Kyiv – Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:
Zelensky ‘studying’ neutrality
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenksy says Kyiv’s negotiators are studying a Russian demand for Ukrainian neutrality a key issue for Moscow at conflict negotiations.
“This point of the negotiations are understandable to me and it is being discussed, it is being carefully studied,” Zelensky tells several independent Russian news organisations.
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He also concedes it will be “impossible” to push Russia out of all Ukrainian territory.
Russia’s media regulator warns outlets they could be investigated if they broadcast the interview.
New Russia-Ukraine talks
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators will hold fresh talks on Monday or Tuesday in Turkey, though previous rounds have failed to achieve a ceasefire.
Mariupol evacuation efforts
France, Turkey and Greece are working on a “humanitarian operation” to evacuate civilians from the devastated southern city of Mariupol, French President Emmanuel Macron says.
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About 170 000 civilians are trapped in the city without adequate food, water or medicine, as it is being turned “into dust” by Russian shelling, Ukraine’s foreign ministry says.
New fires in Chernobyl zone
“Significant” new fires have broken out in the exclusion zone around the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian forces, Ukrainian authorities say.
“It is impossible to control and extinguish fires in full due to the capture of the exclusion zone by the Russian occupation forces,” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says on Telegram
Biden backtracks on Putin ‘gaffe’
US President Joe Biden backtracks from his shock declaration that Russian leader Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power,” replying “no” when asked if he had been calling for regime change.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also earlier tried to defuse the furore over the remarks, saying Biden’s point was that “Putin cannot be empowered to wage war, or engage in aggression against Ukraine, or anyone else”.
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“As you’ve heard us say repeatedly, we do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia or anywhere else for that matter,” Blinken added.
Macron meanwhile warns that any escalation “in words or action” could harm his efforts to agree on the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol.
NATO not for regime change
Also reacting to Biden’s comments, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says it is “not the objective of NATO, nor that of the US president” to change the regime in Russia.
Russia wants to divide Ukraine: Kyiv
Ukraine says Russia may aim to divide the country into versions of North and South Korea because of Putin’s failure to “capture Kyiv and remove Ukraine’s government”.
“There are reasons to believe that he may try to impose a separation line between the occupied and unoccupied regions of our country. In fact, it will be an attempt to set up South and North Koreas in Ukraine,” Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the defence intelligence, says in a statement.
Oscars silence for Ukraine
Hollywood A-listers hold a moment of silence at Sunday’s Oscars gala to show support for the people of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion, after much speculation about how Tinseltown would handle the issue.
Separatist region could hold vote
The head of Ukraine’s Lugansk separatist region says it could hold a referendum on becoming part of Russia.
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Ukrainian foreign ministry spokeperson Oleg Nikolenko slams the proposal as part of continued Russian efforts to “undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
Over 3.8 million refugees
The United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR, says 3,821,049 Ukrainians have fled the country — an increase of 48,450 from the previous day’s figure.
Around 90% of them are women and children. The UN estimates that another 6.5 million people are displaced in Ukraine.
ICRC denies aiding forced evacuations
The International Committee of the Red Cross denies accusations it helped organise or carry out forced evacuations of Ukrainians to Russia.
“We would not support any operation that would go against people’s will and our principles,” the Geneva-based humanitarian organisation says in a statement.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter/ @YVindman
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