TOP HEADLINES

• Russia's defense ministry said on Wednesday its forces were regrouping near Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv in order to focus on other key areas and complete the "liberation" of the breakaway Donbas region, Russian news agencies reported.

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Wednesday on the sidelines of a meeting on Afghanistan hosted by Beijing. Wang Yi said: "There is no limit to China-Russia cooperation, no limit to our efforts to achieve peace, safeguard security and oppose hegemony."

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has discussed specific defensive support and a new package of enhanced sanctions against Russia, with U.S. President Joe Biden in an hour-long call on Wednesday.

• Zelenskyy urged Norway and the rest of Europe to close their seaports to Russian ships. He also asked Norway to deliver more energy to Ukraine and the European Union.

• The Kremlin has played down hopes of a breakthrough following Tuesday's peace talks in Istanbul, saying there was nothing "too promising" from the discussions.

• The European Commission is readying new sanctions against the Kremlin over Russia's military action in Ukraine, EU sources said.

• Slovakia said it had decided to expel 35 Russian diplomats based on information provided by the intelligence services. 

• Britain has published new Russia-related sanctions legislation, including a ban on providing technical assistance for ships and planes that would benefit a person who has been sanctioned.

• President Vladimir Putin has told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that Moscow's demand that Europe switch to paying for gas in rubles should not mean contracts were on worse terms.

• Austria announced that it was following Germany in activating the first level of its emergency plan to ensure gas supply over fears that Russia could cut off supplies if payments are not made in rubles.

• The UN says it is feeding one million people in Ukraine, but warns more are going hungry, with adults skipping meals so children can eat.

• Russian state institutions will no longer be able to make purchases of foreign software for critical infrastructure without prior approval, according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin.

• European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde has warned that a prolonged Ukraine conflict will continue to increase energy prices and the cost of living.

• Russia's health watchdog has raised concerns over the online re-selling of pharmaceutical drugs after some sold out as people fear shortages and price hikes due to sanctions.

IN DETAIL

'Partial movement' of Russian troops

Authorities in Ukraine's northern city of Chernihiv say the area was "shelled all night" despite Russia's pledge to "radically" reduce fire there and around the capital Kyiv.

AFP news agency reporters also heard explosions around the flashpoint Kyiv suburb of Irpin.

A Ukrainian defense ministry spokesman says there has been a "partial movement" of Russian troops away from Kyiv and Chernigiv but no "mass removal." 

The Pentagon warns the redeployed troops could be preparing a "major" offensive elsewhere.

Gas payments in rubles

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is committed to a G7 agreement that energy supplies from Russia would be paid for only in euros or U.S. dollars, a German government spokesman said after Scholz spoke to President Vladimir Putin by phone on Wednesday.

The Russian president told Scholz that nothing would change for European partners and payments would still be made in euros and transferred to Gazprom bank, which is not affected by sanctions, and then converted into rubles, said the German spokesperson.

Meanwhile, the European Commission is readying new sanctions against the Kremlin over Russia's military action in Ukraine, EU sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

The magnitude of the new measures will depend on Moscow's stance on gas payments in rubles. The new package of EU sanctions could be ready as early as next week, two of the sources said.

Sources said that far stricter sanctions could be added to the new package if Putin insisted on ruble payments for gas supplies. EU countries now import 40 percent of their gas from Russia.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that payments in rubles would be required gradually and not immediately after the deadline set by Putin for March 31.