China refuses to condemn Russia's Ukraine invasion during G20 deadlock
Feb 26: Beijing declined to accept parts of a G20 statement that deplored Russia's aggression "in the strongest terms".
Moscow said "anti-Russian" Western countries had "destabilised" the G20.
It comes afte
MAY 5: These are the latest in a series of financial measures by Western countries in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
They are designed to damage Russia's economy and penalise President Putin, high-ranking officials and those who have benefited from his regime.
What are sanctions?
Sanctions are penalties imposed by one country on another, to stop it acting aggressively, or breaking international law.
They are among the toughest actions nations can take, short of going to war.
What is the EU proposing?
The planned sanctions, which have yet to be approved by EU members, include:
-Phasing out EU imports of Russian oil crude oil in six months and refined products by the end of 2022
-Disconnecting Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, and the Credit Bank of Moscow and the Russian Agricultural Bank from the international payments system Swift, used to transfer money across borders
-Cutting off three of Russia's state-owned broadcasters from the EU on cable, satellite and the internet
-Sanctioning 58 Russians, including those involved in war crimes in Bucha and the siege of Mariupol
What sanctions are already in place?
Western countries have introduced increasingly widespread sanctions - targeting individuals, banks, businesses and major state-owned enterprises, and exports, among others.
Financial measures
Russia's central bank assets have been frozen, to stop it using its $630bn (£470bn) of foreign currency reserves.
This caused the rouble to fall 22% in value, pushing up the price of imported goods and leading to a 14% rise in Russia's inflation rate. The rouble has since recovered, but mainly due to measures by Moscow to prop it up.
The United States has barred Russia from making debt payments using the $600m it holds in US banks, making it harder for Russia to repay its international loans.
Major Russian banks have been removed from the international financial messaging system Swift,. This will delay payments to Russia for energy exports.
The UK has excluded key Russian banks from the UK financial system, frozen the assets of all Russian banks, barred Russian firms from borrowing money, and placed limits on deposits Russians can make at UK banks,
Russian energy
In addition to the new EU measures, the US is banning all Russian oil and gas imports and the UK will phase out Russian oil imports by the end of 2022.
Germany has frozen plans for the opening of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia.
The EU has also said it will halt Russian coal imports by this August.
Could the world survive without Russian oil and gas?
Targeting individuals
The US, EU, UK and other countries have together already sanctioned more than 1,000 Russian individuals and businesses, including:
-Wealthy business leaders, so-called oligarchs, who are considered close to the Kremlin, including Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich.
-Russian government officials and family members - including President Vladimir Putin's adult children and relatives of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
-Assets belonging to President Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are being frozen in the US, EU, UK and Canada
-The UK has also stopped the sale of "golden visas", which allowed wealthy Russians to get British residency rights.
What are companies doing?
More than 1,000 international companies have either suspended trading in Russia, or withdrawn altogether - including McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Starbucks.
Food giant Nestle has withdrawn some of its brands including KitKat and Nesquik, but says it will still sell "essential foods".
However, some brands including Marks and Spencer, Burger King, and hotel groups Marriott and Accor say they can't pull out because their businesses in Russia operate under complex franchise deals.
Military goods and mercenaries
A ban on the export of dual-use goods - items with both a civilian and military purpose, such as vehicle parts - has been imposed by the UK, EU and US.
The UK is also imposing sanctions on Russia's Wagner Group - a private military firm thought to function as an arms-length unit of the Russian military.
Flights
All Russian flights have been banned from US, UK, EU and Canadian airspace.
The UK has also banned private jets chartered by Russians.
Luxury goods
The UK and the EU have banned the export of luxury goods to Russia - including vehicles, high-end fashion and art.
The UK has also imposed a 35% tax on some imports from Russia, including vodka.
How has Russia reacted?
Russia has banned exports of more than 200 products until the end of 2022, including telecoms, medical, vehicle, agricultural, electrical equipment and timber.
In addition it is blocking interest payments to foreign investors who hold government bonds, and banning Russian firms from paying overseas shareholders.
It has stopped foreign investors who hold billions of dollars worth of Russian stocks and bonds from selling them.
With inputs from BBC
According to the Associated Press, Visa and Mastercard are halting operations in Russia, dealing another severe blow to the country's financial sector. Visa says it's working with Russian partners to "stop all transactions in the coming days," according to a statement on the company's website. Mastercard issued a supplementary press statement with a similar message, stating that it is halting services in Russia and that its decision was not made "lightly."
