March 22, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

French energy giant TotalEnergies said Tuesday it would stop buying Russian oil and oil products by the end of 2022 at the latest, according to a news release from the company.

The company however cautioned that it will continue to purchase natural gas from Russia.  

“Unlike oil supply, it appears that Europe's gas logistics capacities make it difficult to do without Russian gas in the next two to three years without affecting the continent's energy supply,” Total said in the statement.

The company said it will mobilize oil products from other places, especially diesel produced by the Satorp refinery in Saudi Arabia.

TotalEnergies’s contracts for Russian oil account for 12% of Russia’s diesel imports to the European Union in 2021, according to the statement.

More on the decision: The company reiterated that it doesn’t operate any oil or gas fields or liquified natural gas (LNG) plants in Russia and is moving towards a gradual suspension of its activities in Russia, according to the statement. Among the 11 employees sent to various Russian oil and gas companies where TotalEnergies is a minority shareholder, three remain in the country.

It also announced that it will stop funding the Arctic LNG 2 project, located in Russia’s Siberian coast, and will also put its commercial developments in the fields of batteries and lubricants in Russia on hold.

There is no agreement in sight for a ceasefire in Ukraine, the Élysée Palace said in a statement after French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts separately on Tuesday.

“There is no other way out than a ceasefire and good faith negotiations between Russia and Ukraine,” it added.

The call between Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin lasted for one hour, according to the Élysée Palace.

Since the war first broke out on February 24, Macron has been keeping a line of communication open with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Including the calls today, Macron has spoken with Putin eight times and with Zelensky 17 times since the beginning of Russia’s invasion last month, according to CNN's calculation.

The US has “seen indications that the Ukrainians are going a bit more on the offense now,” Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said during a briefing at the Pentagon on Tuesday.

In the south near Kherson, Ukrainians have “tried to regain territory,” Kirby added.

Here's a look at where Russian forces have occupied Ukrainian territory:

Russian President Vladimir Putin's chief spokesperson has conceded that Russia has yet

to achieve any of its military goals in Ukraine and refused to deny that Moscow could resort to the use of nuclear weapons.

In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday, Dmitry Peskov repeatedly refused to rule out that Russia would consider using nuclear weapons against what Moscow saw as an "existential threat." When asked under what conditions Putin would use Russia's nuclear capability, Peskov replied, "if it is an existential threat for our country, then it can be."

When asked what Putin thought he had achieved in Ukraine so far, Peskov answered, "Well, first of all, not yet. He hasn't achieved yet."

The spokesperson also claimed that the "special military operation" — the Kremlin's official euphemism for Russia's invasion in Ukraine — was "going on strictly in accordance with the plans and the purposes that were established before hand."

Read more here.

Deputy Irish Prime Minister (Tanaiste) Leo Varadkar said Tuesday that he expects 40,000 Ukrainian refugees to be in Ireland by the end of April.

While speaking in the Irish parliament, Varadkar said that as of Tuesday morning, more than 10,000 Ukrainians had arrived in the country and registered for international protection.

Varadkar said that he expects that number to rise to 20,000 by the end of March, adding that it was “reasonable to assume” that figure could hit 40,000 by the end of April. 

French carmaker Renault resumed production at its Moscow factory on Monday. However, the return will last only three days, the group’s spokesperson Rie Yamane confirmed to CNN on Tuesday.

On Feb. 28, Renault halted production following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, CNN’s French affiliate BFMTV reported.

Russia was a key piece in Renault’s global empire before the war broke out. With 482,264 cars sold in 2021, Russia was the second most important market for Renault, ranking only behind the carmaker’s home base in France in terms of sales volume, according to the group’s 2021 sales results.

Renault owns major Russian car manufacturer AvtoVAZ, whose brand Lada represented nearly 21% of the Russian market in 2021. Lada Vesta and Lada Granta were the two most popular car models in Russia in 2021, according to Renault Group’s 2021 financial results.

