Russia gives no hints of ceasefire as peace talks at Belarus border make only slender progress
Agencies | Moscow
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Fighting raged around key cities in Ukraine yesterday as its first critical rounds of talks with Russia since last week’s invasion concluded with no immediate breakthrough. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s top adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the talks, held near the Belarus border, were focused on a possible ceasefire and that a second round could take place “in the near future.”
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to give an inch in his demands from the West yesterday and instead responded to Ukrainian resistance and Western sanctions with a vicious bombardment of civilians in the northeastern city of Kharkiv. Putin himself gave no hints of any impending peace deal.
After a long call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian media reported Putin had not only repeated his long-standing security demands over Ukraine — that the country should disarm and stay neutral outside NATO — but also insisted upon the formal recognition of Crimea as Russian, an ultimatum he had not previously stated so bluntly to Western allies.
Even as Moscow said officials negotiating had “heard” each other, Ukraine said Kharkiv, its second-largest city, was coming under attack from heavy Russian shelling.
The talks – the first direct negotiations between the two countries since Russia launched its invasion five days earlier – went for hours, and while they brought some hope for an end to the war, Ukraine’s president and residents in Kyiv made it clear they expected little out of the discussion.
Russia would not clarify its aims for the talks, but sources reported that Ukraine’s key demands were an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of all Russian troops.
Russian officials said the meeting had ended by early evening and that the respective delegations were heading back to their capitals to discuss the negotiations. Ukraine’s armed forces continued to hold off Russian troops, defending and retaining control of key cities, and slowing Russia’s advance on Kyiv. The Russian assault killed 11 people and wounded dozens, local authorities said.
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