US president Joe Biden, who is on a visit to Japan, said Russia has to “pay a long-term price” for its “barbarism in Ukraine” in terms of sanctions imposed by the US and its allies. When asked if the US would defend Taiwan if it were attacked by China, the president said it would. “That's the commitment we made," Mr Biden said.
“We agreed with the One China policy, we signed on to it... but the idea that [Taiwan] can be taken by force is just not appropriate. It will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine" he said.
Meanwhile, Russia on 24th February launched its invasion of Ukraine. And, according to the latest updates, Ukraine has said it will not agree to any ceasefire deal that would involve handing over territory to Russia, as Moscow intensified its attack in the eastern Donbas region. Zelenskiy has extended Ukraine’s martial law for three months through to 23 August. Ukraine’s parliament also banned the symbols “Z” and “V”, used by Russia’s military to promote its war in Ukraine, but agreed to Zelenskiy’s call to allow their use for educational or historic purposes. Also, YouTube has taken down more than 70,000 videos and 9,000 channels related to the war in Ukraine for violating content guidelines, including removal of videos that referred to the invasion as a “liberation mission”.