Status: 03/16/2022 03:23 am
In the talks between Russia and Ukraine, the positions of both states now sound more realistic, according to Ukrainian President Zelenskyi. Russian President Putin disagrees.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed cautious optimism about the talks with Russia on an end to the war. The negotiating positions sounded more realistic, he said in a video message. But it will still take a while before Ukraine can be satisfied. “We all want peace and victory as soon as possible,” said Zelenskyy. “But it takes effort and patience. There is still fighting and work to be done.” Every war ends with an agreement.
The war of aggression against Ukraine will end in shame, poverty and years of isolation for Russia, Zelenskyy said. Anyone who works for the Russian state or its “propaganda system” will lose everything. “Quit,” said the Ukrainian president. “A few months without work will definitely be better for you than a whole life of international persecution.”
Negotiations are to be continued
Both sides had negotiated via video link in the past few days. Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podoliak said talks would continue. Ukraine demands an end to the war and a withdrawal of Russian troops. Among other things, Moscow is demanding that Kyiv recognize the annexed Black Sea peninsula of Crimea as Russian and the Ukrainian separatist areas as independent states. “Fundamental contradictions” continue to exist in the negotiations, Podoljak explained. Nevertheless, he thought a compromise was possible. “We will continue.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, said in a phone call with EU Council President Charles Michel that Kyiv was showing “no serious commitment to finding mutually acceptable solutions”.
In turn, Zelenskyy accused Russia of escalating its attacks on Ukraine. “They are bombing everywhere. Not just Kyiv, but also the western areas,” he said in his video message.
Ukraine: Russian army with heavy casualties
According to the Ukrainian general staff, the Russian army has already lost up to 40 percent of the units that have been involved in fighting since the Russian invasion on February 24. These troops were either completely destroyed or lost their combat effectiveness, the General Staff said in a situation report. He did not give a specific number.
The worst situation continues to prevail in the area around the embattled port city of Mariupol, it said. Here the Russian army is trying to blockade the city on the western and eastern edges. However, she suffers significant losses.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
20,000 people leave Mariupol
According to the Ukrainian Presidential Office, around 29,000 people from several cities besieged by Russian troops have recently been brought to safety. The deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said that around 20,000 people from Mariupol were evacuated to safety. However, around 300,000 people are still trapped in the city without water, electricity or food supplies.
However, a column with aid supplies for Mariupol is still being blocked by Russian soldiers, Zelenskyj said. “But we will not give up trying to save people, save the city.” The region’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said Russian forces were holding staff at a hospital in the port city and 400 local residents hostage at the facility. The information could not be independently verified.
In the meantime, alarms have been reported again from several cities in Ukraine. In the Odessa region, the coast was shelled by Russian ships, Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said. But there was no attempt to land.