the ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenskysaid his government is “thoroughly studying” the issue of Ukraine’s “neutrality” demanded by Russiaa key point in the peace negotiations, as envoys from kyiv and Moscow prepare for a new round of talks aimed at ending the brutal war that has been going on for more than a month. Ukrainian forces control the situation in the capital and the kyiv regionbut they believe that Russia will try again to break the resistance resuming the offensive in southern and eastern Ukraineespecially in the Donbass.
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Ukrainian neutrality
In an interview with various independent Russian media, Zelensky recalled that one of the crucial clauses is that of “security guarantees and neutrality, the nuclear-weapon-free status of our State”, an issue that “is under discussion and study thoroughly.” “We are ready to accept it. but I don’t want it to be another Budapest Memorandum-style document.”added the president in statements released by the Ukrainian government through Telegram.
The Budapest Memorandum is an agreement signed in 1994 by Russia, which guaranteed the integrity and security of three former Soviet republics, including Ukraine, in exchange for giving up nuclear weapons inherited from the Soviet Union.
On the other hand, Zelensky raised the tone of his criticism of the West and accused it of “lack of courage” to help his country in the face of the Russian invasion, once again demanding that planes and tanks be sent to him to defend cities under siege, in a video released earlier. The president maintained that the “defenders of Ukraine” know that they cannot “unblock” Mariupol without “the necessary number of tanks, other armor and aircraft.”
Negotiations resume
Ukrainian and Russian negotiators will talk face to face earlier this week in Turkey, specifically in Istanbul, in a new attempt to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has already claimed at least 1,100 civilian lives according to the UN. In recent days, fears that the conflict could worsen have increased, after the US president, Joe Biden, visiting Poland, will rate his Russian peer, Vladimir Putin as “butcher” and affirmed that “he cannot remain in power”.
Although the White House immediately qualified its words and insisted that Washington was not seeking regime change, the Kremlin reacted harshly, stating that the personal attacks were “reducing the window of opportunity” for bilateral relationsaccording to his spokesman Dmitri Peskov. The offhand comment, which sowed concern in Washington and abroad, appeared to undermine the president’s own efforts. Joe Biden, visiting Europe to underline a carefully orchestrated unity in support of kyiv.
A neutral Ukraine?
A key demand from Putin, even before his troops entered Ukraine on February 24, was that the former Soviet republic renounce its declared intention to eventually join NATO. The Kremlin said that Sweden and Austria offered models of neutrality that Ukraine could adopt. kyiv rejected the proposal and, in his interview with Russian journalists, Zelensky accused Putin of delaying the negotiations and prolonging the conflict.
The new round of negotiations comes at a time when Moscow maintains de facto control over the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in the eastern Donbas region. The leader of Ukraine’s breakaway Lugansk region said he may hold a referendum to decide whether the territory becomes part of Russia.a move immediately criticized by kyiv as an attempt by Moscow to undermine the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
In the meantime, Russian troops continue to shell the port city of Mariupol. Controlling it would allow Moscow to connect its forces on the occupied Crimean peninsula with pro-Russian separatist troops in eastern Ukraine. New humanitarian corridors were opened on Sunday to allow the evacuation of civilians. of this strategic port on the shores of the Sea of Azov, where more than two thousand civilians have already died according to the municipality.
Russian attacks continue
With its army facing tactical, communications and logistical problems, Russia suggested on Friday that it would focus on Ukraine’s eastern region from now on. For the head of Ukrainian intelligence, Kyrylo BudanovPutin seeks to “impose a line of separation between the occupied and unoccupied regions” of Ukraine, in “an attempt to establish a model like that of South Korea and North Korea in Ukraine”.
In Kharkov, where local authorities recorded 44 artillery strikes and 140 rocket attacks in a single day, residents seemed resigned to the shelling. Attacks continued over the past 24 hours in Irpin and in other cities around kyiv, Ukrainian authorities said.
Bombed fuel tanks in Lviv.
In the kyiv region in the last 24 hours there were more than 30 bombardments by Russian troops against housing estates and social infrastructure, according to the Military Regional Administration. Since the beginning of the Russian military offensive, destruction has been recorded in 34 of the 69 communities in the region, although now the Ukrainian army claims to control the situation.
Chernigov in turn threatens to become a second Mariupol, a city symbol of the Ukrainian resistance, but also of the human tragedy due to the prolonged siege it has been suffering. “Due to the destruction of critical infrastructure and active hostilities in the city of Chernigov, there is no electricity, heating and water supply. Gas works only partially,” according to the head of the Military Regional Administration, Vyacheslav Chaus.
The mayor of Chernigov, Vladyslav Atroshenko, warned that the “city is in pieces”. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, There are already more than 3.8 million Ukrainians who have taken refuge in other countries. Of that total, 2.2 million arrived in Polandthe country that received the most refugees according to the UN refugee agency (Acnur).