UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Thursday that talk of a nuclear conflict is "totally unacceptable" and effectively warned that so-called referenda in areas under Russian control would be annexation.
Germany is ready to take in Russian deserters, ministers signalled Thursday, amid reports of people fleeing the partial mobilisation ordered by President Vladimir Putin.
"Deserters threatened with serious repression can as a rule obtain international protection in Germany," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said, according to excerpts from an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.
"Anyone who courageously opposes Putin's regime and thereby falls into great danger, can file for asylum on grounds of political persecution," she said.
Russianeeds to continue support measures as its economy falters, an official at the central bank said on Thursday.
"We have an extended downturn in the economy and there is a need for support measures," said Elizaveta Danilova, head of the central bank's financial stability department.
She added that banks were also resuming risky practices, such as lending with low fees and "near-zero rates", and that reasonable regulatory restrictions were needed.
Poland, concerned about fighting around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, has distributed iodine tablets to regional fire departments to give to people in the event of radioactive exposure, a deputy minister said on Thursday.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wants EU sanctions onRussiaover its invasion of Ukraine lifted by year end, a pro-government daily newspaper said Thursday.
Orban, who has sought close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent years, has frequently railed against the sanctions, saying they are hurting Europe more thanRussia.