Russia-Ukraine crisis: US to have consultations with India on Ukrainian crisis, says Prez Biden

The Baltic state, once ruled from Moscow but now part of NATO and the European Union, will also propose that further sanctions should be imposed on Belarus, as Russian troops attacked Ukraine from Belarus as well.

The head of the Ukrainian military said Thursday he had received orders from President Volodymyr Zelensky to repel a Russian invasion of his country. "The supreme commander the Armed Forces of Ukraine gave orders to inflict maximum losses against the aggressor," Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Major General Valeriy Zaluzhny said.

The rouble tumbled to an all-time low against the dollar and euro on Thursday in highly volatile trading after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces to invade Ukraine, a move expected to trigger new sanctions against Moscow. Russian forces fired missiles at several Ukrainian cities and landed troops on its south coast on Thursday, officials and media said, after Putin authorised what he called a special military operation in the east. The rouble was 8% weaker against the dollar at 87.55, earlier hitting a record low of 89.60. It had lost 6.3% to trade at 97.51 versus the euro, earlier hitting 99.99.

As Russian troops attacked Ukraine, world leaders reacted Thursday with outrage - one called it "an unjustified barbarian act" - and vowed to both tighten sanctions and hold the Kremlin accountable. The turmoil from the beginning of a long-feared act of aggression rippled from Europe to Asia. Stock markets plunged, oil prices surged, and European aviation officials warned of a high risk to civilian aircraft over Ukraine, reminding air operators that "this is now an active conflict zone". In New York, the UN Security Council held an extraordinary emergency meeting meant to dissuade Russia from sending troops into Ukraine. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' plea to "give peace a chance" came just as Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared on Russian TV to announce a military operation that he maintained was to protect civilians in Ukraine. Putin, who said that rebels in eastern Ukraine had asked Moscow for military assistance, warned other countries that any effort to interfere with the Russian operation would lead to "consequences they have never seen".