KYIV/MOSCOW – Moscow was facing increasing isolation as President Vladimir Putin refused to stop the invasion of Ukraine. There, fierce fighting and Russian bombardment had left many dead and sparked a refugee crises.

Russia’s last-week invasion of Ukraine has not made the crucial early gains Putin had hoped for. The ceasefire talks that took place Monday didn’t reach a consensus and negotiators don’t know when the next round of negotiations will be held.

America and its allies are trying to penalize Russia for the largest attack against a European nation since World War Two. They have placed sanctions on Russia’s most powerful businesses, oligarchs, and officials including Putin.

Washington, however has decided not to send troops against Russia and enforce a no fly zone. This is due to fears of an increase in tensions between two major nuclear power. As President Volodymyr Zeleskiy has warned, the capital is constantly under threat from Washington and its allies, they have offered military aid to Kyiv.

Zelenskiy stated in a late Monday video that Kyiv was the target of the enemy. They sent saboteurs and we did not allow them to break the defense of the capital. We’ll neutralize them all.”

Zelenskiy claimed that Russia called its actions in Ukraine “special operation”, and was targeting a power plant providing electricity to Kyiv (3 million) residents.

Russia claims its actions do not aim to seize territory, but rather to degrade the military capability of its south neighbour and to capture dangerous nationalists.

The port of Mariupol was the scene of fighting, as well as the eastern city Kharkiv. There, officials from Ukraine claimed that Russian artillery had caused the deaths of dozens of civilians. It wasn’t possible to confirm these figures.

Russia is staging a campaign for the capital and has assembled a convoy consisting of tanks, armoured vehicles, and other military equipment. The range stretches approximately 40 miles (64km), according to the U.S. satellite firm Maxar.

Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian foreign minister, said that Washington had offered additional support to Ukraine through sanctions and arms. This was after a meeting with Antony Blinken, U.S. secretary of state.

“Ukraine longs for peace. But as Russia continues to attack us, we will need more weapons and sanctions. Kuleba posted on Twitter, “Secretary assured me of both,” (NYSE:

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According to UN refugee agency, more than half a million Ukrainians have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries. This has created a refugee crisis, as thousands wait to cross the border to Europe.

According to the U.N. human rights chief, at least 102 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the conflict since Thursday’s invasion. However, this number could rise, he said.

While Western-led sanctions so far have failed to persuade Moscow to change course, there is a steady stream of Russian businesses that will be leaving Russia starting Tuesday. This could further undermine Russia’s economy.

Shell (LON), BP(NYSE:), and Norway’s Equinor announced they would leave Russia’s oil-rich Russia. This put pressure on Western companies that have stakes, like TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil (NYSE).

Major banks, auto manufacturers, airlines and airlines have stopped shipments and ended partnership with Russia. More are being considered for similar moves.

On Monday, the United States placed new sanctions against Russia’s central banking and other wealth sources. This triggered a drop in the Russian rouble and some Russian banks were expelled from SWIFT International Payments System.

The moves to isolate Russia also included culture and sport. FIFA and UEFA have suspended Russia’s national soccer teams and clubs from international competition football. This was in response to the move by sporting organisations around the world to prohibit Russian athletes competing.

Putin is a proud athlete and passionate martial artist. His honorary black belt in World Taekwondo was taken away from him after the invasion.

It stated in a statement that “World Taekwondo deeply condemns the brutal attack on innocent people in Ukraine.”