On Monday, senior Ukrainian government officials held a third round of talks with a Russian delegation, and a Ukrainian presidential adviser said there had been “small positive progress” in efforts to create safe escape routes for civilians from cities. On the 12th day of the invasion, Russian ground forces appeared to be stuck north of the capital city of Kyiv and were making limited progress around other major cities. This slow advance led Moscow to rely on artillery barrage to force the Ukrainians into submission.
But while the airstrikes are causing increasing damage to both Ukrainian lives and infrastructure, they are also fueling international outrage at the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin. With the notable exception of China, no major economy has backed Putin’s military gambit. The latest round of talks took place as the US and its allies discussed the possibility of a complete ban on Russian oil and gas products and sending fighter jets to Ukraine.
However, the Kremlin continues to publicly insist that the “operation” in Ukraine – which the Russian media is not allowed to call a war or an invasion – will continue until the country is “demilitarized” and its government is overthrown.
The United Nations says the Russian invasion has killed hundreds of civilians and forced more than 1.7 million people to flee to neighboring countries, with the onslaught continuing in many Ukrainian cities.