Russia-Ukraine Conflict Live Updates: U.S. Says Americans Should Leave Russia; E.U. To Arm Ukraine – NBC News

Canada says Russian airline violated its airspace

Canada accused the Russian airline Aeroflot on Sunday of violating its airspace, hours after Canada and other countries shut their skies to Russian aircraft. 

Transport Canada, the country’s national transportation agency, said on Twitter that it would review actions leading up to the violation by Aeroflot Flight 111. Data from the website FlightAware showed the Miami-to-Moscow flight passing over eastern Canada. 

“We will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action and other measures to prevent future violations,” Transport Canada said. 

Aeroflot did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours. 

CEOs of Google, YouTube meet E.U. officials to discuss Ukraine

European officials pressed the CEOs of Google and YouTube on Sunday to take down Russian government messages in response to the conflict in Ukraine. 

“Online platforms took unprecedented steps after the Capitol Hill attacks. Surely Russian war #propaganda merits at least the same level of response,” Thierry Breton, the E.U.’s internal market commissioner, said on Twitter. He posted a photo of a video meeting he and others had with Google’s Sundar Pichai and YouTube’s Susan Wojcicki. 

Google, which owns YouTube, said in a statement after the call that it was committed to tackling disinformation and that it was already taking unprecedented steps to prevent misuse of its platforms.

“As we said to the Commissioners, our teams continue to monitor the situation around the clock and are ready to take further action,” the company said. 

Reuters reported Sunday that Google had temporarily disabled in Ukraine some Google Maps tools that provide live information about traffic conditions and how busy different places are in response to concerns about the safety of local communities.

“Succession” actor Brian Cox hails Zelenskyy, condemns Russia at SAG Awards

“Succession” star Brian Cox, accepting the statuette for best drama series ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, paid tribute to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government.

Cox, surrounded by his “Succession” cast mates, acknowledged that Zelenskyy was a comedian and performer before he took office in 2019. He then blasted the Russian government for placing limits on what artists can say about the conflict.

“They are told, under pain of high treason, that they cannot say a word about Ukraine, and I think that is pretty awful,” Cox said from the stage at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California. He called on the audience to celebrate Russians who dare to take a stand against Putin’s offensive in a democratic country.

In the crowd, many of Cox’s acting peers stood up and applauded.

Russia still has friends, official says, citing China

Russia is not entirely isolated on the international stage, despite widespread sanctions, and it still counts China as a friend, said Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry. 

The privately owned Russian news agency Interfax reported early Monday Moscow time that Zakharova was asked in an interview on the Russia-1 TV channel whether Russia still had friends. 

“Of course,” she said. “Look at the reaction of the world’s giants. Those who do not pretend to be giants, but real giants. Well, in particular, China. You see this reaction.” 

Zakharova blamed Western countries for starting the conflict in Ukraine by stuffing the country with weapons, and she said Ukrainian authorities had “delegitimized themselves” by letting it happen, Interfax reported. 

Blasts heard in Kyiv

Blasts were heard in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and in the major city of Kharkiv on Monday morning, Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection said.

Kyiv had been quiet for a few hours before that, it said in a brief statement on the Telegram messaging app. 

Russian saboteurs want to bring panic to Kyiv, mayor says

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Sunday that authorities in the city are searching for possible Russian saboteurs who may have entered in disguise. 

“They want to make [a] terror attack and to bring the panic to our city,” Klitschko said, according to The Associated Press. He described them as small groups of armed troops dressed as civilians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier that sabotage groups had entered the city of 2.8 million people with the aim of killing government officials.

Klitschko said the presence of possible saboteurs was one reason for residents to obey a curfew. “We try to hunt these people. It will be much easier if nobody is in the street,” he said. 

He told the AP that nine civilians in Kyiv had been killed, including a child. NBC News has not independently verified those figures.

Dow futures fall as much as 500 points

U.S. stock futures moved lower in overnight trading Sunday as investors grew concerned about the economic ramifications of the fighting between Russia and Ukraine.

Dow futures dropped as much as 500 points. S&P 500 futures fell as much as 2.12 percent, and Nasdaq 100 futures lost as much as 2.37 percent.

U.S. and global equities experienced volatile trading last week as tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated.

The Russian ruble was set to tumble by at least 19 percent, with banks offering it at about 100 rubles per dollar, Reuters reported. It closed Friday at 84 rubles per dollar.

Blinken: U.S. to provide $54 million for ‘ordinary Ukrainians’

The U.S. will provide nearly $54 million in additional humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday. 

“It is with the welfare of ordinary Ukrainians in mind that we are announcing the provision of nearly $54 million in humanitarian assistance to those affected by Russia’s further invasion,” Blinken said in a statement. 

The aid, which will go through independent organizations, will be spent on providing food, safe drinking water, shelter, emergency health care, winterization and protection, the State Department said. It brings the total U.S. humanitarian assistance in the Russia-Ukraine crisis to $405 million since 2014. 

Blinken said U.S. diplomats were working with Ukraine’s neighboring countries to keep borders open for refugees and to assist refugees. 

“As with any refugee situation, we call on the international community to respond to the needs of those seeking protection in a way consistent with the principle of non-refoulement and our shared obligations under international law,” he said. (Non-refoulement is the principle that no one should be returned to a country where they would face irreparable harm.)

E.U. diplomat says Ukraine conflict ‘is a defining moment for European history’

The Russia-Ukraine conflict will help to define the history of Europe, Josep Borrell, the E.U.’s foreign policy chief, said Sunday.

“They are unprecedented times because the war is back in our borders. And that’s why it is a defining moment for European history,” Borrell said at a briefing with reporters, explaining the E.U.’s decision to finance a package of lethal assistance to Ukraine. 

He said there had been a “taboo” against the E.U.’s using collective resources to provide arms to a country that’s at war with another, but, he said, “Another taboo has fallen these days.” 

The total package would be more than 556 million Euros, and Poland has agreed to serve as a logistical hub for the delivery of aid.