Your Evening Briefing: More Than 10,000 Killed in Mariupol, Mayor Says

Ukraine’s allies in Europe are pivoting away from an emphasis on sanctions in response to Russia’s war and instead focusing on urgently arming Kyiv’s forces as the best chance of ending Vladimir Putin’s aggression. After six weeks of bloody fighting which sanctions have done little to slow, and no sign negotiations will produce a favorable result, some of the European Union’s least likely warriors are calling for more weapons to be placed in Ukrainian hands.

The Kremlin’s destruction of large sections of cities across Ukraine is feared to have killed thousands, though Moscow contends it doesn’t target civilians. The mayor of Mariupol said more than 10,000 noncombatants have died in the port city since the invasion began. With Russian forces gathering in the east, Poland’s prime minister predicted Europe would soon see its biggest tank battle since World War II. Ukraine is pushing allied countries to seize and sell Russian assets including oil tankers, asking that the proceeds pay for rebuilding cities and infrastructure. Negotiations on the proposal are underway with various countries, said Oleg Ustenko, chief economic adviser to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, though he declined to say which. And Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer became the first EU leader to visit Putin in Moscow since the war began. He asked him to end it.