Renault's share price has dropped by more than 26% since Russia launched the invasion on February 24, according to data from the Paris stock exchange.

The French state is the biggest single shareholder of Renault, holding 15.01% of the share at the end of 2020, according to data from the group.  

The French Finance Ministry declined CNN’s request for a comment on Renault resuming car production in Moscow.

Hackers associated with Russian internet addresses have been scanning the networks of five US energy companies in a possible prelude to hacking attempts, the FBI said in a March 18 advisory to US businesses obtained by CNN. 

The FBI issued the notice days before US President Joe Biden publicly warned that Kremlin-linked hackers could target US organizations as the Russian military continues to suffer heavy losses in Ukraine and as Western sanctions on the Kremlin begin to bite. 

Deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger said during Monday's White House briefing that Russia had been conducting "preparatory activity" for cyber attacks, which she said could include scanning websites and hunting for software vulnerabilities."

There are at least 18 US companies in other sectors, such as defense and financial services, that were subjected to the scanning, the FBI said.

There are no confirmed breaches related to the scanning, but the FBI advisory is the latest in a chorus of warnings from US officials to critical infrastructure operators to be on alert for potential Russian hacking. “The magnitude of Russia's cyber capacity is fairly consequential and it's coming,” Biden told business executives on Monday. 

The Russia-based Internet Protocol addresses, or data that identifies a computer, are “believed to be associated with cyber actors who previously conducted destructive cyber activity against foreign critical infrastructure,” the FBI said in its advisory.

CBS News first reported on the FBI advisory.  

Read the full story here:

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FBI advised that hackers scanned networks of 5 US energy firms ahead of Biden's Russia cyberattack warning

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday that the administration has not seen China provide military equipment to Russia since President Joe Biden spoke with China’s President Xi Jinping last Friday. 

“I can't make predictions going forward. What I can tell you is we have not seen since those meetings or since the President's conversation with Xi, the provision of military equipment by China to Russia, but of course, this is something we are monitoring closely,” Sullivan told reporters Tuesday.

Russia has requested military support and economic assistance support from China, two US officials told CNN last week. China has conveyed some openness to offering help to Russia, according to a US diplomatic cable to allies. Both Russia and Beijing have denied that there have been any such requests. 

On Friday, Biden sought to dissuade Xi from assisting Russia, warning his Chinese counterpart during a 110-minute long video call of the "implications and consequences" for Beijing if it were to provide material support to Moscow.

United States national security adviser Jake Sullivan previewed President Joe Biden’s upcoming trip to Brussels and Poland, outlining the President’s schedule and setting a series of priorities for the trip.

According to Sullivan, Biden will attend an emergency NATO summit in Brussels, joined by leaders of the other 29 NATO allies, before addressing the 27 leaders of the European Union at a session of the European Council. From there, Biden “will have the opportunity to coordinate on the next phase of military assistance to Ukraine,” and “join our partners in imposing further sanctions on Russia and tightening the existing sanctions to crack down on evasion and to ensure robust enforcement.”

The President is also expected to make a slew of new announcements, including “a joint action on enhancing European energy security and reducing Europe's dependence on Russian gas at long last,” as well as “longer term adjustments to NATO force posture on the Eastern Flank.” Biden will also make further commitments on human rights “to respond to the growing flow of refugees” flowing from Ukraine, Sullivan said.

In Poland, Biden “will engage with US troops who are now helping to defend NATO territory, and he will meet with experts involved in the humanitarian response,” and hold a bilateral meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda. Sullivan did not say whether the President would meet personally with refugees while traveling to Poland.

In his remarks to reporters Tuesday, the national security adviser outlined the administration’s priorities while traveling to Europe, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin “has thus far manifestly failed” in subjugating neighboring Ukraine, enhancing Russian power in the region, or degrading Western influence.

In a series of tweets Tuesday, Biden outlined priorities and stops for his trip.