Today the third meeting was held between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine to address the end of the invasion ordered by the Kremlin.
The Zelensky government speaks of “small advances” in what the humanitarian corridors It refers to the twelve days of the Russian-orchestrated offensive, but the positions of the two countries remain far apart.
Putin does not give in to his demands and, in exchange for “immediately” stopping the invasion, calls for recognition of the annexation to Crimea and the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as for Ukraine to withdraw from NATO and the European Union and for it to demilitarize.
Some demands on which Zelensky, for the moment, will not yield. The Ukrainian president has warned that he is not here for an ultimatum and has called for Putin to start a dialogue. It has also insisted that the humanitarian corridors be opened effectively. In this sense, they consider that there has been little progress.
Today’s is not the only way of negotiating. The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia will meet this Thursday in Antalya, in Turkey. A meeting in which his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, will mediate. Something that Erdogan did this Sunday, by urging Putin to declare an urgent ceasefire.
For his part, the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, has contacted the leader of the Russian Executive and hopes that the negotiations will continue. Although he is an ally of Russia, he is maintaining an ambiguous position. At the UN he refrained from condemning the invasion, but asked for respect for the territorial integrity of the countries.
Ukraine has denounced that humanitarian corridors are not open
Russia has announced the opening of new humanitarian corridors this Monday in the Ukrainian cities of Kiev, Mariupol, Kharkov and Sumi, as reported by the Russian armed forces themselves to the Red Cross, the OSCE and the UN. The truce began at 07:00 GMT. However, the Ukrainian government has denounced that, hours later, these corridors have not yet been activated.
In addition, he has branded the Russian plan to evacuate the civilian population as “unacceptable”, since the planned route takes the evacuees to Russian cities, and has accused Putin of using the corridors as a pretext to bolster his own military positions: “Now the Russians say they can open the corridors, but they want civilians to go to Russian territory, which is absurd, cynical and unacceptable.”
Specifically, Russia has targeted critical infrastructure facilities and at least 13 deaths have been reported in a bombing of a bakery in the Kiev region. The president of Ukraine already warned this Sunday that the Russian Army “was preparing to bomb Odessa” and warned that “it would be a war crime” and “a historical crime.” Therefore, he sent a clear message to Putin: “We will not forgive the bombed houses, nor the more than 500 missiles that hit our land, our people, our children.”
Russian attacks have also continued around Kiev, where one of the population’s escape routes has been bombed. This has been stated by the mayor of the Ukrainian capital, Vitaly Klitschko, highlighting that very intense fighting is taking place, especially on the outskirts of the city.
Source: Lasexta
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
