Ukraine's Zelenskyy tells Russia: Stop bombing before ceasefire talks can start
Would Legally Guarantees Demand If Shut Binding On Ukraine Door Via Prospects Ukraine's Office Ukrainian Security Membership Picture: Ap The Nato Zelenskiy Said Presidential Press
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday Russia must stop bombing Ukrainian cities before meaningful talks on a ceasefire could start, as a first round of negotiations this week had yielded scant progress.
Speaking in an interview in a heavily guarded government compound, Zelenskyy urged NATO members to impose a no fly zone to stop the Russian air force, saying this would be a preventative measure and not meant to drag the alliance into war with Russia.
Zelenskiy, who has refused offers to leave the Ukrainian capital as Russian forces advanced, also said Ukraine would demand legally binding security guarantees if NATO shut the door on Ukraine's membership prospects.
Setting out his conditions for further talks with Russia, Zelenskyy told Reuters and CNN in a joint interview: "It's necessary to at least stop bombing people, just stop the bombing and then sit down at the negotiating table."
Just as he was speaking, news emerged that a Russian missile had struck a TV tower in the Ukrainian capital. Earlier on Tuesday, missiles struck the heart of the eastern city of Kharkiv.
Ukraine has received weapons shipments from NATO members to help withstand a full-scale military invasion unleashed by Russian forces last week, while the West has also introduced swingeing sanctions on the Russian economy.
But Zelenskyy has urged the international community to do more, including imposing a no fly zone. He said, however, that U.S. President Joe Biden had personally conveyed to him that now was not the time to introduce such a measure.
Ukraine has pressed NATO to accelerate its entry, a move fiercely opposed by Russia and cited as one of Moscow's reasons for launching its campaign.
"Our partners, if they are not ready to take Ukraine into NATO ... because Russia does not want Ukraine to be in NATO, should work out common security guarantees for Ukraine," Zelenskyy said.
"This means that we have our territorial integrity, that our borders are protected, we have special relations with all our neighbors, we are completely safe, and the guarantors that give us security, they guarantee this legally."
Here are the latest developments:
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has delivered a virtual address to the European Parliament in which he urged EU leaders to fastrack Ukraine's application to join the bloc.
- Separatist forces in Donetsk say they are preparing for the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol, in an indication that a large attack on the key southeastern port city could be imminent.
- The US has ordered the expulsion of 12 diplomats from Russia's Mission to the UN for engaging in "espionage activities" that are harmful to US national security, a spokeswoman for the US Mission to the United Nations has said.
- Ambassadors from dozens of countries have backed a proposal demanding that Russia halt its attack on Ukraine.
- Ukraine's ambassador to the US appealed to members of the US Congress for more assistance as her country resists a "brutal war", saying Russia had used a vacuum bomb in its invasion.
- Russia have been suspended from all FIFA and UEFA competitions, the governing bodies have confirmed.
- The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says he plans to open an investigation “as rapidly as possible” into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
- Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken control of the towns of Berdyansk and Enerhodar in Ukraine’s south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region, where Ukraine's biggest nuclear power plant is located.
Targets The Warned Russian And Plans Homes Kyiv Has Leave City Of It Es Strike To Defence It Residents As Around Key Ahead Their The Ministry To In
As Their Well Near In Ukrainian Involved By Urge To Ukrainian As Residents Leave Stations, "we It Provocations Said Russia, Relay Nationalists Living Against Citizens Kiev Homes,"
Civilians Including Least Of To Last Human 136 Week, United Ukraine 13 Have The Been Killed Launched Its Rights Since Children (ohchr) According At Invasion Russia Nations Office
That Been Are Ohchr Figures However, This Civilians Be To Morning, More Its Higher Have Said Than 400 "much These Likely Injured The In Update "
Base According Region Russian Kyiv, Between After In Kharkiv A Artillery Soldiers City Zhyvytsky Hit The Post Telegram Earlier, Roughly To Halfway 70 Head A Okhtyrka Killed The More Were Of Military And A On By Ukrainian Dmytro Than
And explosions and gunfire were heard in embattled cities in eastern Ukraine as Russia’s invasion met unexpectedly stiff resistance, as the Russian military assault on Ukraine entered its sixth day.
In a statement this afternoon via the Russian state news agency Tass the ministry said Russian forces are preparing to launch “high-precision strikes” in Kyiv against the “Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the 72nd Center for Information and Psychological Operations (PSO)“.
Meanwhile, A Russian military convoy threatening Kyiv is far bigger than initially thought, with satellite images showing it occupying much of a 65km stretch of road north of the Ukrainian capital.
