Ukraine Fights Off Russian Attacks as Leaders Hold Talks;

 

A Ukrainian tank crew resupplied on the outskirts of Kyiv on Monday. MANU BRABO FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

A delegation led by Ukraine’s defense minister began cease-fire talks Monday with Russian officials at the Ukrainian border with Belarus, as Ukrainian forces repelled a series of Russian attacks on Kyiv and said they had cleared the capital of infiltrators, Yaroslav Trofimov reports. The talks on the fifth day of the war in Ukraine come as Russian forces struggled to make headway in most of the country, and have failed to take any of Ukraine’s major cities amid fierce resistance. Russia was pouring reinforcement convoys across the border on Monday, in what could be preparation for a renewed push on Kyiv and an attempt to besiege it. Despite Russia’s military difficulties so far, and mounting international sanctions and pressure on Russia’s currency and economy, the chances of a cease-fire being agreed to at Monday’s talks were uncertain. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded a full Russian withdrawal and a restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Ukrainians from across Europe are streaming back to their home country to pick up arms in their fight against Russia, Drew Hinshaw and Natalia Ojewska report. Live updates: Follow WSJ's full coverage of the conflict.

The Russian military has faltered early in its invasion of Ukraine, as stiff resistance threatens to turn Moscow’s hopes for a swift victory into a protracted and costly war, according to U.S. officials and allied military experts, report Michael R. Gordon, Max Colchester and Daniel Michaels. Western officials and analysts say that Russia’s strategy had been based on the premise that an initial barrage of missile strikes and a thrust toward Ukraine’s capital would spur the quick collapse of President Zelensky’s government. But Mr. Zelensky remains defiant while facing long odds. One third of Russia’s combat power near Ukraine is still outside the country, the Pentagon says, and has yet to enter the fray. The next few days could prove pivotal, as the Russians mull an even more aggressive approach, potentially causing more civilian casualties. Russian President Vladmir Putin's nuclear-deterrence threat is a window into his increasing isolation and anger, and is making his inner circle appear visibly uncomfortable, report Ann M. Simmons and Matthew Luxmoore. What to know about Russia's nuclear arsenal

The European Union and Canada on Sunday said they would bar Russian planes from entering their airspace, joining other countries in choking off Russia’s access to global aviation routes, Alison Sider reports.

Germany shook up its defense and energy-security strategies in response to the Russian attack, a historic reversal of a foreign-policy tradition that long substituted trade and dialogue for hard power, Bojan Pancevski, Drew Hinshaw and Daniel Michaels report. Chancellor Olaf Scholz, addressing Germany’s Parliament, said Europe’s economic powerhouse would nearly double its military spending, buy U.S.-made fighter planes for the first time in decades and create strategic energy reserves while shifting energy purchases away from Russia. Germany also said it would boost annual military spending above NATO’s target of 2% of gross domestic product, from around 1.5% last year. The foreign-policy reversal marks a watershed moment for Western Europe’s biggest nation and shows how the conflict is sending shock waves throughout the continent. WSJ Podcast: Bojan Pancevski discusses the changes occurring in international security following the invasion.

PHOTO: HANS PUNZ/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Following months of groundwork, frenzied late-night phone calls and a potent pressure campaign from Ukrainian leaders, the U.S. and Europe banded together to impose what is shaping up to be the biggest coordinated package of sanctions (Video) ever levied against a major economy, report Laurence Norman, Andrew Restuccia and Tom Fairless.

In a matter of days, the coalition hit Russia with a series of increasingly severe economic penalties, from direct sanctions on Mr. Putin and restrictions on Russia’s central bank to a plan to block some financial institutions from Swift, an international payments system. On Sunday, European Union officials set out more restrictions against Russia, including extending sanctions to neighboring Belarus, a key staging point for the invasion. U.S. and European officials are weighing additional moves if Mr. Putin doesn’t back down. The U.S. enacted sanctions against Russia's central bank Monday, Ian Talley reports. The sanctions rocked Russia's financial system and triggered a spiral in the ruble, drawing the central bank into an emergency doubling of interest rates. Trading was delayed trading on domestic debt and currency markets and the stock market was blocked from opening. The sanctions spare Russia's biggest source of revenue, energy exports, report Patricia Kowsmann and Ian Talley.

Washington is looking to pry China away from its partnership with Russia, reports William Mauldin, and one step is making Beijing feel pain over Russia's attack on Ukraine, U.S. officials said. Russia’s assault is an opportunity to force China to choose between siding with Moscow and maintaining economic ties to other powerful nations, the officals said.