Russian envoy calls for greater economic relations with India

The current crisis in Ukraine will have consequences for the whole world, including for Russia-India relations, and the extent of its impact cannot be envisaged now, Russian Ambassador Denis Alipov said on Saturday. At the same time, he said India can take advantage of the situation to bolster economic ties with Russia as Moscow's Western partners have refused to cooperate with it.

The Russian envoy said the current situation has presented a "window of opportunity" for Indian businesses to expand their presence in Russia and that it would make sense for India to take a closer look at economic cooperation with Russians. The remarks of the ambassador featured in a video posted by the Russian embassy on its Twitter handle.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Saturday that Ukrainian statehood is in jeopardy and likened the West's sanctions on Russia to declaring war, while a promised cease-fire in the port city of Mariupol collapsed amid scenes of terror in the besieged town. With the Kremlin's rhetoric growing fiercer and a reprieve from fighting dissolving, Russian troops continued to shell encircled cities and the number of Ukrainians forced from their country grew to 1.4 million.

Ten days after Russian forces invaded, the struggle to enforce the temporary cease-fire in Mariupol and the eastern city of Volnovakha showed the fragility of efforts to stop the fighting across Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials said Russian artillery fire and airstrikes had prevented residents from leaving before the agreed-to evacuations got underway. Putin accused Ukraine accused Ukraine of sabotaging the effort.

The third round of talks since Russia invaded will take place Monday, Davyd Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, said Saturday. He didn't give further details, including where they will take place. The last round was held in Belarus.

Earlier, the Russian defense ministry said it had agreed with Ukraine on evacuation routes out of the two cities.

Before the announcement, Russia's days-long assault had caused growing misery in Mariupol, where AP journalists witnessed doctors make unsuccessful attempts to save the lives of wounded children, pharmacies ran bare and hundreds of thousands of people faced food and water shortages in freezing weather.