Both firms state that transactions conducted with Mastercard or Visa cards issued by Russian banks will not operate outside the country, and that cards provided by foreign banks will not work at Russian businesses or ATMs. Visa CEO Al Kelly said, "We regret the impact this will have on our valued staff, as well as the customers, partners, retailers, and cardholders we serve in Russia." "We must respond in accordance with our beliefs in response to this conflict and the continuous...
FEB 28: He told defence chiefs it was because of "aggressive statements" by the West, amid widespread condemnation of his invasion of Ukraine.
The announcement does not mean Russia intends to use the weapons.
The US immediately condemned his decision calling it an "unacceptable escalation".
Last week, Mr Putin had warned that "whoever tries to hinder us" in Ukraine would see consequences "you have never seen in your history".
Those words were widely interpreted as signalling a threat to use nuclear weapons if the West stood in his way.
That warning became sharper on Sunday when he ordered the Russian defence minister and the chief of the military's general staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces on a "special regime of combat duty".
After Mr Putin's announcement, the EU announced an unprecedented new raft of sanctions and actions against Russia, including:
-The financing of weapons for Ukraine
-A total ban on Russian planes using EU airspace
-Barring state media outlets Sputnik and Russia Today from EU territory.
These measures come on top of other sanctions already imposed by Western nations, which include asset freezes on major banks and wealthy individuals, including Mr Putin himself.
The US ambassador to the United Nations said Mr Putin's nuclear deterrent order showed he was escalating the Ukraine conflict in an unacceptable manner.
The White House said Russia had not been under threat from Nato at any point, while Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg described Mr Putin's comments as "dangerous rhetoric".
The very public shift to high alert status is a way for Moscow to send a warning.
Moving to alert status likely makes it easier to launch weapons more quickly. But it does not mean there is a current intent to use them.
Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world but also knows that Nato also has enough to destroy Russia if they were used.
But Vladimir Putin's aim is likely to try and deter Nato support for Ukraine by creating fears over how far he is willing to go - and creating ambiguity over what kind of support for Ukraine he would consider to be too much.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian presidency says it has agreed to hold negotiations with Russia at a location on the border between Ukraine and Belarus.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that in a conversation with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, the Ukrainian side had agreed to meet the Russians without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River.
Mr Zelensky said Mr Lukashenko had taken responsibility for ensuring that all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarusian territory remained on the ground during the Ukrainian delegation's travel, talks and return.
Neither Russia nor Belarus have issued any statements about potential talks.
Russia's defence ministry has now acknowledged that its military personnel have been killed and wounded in Ukraine, though it claims the losses are much less than those of Ukraine.
The UN said that by Saturday, at least 134 Ukrainian military had been killed. Ukraine, meanwhile, says there have been 4,300 casualties among Russian servicemen, but even Ukrainian officials say those figures are not clear.
Ukraine's human rights commissioner says 210 civilians have been killed.
Among the dead are children - one when a children's hospital was shelled in Kyiv and one in a Russian attack on a kindergarten that claimed six lives near the northern border at Okhtyrka.
Nine civilians have been killed in Kyiv, while 10 ethnic Greek Ukrainians died in air strikes on villages in the south-east, Greek officials say.
So far, the UN has recorded 64 confirmed civilian deaths and many more wounded, and it expects the true number to be much higher.
In other developments, as the Russian invasion entered its fourth day:
-Thousands of Ukrainians travelled towards neighbouring countries to escape the war, with UN estimating refugee numbers have reached 368,000 and rising
-Russian airliners turned round in mid-air as dozens of European nations banned flights from the country amid rising pressure on Moscow
-Russian police have detained more than 900 people protesting against the invasion of Ukraine in widespread protests on Sunday, according to an independent monitoring group
-The governor of Kharkiv says Ukrainian forces have reasserted full control over Ukraine's second city, as residents describe a barrage of shelling
FEB 27: Ukrainian forces are battling Russian troops on the streets of Ukraine's second-city Kharkiv, according to local officials.
Windows have been blown out of apartment blocks and craters have formed in the streets. Damaged buildings and military debris can be seen across the capital.
Residents sheltered in underground railway stations, while others took up arms to fight the advancing Russians.
Here are pictures taken from various international agencies:
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