Talks Between Ukraine And Russia Are Scheduled As Dozens Of People Were Killed In The Attack On The Base

Russia and Ukraine hint at progress, new talks on Monday
Russian aircraft attacked a military base near the border with Poland
Shelling of Ukrainian cities continues, death toll rises
American journalist killed near Kiev

LVIV, Ukraine, March 14 – Diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine intensified on Monday, with Ukrainian and Russian negotiators back on track after both sides announced progress, even after Russia attacked a base near the Polish border and fighting raged elsewhere.

A flurry of Russian missiles hit Ukraine’s Yavoriv International Peace and Security Center, a base just 15 miles (25 km) from the Polish border that previously housed NATO military instructors, killing 35 people and injuring 134, a Ukrainian official said on Sunday. More

The Russian Defense Ministry said that up to 180 “foreign mercenaries” and a large number of foreign weapons were destroyed. Reuters was unable to independently verify the casualty figures reported by either side.

Thousands have died since February 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a so-called special military operation to rid Ukraine of dangerous nationalists and Nazis.

The United States, which has watched with growing alarm the Russian build-up on Ukraine’s borders for weeks, says it was a deliberate, unjustified and illegal “war of choice.”

The White House said that in a telephone conversation, US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron stressed their commitment to holding Russia accountable for the invasion.

The US State Department said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba also discussed diplomatic efforts to end the Russian invasion.

Hopes were raised after Russia and Ukraine gave their most optimistic assessments after talks over the weekend.

“Russia is already starting to talk constructively,” Ukrainian negotiator Mikhail Podolyak said in an online video. “I think that we will achieve some results literally in a matter of days.”

The Russian delegate at the talks, Leonid Slutsky, according to RIA, said that they have made significant progress and, perhaps, the delegations will soon be able to come to draft agreements. More

Neither side said what they would cover. Three rounds of talks between the two sides in Belarus, the last of which took place last Monday, have focused mainly on humanitarian issues.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the country’s delegations communicate daily via video link, and the clear goal of his negotiators was to “do everything” to arrange his meeting with Putin.

“We must hold on. We must fight. And we will win,” Zelensky said in a nightly video message.

HARD SANCTIONS

World financial markets, tormented by fears that the conflict could spread and drag out NATO, rallied on hopes for progress in peace talks. Stocks rose as oil prices lost some of their recent gains.

Western countries have sought to isolate Putin by imposing tough economic sanctions and supplying Ukraine with weapons.

Increasingly isolated Russia requested military equipment from China after its invasion, several U.S. officials said, raising White House concerns that Beijing could undermine Western efforts to help Ukrainian forces defend their country.

Smoke rises among damaged buildings following the attack on the Yavoriv military base, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, in Yavoriv, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine, on March 13, 2022, in this image obtained from social media. @BackAndAlive/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. OBLIGATORY CREDIT. NO RESALE. NO ARCHIVES.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who is scheduled to meet with senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome on Monday, warned Beijing that he would “absolutely” face consequences if he helped Moscow evade sanctions. More

When asked about Russia’s request for military assistance, Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said: “I’ve never heard of it.”

He said China finds the current situation in Ukraine “confusing” and added: “We support and encourage all efforts that contribute to a peaceful resolution of the crisis.”

Nevertheless, violence and bloodshed continued.

Air raid sirens sounded before dawn in many cities and regions of Ukraine, including Kyiv, Lvov, Odessa, Ivano-Frankivsk and Cherkassy.

Authorities in the capital said they were stocking up on food for two weeks for the 2 million people who have not yet fled from Russian troops trying to encircle the city.

In the town of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, Russian soldiers shot and killed an American journalist and wounded another, the regional police chief said. More

The UK Ministry of Defense said Russian navies had imposed a remote blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, isolating the country from international maritime trade.

In eastern Ukraine, Russian troops have tried to surround Ukrainian forces that are advancing from the port of Mariupol in the south and the second city of Kharkiv in the north, he added.

The Russian-controlled eastern city of Donbass and Crimea, which was seized by Russia in 2014, are now connected by a road controlled by pro-Russian forces, Russian news agency RIA reported, citing Georgy Muradov, deputy prime minister of the pro-Russian government. in the Crimea, as they say.

The message cannot be independently acknowledged.

The Russian invasion has forced more than 2.5 million people to flee across Ukraine’s borders and lured hundreds of thousands into besieged cities. More

“This is terribly cruel and inhuman,” Olga, a refugee from Kyiv, told Reuters after crossing the Romanian border.

At least 596 civilians have been killed since the invasion began, according to the United Nations, and the toll is likely much higher, as it is difficult to confirm deaths in places like Mariupol.

The Mariupol city council said 2,187 residents had been killed since the invasion began. Reuters was unable to confirm these losses.

Moscow denies the attack on civilians. He blames Ukraine for failed attempts to evacuate civilians from besieged cities, a charge that Ukraine and its Western allies vehemently deny.

Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, has come under heavy shelling that has killed dozens of civilians.

“We will sew up the wounds and pain of our country and our city,” said Aliyev, a 23-year-old musician. “We’re not going anywhere.” More

Reuters reporting; Writing by Lincoln Fist; Edited by Clarence Fernandez and Raju Gopalakrishnan

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