The town of Sievierodonetsk is being destroyed, but Ukraine has forced Russian troops out of Toshkivka to its south, Gaidai added. * A Ukrainian court sentenced a young Russian soldier to life in prison for killing an unarmed civilian in the first war crimes trial arising from Russia's Feb. 24 invasion.

DIPLOMACY * Biden, at the opening of talks in Tokyo with the leaders of the "Quad" group of countries - Australia, India, Japan and the United States - said Russia's invasion of Ukraine was not just a European issue but a global one.

* Zelenskiy told attendees at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the world must increase sanctions against Russia to deter other countries from using "brute force" to achieve their aims. * Zelenskiy said Kyiv was ready for an exchange of prisoners with Russia "even tomorrow" and called on his allies to put pressure on Moscow, which calls it actions in Ukraine "a special military operation".

* Ukraine and Poland agreed to establish joint border customs controls and work on a shared railway company to ease the movement of people and goods. * The Russia-appointed administration of Ukraine's Kherson region will ask Moscow to set up a military base on its territory, Russia's RIA news agency quoted a local government official as saying on Tuesday.

ECONOMY * Lithuania, Slovakia, Latvia, and Estonia will call for the confiscation of Russian assets frozen by the European Union to fund the rebuilding of Ukraine, a joint letter from the four countries showed.

* Ukraine's grain exports could reach 1.5 million tonnes in May versus around 1 million tonnes in April, Roman Slaston, Director General of the Ukrainian Agrarian Business Club Association, said on Monday. * Poland decided to terminate an intergovernmental agreement with Russia on the Yamal gas pipeline, Polish Climate Minister Anna Moskwa said.

* Starbucks Corp will exit the Russian market after nearly 15 years. Meanwhile, workers removed the trademark "Golden Arches" sign from a McDonald's restaurant just north of Moscow. * Russia would normally have its own 'house' at the World Economic Forum in Davos as a showcase for business leaders and investors, but this year the space has been transformed by Ukrainian artists into a "Russian War Crimes House". Russia has denied allegations of war crimes in the conflict.

QUOTE * "History is at a turning point ... This is really the moment when it is decided whether brute force will rule the world," said Ukrainian President Zelenskiy. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)