Ukraine rejected the humanitarian corridors that they would evacuate civilians to Russia and Belarus as Moscow had proposed, an issue that will occupy much of the third round of negotiations between the two countries that began Monday afternoon in Belarus.
The Russian offensive, launched on February 24drove more than 1.7 million people out of Ukraine, according to the UN, and many more have been internally displaced or trapped in cities bombed by Russia. In addition, the worsening of the conflict is also causing financial turmoil and a vertiginous increase in the price of oil and gold.
This Monday afternoon a third round of Russian-Ukrainian talks began on the border between Belarus and Poland, which will be focused – according to the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinski – on the humanitarian corridors.
However, expectations are not good. The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has set as a precondition the acceptance by Kiev of all the demands of Moscow, especially the demilitarization of Ukraine and a neutral status for the country.
Israel seeks to mediate
The Israeli head of government, Naftali Benet, has intensified his diplomatic activity to turn Israel into a mediator between Moscow and Kiev, although he acknowledges, for the moment, few possibilities.
has been the first foreign leader to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in person since the invasion began, while maintaining direct contact with Ukraine; in addition to Germany and France, which allows it to be registered as part of an “international effort”, but its role has still been limited.
third meeting
The first round of negotiations was held on February 28, and the second on March 3, both on Belarusian territory. After the second round, the parties reached an agreement for the establishment of humanitarian corridors, but this Saturday the first two in Mariúpol and Volnovaja, in the southeast, were suspended due to military operations of which both parties accused each other.
Corridors to Russia
The Russian army announced on Monday the temporary suspension of attacks in some areas “for humanitarian purposes” and the opening of humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from Kiev, Kharkiv, the besieged port of Mariupol and the town of Sumy, near the Russian border.
But half of these corridors go to Russia and Belarus and the Ukrainian government has rejected the proposal outright.
“It is not an acceptable option,” said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereschuk. Civilians evacuated from the cities of Kharkiv, Kiev, Mariupol and Sumy “will not go to Belarus and then get on the plane and go to Russia,” she warned.
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, speaking to his Russian counterpart on Sunday, accused Putin of hypocrisy and cynicism over his proposal.
“I don’t know many Ukrainians who want to take refuge in Russia (…) All this is not serious. It is of a moral and political cynicism that seems unbearable to me,” Macron said in an interview broadcast by the television network.
For his part, the Russian representative in the negotiations between Moscow and Kiev accused Ukraine of preventing the evacuation of civilians from combat zones and of “using [a los civiles] directly and indirectly even as human shields, which is clearly a war crime.”
Russia with its sights on Odessa
After the violent bombings early on Monday, the intensity of the fighting was reduced in the morning due to the “enormous losses” recorded by the Russian army, said the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Oleksiy Reznikov, although he called not to lower the guard.
“The Russian occupiers are trying to concentrate their forces for a new series of attacks,” Reznikov warned on Facebook. “First of all, Kiev, Kharkov, Chernigov (north) and Mykolaiv (south)”, he specified.
In the capital, Ukrainian soldiers were seen preparing for a possible Russian attack.
“The capital is preparing to defend itself,” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram app. “Kiev will resist! He will defend himself!” he added.
On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky warned that Russia was preparing to bomb Odessa, a strategic port on the Black Sea.
Displaced
Hundreds of civilians have lost their lives and thousands have been injured in this war. To the dead is added a painful exodus to neighboring countries that leaves images that challenge the entire world.
In Irpin, a small town on the outskirts of Kiev partially controlled by Russian forces, an unofficial humanitarian corridor was opened so that thousands of residents could flee across a makeshift bridge and along a road guarded by Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers.
Children, the elderly and families, leaving behind baby carriages and the heaviest suitcases, scrambled into crowded buses and vans, hoping to survive.
The mayor of Irpin said he saw two adults and two children killed “before his eyes” when a bomb fell on them.
“They are monsters. Irpin is at war, Irpin has not given up.” wrote Oleksandr Markushyn on the Telegram network.
According to Education Minister Sergii Shkarlet, 211 schools were hit by the bombing.
To help children trapped in orphanages in Ukraine, British writer JK Rowling, author of the famous Harry Potter saga, has appealed for donations, promising to match the amount raised up to 1 million pounds ($1.3 million; €1.2 million). (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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