President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday criticized the Israeli government for not standing unequivocally on the side of Ukraine and against the Russia invasion during a virtual address to Israeli lawmakers.
Why it matters: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is one of the few leaders who is in contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has been passing messages between Putin and Zelensky in an attempt to reach a ceasefire.
China has fully militarized at least three artificial islands it built in the South China Sea, U.S. Indo-Pacific commander Adm. John C. Aquilino told the Associated Press.
Why it matters: The country's territorial claims over the South China Sea have been a frequent source of tension with neighboring nations, as well as the United States, which seeks to bolster its engagement in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific region.
Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who last week protested against Russia's invasion of Ukraine on live television, told ABC's "This Week" Sunday that the majority of Russians are against the war, adding that "this is Putin's war."
Driving the news: Ovsyannikova was detained after she interrupted a live taping at Russia's state-run Channel One broadcaster — where she worked — to hold up a sign reading, "Stop the war. Don’t believe propaganda. They’re lying to you."
President Biden's trip to Europe this week does not include plans to visit Ukraine, White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed in a tweet on Sunday.
Driving the news: The announcement comes after former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told CNN on Saturday that Biden should visit Ukraine during his trip as a "symbol of our solidarity."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that had Ukraine been admitted into NATO earlier, Russia would not have invaded.
Driving the news: Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has stretched on for more than three weeks, with experts now saying the war has reached a stalemate that could prove even more devastating.
The U.S. is "profoundly disappointed and troubled" by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's visit to the United Arab Emirates this week, which it sees as an attempt to "legitimize" the embattled dictator, State Department spokesman Ned Price told Axios in a statement on Sunday.
Why it matters: Assad's trip to the UAE on Friday was his first official visit to an Arab country since the start of the Syrian war in March 2011, according to Reuters.
Ukraine plans to ban 11 political parties with ties to Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in a video released via Telegram on Sunday.
Driving the news: "Any activity of politicians aimed at splitting or collaborating will not succeed," Zelensky said.
Russian forces have bombed an art school in Mariupol that was sheltering around 400 civilians, Ukrainian officials said Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
Why it matters: This is the second time this week that Russian forces have targeted a building sheltering civilians in the city, following the earlier bombing of a theater where hundreds of Ukrainians had sought refuge.
