Ukrainian intel suggests Belarus is prepared to join invasion as Ukraine and Russia delegations are set to meet

The Ukrainian capital had a "calm" night on Sunday, Kyiv City Council said Monday morning — but authorities warned residents should remain home as fighting continued.

"Overall, last night was calm, excluding some skirmishes and fights with sabotage and reconnaissance groups. However, the city was mostly busy preparing for its defense. So, if you'll happen to go to the city after 8:00, you'll see fortifications, tank traps, and other defensive structures that have appeared on the streets of Kyiv," the council said in a statement. 

Grocery stores and public transportation in Kyiv will be open from 8 a.m. local time, though metro trains will run less frequently than usual.

"Please don't leave your homes unless you have an urgent need," such as buying groceries or medicine, the statement said, adding that "street fights continue to occur in the streets of every district in the city."

"We urge you to join forces and help each other: ask your neighbors if they need help, especially when it comes to the elderly or families whose relatives are defending Ukraine. Look after the apartments of neighbors who have left the city to prevent looting," the council said.

A curfew in the city remains in force from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. local time. 

South Korea will ban exports of strategic materials to Russia and join the international effort to block some Russian banks from the SWIFT global payments system, the country's Foreign Ministry said Monday. 

The ministry did not disclose which key strategic materials would be subject to export bans but said it had notified the United States of its decision via a diplomatic channel. 

The decision on whether to also ban exports of non-strategic materials, including semiconductors and electronics, will be made “as soon as possible,” the ministry added.

The ministry also confirmed that South Korea will push for an additional release of strategic oil reserves to stabilize the international energy market, before further reviewing other measures, such as reselling liquefied natural gas to Europe.

South Korea will increase its humanitarian support to Ukraine by cooperating with the international community and sending non-lethal military equipment, the ministry said.

Heavy shelling at the weekend followed heightened tensions in the port city of Mykolaiv, where CNN reporters saw Ukrainian troops fire warning shots and throw suspected Russian saboteurs from their cars to the ground. 

The city, which sits on an inlet from the Black Sea, raised its bridge Saturday, a rare event locals said had not happened for years. The move was apparently designed to cut a main connection between the north and south of the city after unconfirmed reports that Russian paratroopers had landed in its northern districts.

Heavy shelling reverberated around the the outskirts Saturday night, with one substantial blast lighting up the skyline.

In the morning, a Ukrainian soldier told CNN they had managed to keep out Russian forces overnight — but at a price. Windows of residential buildings are blown out, debris is scattered on the ground, and authorities have cordoned off damaged parts of the town with tape.

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday it would be "unacceptable" for Tokyo to make a NATO-like nuclear sharing arrangement with the United States as a security guarantee following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Japan's three non-nuclear principles include not producing or permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons.

Some context: Kishida's comments came in response to statements made by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a day earlier. 

On Sunday, Abe said on a television program that Japan should discuss a possible sharing of nuclear weapons similar to that of NATO members following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. NATO's nuclear sharing arrangements permit the US to keep its nuclear weapons in Europe. 

Abe acknowledged the non-nuclear principles and said Japan must stick to the goal of abolishing nuclear weapons — especially as a country that has experienced atomic bombings — but argued "it's essential to understand how the world's security is maintained, and we shouldn't treat those discussions as a taboo."

Trading on the Moscow stock exchange will be pushed back to 10 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET) and restricted to some markets, the Russian Central Bank said Monday. 

The bank also introduced a “temporary ban” on sell orders from foreign legal entities and individuals, it added in a statement.

Trading will only be allowed on the foreign exchange market, currency market and the repurchase agreement, or "repo" market.

“The Bank of Russia will assess the feasibility of opening trading on other markets, depending on the development of the situation,” the statement said, adding that a decision on whether to open up the floor to other markets would be made at 1 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET), with trading starting no later than 3 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET).

The bank added it would raise its key interest rate from 9.5% to 20% per annum.

Ruble plunges: The central bank's announcements came as the Russian currency fell nearly 30% on Monday, with markets beginning to assess the impact of sanctions imposed by the US and NATO allies on Russia.

Belarus on Sunday signaled that it would renounce its non-nuclear status, following the launch of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from the former Soviet nation last week.

Authorities in the country — ruled by Moscow-backed strongman Alexander Lukashenko for nearly three decades — said the move was backed by a referendum.

According to the Belarus Central Elections Commission, some 78.63% of the eligible voting population took part in the vote, with 65.16% in favor of a new constitution that will shed the country’s non-nuclear status and give Lukashenko the opportunity to run for two additional terms in office. 

But Western leaders will not recognize the legitimacy of Sunday’s vote. In a statement from January, the US mission to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) described the referendum as “neither a viable — nor credible — path forward for Belarus.”

The vote follows a years-long violent crackdown by the Lukashenko regime against his domestic political opponents, following the disputed presidential election in 2020 which was marred by fraud and triggered mass protests. 

What this could mean for Russia: Belarus' new constitution could theoretically allow Moscow to place nuclear weapons on its neighbor's territory for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union, when Minsk gave up its stockpile and became a nuclear-free zone.

The amendments and additions to the constitution passed in the referendum will come into effect in 10 days' time, according to Lukashenko’s office. 

Lukashenko and Putin: Addressing journalists at a polling station in Minsk on Sunday, Lukashenko said he could ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to “return the nuclear weapons” Belarus gave away if the West transfers any nuclear weapons to Poland or Lithuania.

"If America or ... France, two nuclear powers, start transferring nuclear weapons to Poland or Lithuania, on our borders ... I will go to Putin so that he will return to me the nuclear weapons that I, without any special conditions, gave to them,” Lukashenko said.

In his on-camera remarks, Lukashenko also accused the West of “pushing Russia to ignite World War III,” before warning that “a nuclear war would end the world.”