Meanwhile, the third round of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations to seek a cessation of hostilities in the war in Ukraine will take place on Monday the 7th, a member of the Ukrainian delegation has informed.
The city council of the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariúpol, in the southeast of the country, announced this Sunday a new ceasefire from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. local time (9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. in Euskal Herria) to try again an evacuation process of the civilian population after the failure of the first attempt on Saturday.
Waiting to know if this evacuation also applies to Volnovakha, the Mariupol City Council has already advanced on its Telegram channel that the humanitarian evacuation route will be practically the same as the one announced on Saturday: it will end in the west, in Zaporizhia, after go through Nikolskoye, Pologi and Orejov along about 200 kilometers of route.
The first attempt to evacuate both cities took place on Saturday and ended in absolute failure after Russia and Ukraine accused each other of breaking the temporary ceasefire in force around these two towns, where approximately 425,000 people live in deplorable conditions, according to NGOs.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which planned to deploy on the evacuation routes to guarantee the safety of civilians, has explained in a statement in recent hours that “it remains in contact with the parties to facilitate the exits” in the middle of a “disheartening” situation.
“Any initiative that gives civilians a break from so much violence will be welcome,” declared the ICRC, who has also requested that the humanitarian corridors intended to move the population out of danger “be well planned” and in agreement with the parties. in conflict.
Right now, fewer than a hundred people have been able to leave Mariupol since the start of the evacuation talks, according to estimates by the Donetsk forces, far fewer than the tens of thousands of people forecast for yesterday, when the evacuation was to begin. .
Mariupol is a strategic port city on the Azov Sea coast, home to some 450,000 people. Capturing the town would allow Russia to connect its forces in the east of the country with those stationed on the Crimean peninsula.
For its part, Volnovakha is located near Ukraine’s former front line with Russian-backed separatists, the so-called contact line, about 60 kilometers from Donetsk. About 20,000 people live there.
The third round of negotiations, on Monday
Meanwhile, the third round of negotiations Russian-Ukrainian negotiations to seek a cessation of hostilities in the war in Ukraine will take place next Monday, the 7th, a member of the Ukrainian delegation has informed.
“The third round of negotiations will take place on Monday,” said David Arajamia, head of the parliamentary faction of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party, on Facebook. The meeting will take place on the Polish-Belarusian border.
The first round of negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations was held on February 28, and the second on March 3, both on Belarusian territory.
At the second meeting, the parties reached an agreement for the establishment of humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians, the delivery of food and medicine.
However, the planned opening this Saturday of two humanitarian corridors in Mariúpol and Volnovaja, in southeastern Ukraine, to evacuate the civilian population, announced by Russia, was suspended due to military operations of which both parties accused each other.
Visa and Mastercard suspend their operations in Russia
On the other hand, Visa and Mastercard announced this Saturday the suspension of their operations in Russia, so they will no longer be able to make transactions through both platforms or use their debit and credit cards.
“We are forced to act following Russia’s provoked invasion of Ukraine and the unacceptable events we have witnessed,” Visa Chairman and CEO Al Kelly said in a statement.
The decision of both entities comes a week after the United States and the European Union (EU), along with other Western partners, agreed to remove “certain” Russian banks from the Swift international system, which accentuates Russia’s disconnection from the financial system. international.
Source: Eitb
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