- We are ready to conduct talks, but we will continue the operation because we won’t allow Ukraine to preserve a military infrastructure that threatens Russia.
- Russian troops have seized the Ukrainian port city of Kherson, indicated mayor Igor Kolykhayev, who held discussions with the “armed guests” in the city administration on Thursday.
- And for it to stay that way, these requirements must be met.
On the ninth day of Russia’s assault on Ukraine, a Ukrainian delegation landed in Belarus on March 3 for the second round of peace talks with their Russian counterparts as reported by The Quint.
Tentative agreement
Mykhailo Podolyak, a member of Ukraine’s delegation said that the parties have reached a tentative agreement to organise safe corridors for civilians to evacuate and for humanitarian supplies to be delivered, news agency AP reported.
Expressing disappointment with the results, Podolyak said in a tweet, “The second round of negotiations is over.”
Unfortunately, the results Ukraine needs are not yet achieved.
There is a solution only for the organisation of humanitarian corridors…” On the other hand, Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky claimed the negotiations yielded “substantial progress”.
Medinsky said, “The main issue we decided on today was the issue of saving people, civilians, who are in the zone of military clashes… Russia calls on civilians who find themselves in this situation, if military actions continue, to use these humanitarian corridors,” DW reported.
Military infrastructure threatens Russia
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had said that while Moscow was ready for talks, it would continue its attack on the Ukrainian military infrastructure.
“We are ready to conduct talks, but we will continue the operation because we won’t allow Ukraine to preserve a military infrastructure that threatens Russia,” AP quoted Lavrov as saying.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron interacted over the phone call, during which Putin indicated that his goals (of demilitarisation of Ukraine) would be achieved at all costs.
Mariupol, Kharkiv under attack
The Ukrainian port city of Kherson has been captured by the Russian military, according to mayor Igor Kolykhayev, who met with “armed visitors” in the city administration on Thursday.
He went on to say that “no guarantees” were given to the Russians, but that the forces were just asked not to shoot people. “So far, so good,” stated the mayor of the town of 2,90,000. “The Ukrainian flag flies above us. And in order for it to remain that way, these conditions must be met.”
The Russian army is continuing its offensives on important towns such as Mariupol and Kharkiv and has already taken control of Berdiansk, a strategic Ukrainian port.
On Tuesday, 1 March, Russian troops bombed Kharkiv, with a Russian shell hitting the Freedom Square in central Kharkiv, which houses local government buildings.
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Source: The Quint
