Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is once again calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to sit down and talk in hopes of ending Russia’s brutal and escalating war against Ukraine.
As Russian troops shell the outskirts of Lviv in the west, Zelenskiy blames Russia for creating a humanitarian catastrophe by blocking critical supplies to his country’s largest cities.
The United Nations estimates that 6.5 million people have been displaced by the war, and more than 3 million people have fled Ukraine.
Overnight, the Ukrainian president turned directly to Moscow, according to Chris Livesey for CBS Saturday Morning.
“Time to talk,” Zelensky said. “The time has come to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise, Russia’s losses will be such that it will take you several generations to recover them.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks from Kyiv, Ukraine early Saturday morning. Press Service of the President of Ukraine via AP
The Pentagon estimates that more than 7,000 Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine to date.
But Putin does not create an image of compromise by promising at a crowded rally that Russia will win.
Many participants told reporters that they were pressured to come out in support of him.
Putin repeated his claim that Ukrainian civilians cheered for Russian troops.
But the heartache speaks the truth. In Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, a son wept over the body of his mother, who was killed by falling debris. And Mariupol, the site of Russia’s most brutal offensive, is surrounded by siege troops, leaving hundreds of thousands of civilians without food, water, heat or electricity.
Russia says it is now “tightening the noose” in the strategic Black Sea city, even deploying Islamist troops from its Chechen region. A video purportedly posted by a pro-Putin leader of Chechnya shows them engaging Ukrainian militants stationed on the top floors of the building.
Meanwhile, in the eastern city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian forces are holding firm in the face of furious Russian artillery fire. For more than three weeks, Russia unsuccessfully tried to break through the city.
The battle for Ukraine is spreading across the ocean. The Ukrainian Defense Minister said that Russian troops are blocking access to the Sea of Azov, which connects to the Black Sea. This renews fears that an expansion of the war may be inevitable.
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