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Ukraine says no agreement during talks
A Ukrainian negotiator at talks with Russia on Monday said some small progress had been made on agreeing logistics for the evacuation of civilians, but no agreement was reached that significantly improves the broader situation.
Ukraine on Monday dismissed an offer from Moscow for humanitarian corridors that would lead refugees from bombarded cities into Russia and Belarus, as fresh talks were held with slim hopes of ending the conflict.
A Ukrainian negotiator at talks with Russia on Monday said some small progress had been made on agreeing logistics for the evacuation of civilians, but no agreement was reached that significantly improves the broader situation.
The two sides will continue talks on a ceasefire, said negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak in a video statement.
Violence raged on day 12 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, despite the evacuation proposal and the start of the third round of negotiations between the two countries.
The war has pushed more than 1.7 million people across Ukraine’s borders in what the UN calls Europe’s fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II, and the EU warned that figure could eventually reach 5 million.
As global pressure mounted over horrifying scenes of civilians cut down during failed ceasefires, Moscow’s defence ministry announced plans for humanitarian corridors and said a “regime of silence” had started at 12:30pm IST.
But Ukraine rejected the proposal for the cities of Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mariupol and Sumy, as many of the routes led into Russia or its ally Belarus, raising questions over the safety of those who might use them.
“This is not an acceptable option,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, accused Putin of hypocrisy and cynicism over the offer.
“All this is not serious, it is moral and political cynicism, which I find intolerable,” he told LCI television in an interview.
Russia’s negotiator at the peace talks that were held on the Belarus-Poland border in return accused Ukraine of the “war crime” of blocking the corridors.
13 die in shelling on industrial bakery
At least 13 people were killed on Monday when shelling hit an industrial bakery in Makariv, around 50km west of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, the country’s rescue services said. Russia has also stepped up its shelling of cities, including the town of Gostomel near Kyiv, Kharkiv in the east, Sumy in the northeast, Chernihiv in the north and Mykolayiv in the southwest.
War damage to infra at about $10bn: Ukraine
Ukraine has suffered about $10 billion in damage to infrastructure since Russia invaded the country, infrastructure minister Oleksander Kubrakov said on Monday. He said in televised comments that the figure stood as of Sunday, and added: “The majority of (damaged) structures will be repaired in a year, and the most difficult ones - in two years.”
Poland gives mixed signals on fighter jets
Polish government officials on Monday said that Poland has not, and will not, send its fighter jets to Ukraine to support Ukraine’s defence against Russia. Deputy foreign minister, Marcin Przydacz, said in an interview on Radio Zet that: “We will not open our airports and Polish planes will not fight over Ukraine … Polish planes will not fight over Ukraine.” But separately the government spokesman, Piotr Mueller, indicated a final decision had not been made.
Canada announces new sanctions after invasion
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday announced new sanctions against 10 people he said were “complicit” in the “unjustified” invasion of Ukraine. “This includes former and current senior government officials, oligarchs and supporters of the Russian leadership,” he told a joint press conference with his UK counterpart Boris Johnson and Mark Rutte of the Netherlands. Trudeau said the names of those sanctioned came from a list compiled by the jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Blinken, Israeli FM hold crucial talks in Latvia
US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Monday thanked Israel for its efforts to end Russia’s war with Ukraine as he and Israel’s foreign minister Yair Lapid met in the Latvian capital Riga. Blinken said that any initiative to try to halt the conflict would be welcome as long as the move is consistent with US, Nato and European principles that Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected.