Putin faces mounting international pressure for last week launching the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two, and the systemic impact of Western sanctions led to a near 30% collapse in the rouble on Monday before central bank intervention rescued the currency from its lows.
And Russian teams were suspended from all international soccer matches, including qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, pushing the country toward sports pariah status.
Kyiv’s outgunned but determined troops slowed Russia’s advance and held onto the capital, its second-largest city, Kharkiv and other key sites — at least for the time being.
"For the enemy, Kyiv is the key target," Zelenskyy said in a video message late on Monday.
"We did not let them break the defence of the capital, and they send saboteurs to us ... We will neutralise them all."
Zelenskyy said Russia, which calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation", was targeting a thermal power plant providing electricity to Kyiv, a city of 3 million people.
US officials say they believe the invasion has been more difficult than the Kremlin envisioned, though that could change as Moscow adapts. Russia still lacked control of Ukrainian airspace.
Washington has ruled out sending troops to fight Russia or enforcing a no-fly zone as requested by Ukraine, fearing an escalation between the world's top two nuclear powers.
But, the United States and its allies have instead promised military aid to Kyiv, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned the city was under constant threat.
As talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations wrapped up near the Belarusian border, several blasts could be heard in Kyiv itself.
Long lines formed outside Kyiv supermarkets on Monday as residents were allowed out of bomb shelters and homes for the first time since a curfew was imposed on Saturday.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians have sought safety at night in Kyiv’s subway system and other makeshift shelters around the country, where parents try to calm their children’s fears.
Ukrainian authorities said at least seven people were killed and dozens were injured in fighting in Kharkiv, where social media videos showed apartment buildings being shelled. They warned that the actual figures could be much higher.
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said her office had confirmed that 102 civilians, including seven children, have been killed in the Russian invasion and 304 others wounded since Thursday, though she cautioned the tally was likely a vast undercount.
The Kremlin meanwhile has insisted that the Russian forces only have struck military targets.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “the Russian troops don’t conduct any strikes against civilian infrastructure and residential areas”.
His words contradict widespread evidence of indiscriminate shelling of homes, schools, hospitals and other public buildings across Ukraine.
Speaking in a conference call with reporters, he would not respond to questions about whether the Kremlin is happy with the pace of the offensive and would not comment on Russian military casualties.
The Russian defence ministry said for the first time on Monday that it has suffered losses but did not name any numbers.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian and Russian delegations met on Monday on Ukraine’s border with Belarus.
The meeting ended with no immediate reports of agreements, but Mykhailo Podolyak, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said further talks could take place “in the near future”.
Before the meeting, Mr Zelenskyy’s office said Ukraine would demand an immediate cease-fire.
While Ukraine sent its defence minister and other top officials, the Russian delegation was led by Mr Putin’s cultural adviser — Vladimir Medinsky — an unlikely envoy for ending the war and a sign of how Moscow viewed the talks.
Mr Medinsky said the sides “found certain points on which common positions could be foreseen”.
He also said the talks would continue in the coming days on the Polish-Belarusian border.
Western officials believe Mr Putin wants to overthrow Ukraine’s government and replace it with a compliant regime, reviving Moscow’s Cold War-era influence. His comments have raised fears that the invasion of Ukraine could lead to nuclear war, whether by design or mistake.
More than 660,000 people have fled Ukraine, according to the United Nations refugee agency, setting off a refugee crisis as thousands await passage at European border crossings.
The UN refugee agency says that about 660,000 people have fled Ukraine for neighbouring countries since the Russian invasion began.
Speaking in Geneva, Shabia Mantoo, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said that “at this rate, the situation looks set to become Europe’s largest refugee crisis this century”.
She said the agency is urging governments to continue allowing access to all those who are fleeing, including third-country nationals living in Ukraine who are forced to escape the violence.
A stream of companies pulling out of Russia is expected to grow on Tuesday and deal further blows to the country's economy.
Shell (SHEL.L), BP and Norway's Equinor (EQNR.OL) said they would exit positions in Russia.
Leading banks, airlines, and automakers have cut shipments, ended partnerships and called Russia's actions unacceptable, with more considering similar actions. Mastercard said it had blocked multiple financial institutions from its payment network as a result of sanctions on Russia and Visa (V.N) said it would take action too.
Moves to isolate Russia have extended to culture and sports, as well.
Three major studios, Sony, Disney and Warner Bros., said they would pause theatrical releases of upcoming films in Russia while FIFA and the International Olympic Committee moved to bar Russian teams and athletes from competing.