Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to send a delegation of high-ranking officials to Minsk to hold talks with Kiev, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday. Putin also confirmed talks in Minsk in a phone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “Russia is ready to negotiate with Ukraine at a high level,” Putin said, cited by Sputnik News Agency. And this even as Russian forces engaged in fierce fighting with Ukrainian forces to take control of Ukraine’s capital city, Kiev. Media reports said that Russian forces have entered Kiev and are around 10 km from the city centre. Media Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been taken to a bunker by the military for his safety. Meanwhile, Russia asked the Ukrainian forces to lay down their arms.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow was ready for negotiations on Kiev at any moment. “We are ready for negotiations. At any moment, as soon as the armed forces of Ukraine respond to the call of our President (Vladimir Putin), stop resisting and lay down their arms. No one is going to attack them, no one is going to oppress them, let them return to their families,” Lavrov said.
A number of explosions were heard in the capital city of Ukraine as the Russian special military operation entered the second day, local media reported. Ukraine’s Deputy Interior Minister Yevhen Yenin said explosions were caused by Ukrainian “anti-missile system shooting” a missile out of the sky, CNN reported, noting that the inputs were not independently verified.
“The Russian Armed Forces are not targeting Ukrainian cities in the special military operation, but putting the Ukrainian Armed Forc
“The Russian Armed Forces are not targeting Ukrainian cities in the special military operation, but putting the Ukrainian Armed Forc
es’ infrastructure out of operation,” said Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. “Measures will be taken to ensure the safety of UN and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) missions’ staff in Ukraine,” she added.
“For 8 years, we have tried to encourage the authorities in Kiev to stop the punitive operation against its own people and settle the conflict in Donbas by peaceful, political and diplomatic means. Unfortunately, they simply ignored us,” said Zakharova in a tweet.
“On February 24, @MFA_Ukraine notified us that it had cut diplomatic ties with Russia. We regret that the Kiev regime has chosen the path of severing its ties with Russia and everything Russian. We do hope that history will soon set everything straight,” tweeted Zakharova.
Moscow on Friday claimed to have destroyed 118 military facilities of Ukraine’s military infrastructure in a counter-offensive operation by the groupings of troops of Donetsk and Lugansk with fire support from the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
“During the special military operation, the Russian Air Force destroyed 118 military facilities of Ukraine’s military infrastructure, including 11 military airfields, 13 command posts and communication centres, 14 S-300 and Osa anti-aircraft missile systems, 36 radar stations,” tweeted Russian Embassy in India.
Meanwhile, it shot down 5 combat aircraft, 1 helicopter, 5 unmanned aerial vehicles.
18 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 7 multiple rocket launchers, 41 units of special military vehicles and 5 combat boats were destroyed, read the Russian Defence Ministry release.
“After the stabilization of the situation in the combat area, all surrendered Ukrainian servicemen will be released home,” said the ministry.
The Ukrainian Defence Ministry has said its armed forces have inflicted some 800 casualties on Russian forces since the military operations began on Thursday. The ministry said more than 30 Russian tanks had been destroyed, along with seven Russian aircraft and six helicopters.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested to Russian President Vladimir Putin that they sit down at the negotiation table. “I would like to address the president of Russia once again … let us sit down at the negotiation table to stop people dying,” Zelenskyy said in a video address, Sputnik News Agency reported. The Ukraine President also said he will talk to Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
“Today at 10.30 am at the entrances to Chernihiv, Hostomel and Melitopol there were heavy fighting. People died. Next time I’ll try to move the war schedule to talk to #MarioDraghi at a specific time. Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to fight for its people,” Zelenskyy said in a tweet.
He also said that Sweden has provided military, technical and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. “Grateful to @SwedishPM for her effective support. Building an anti-Putin coalition together!” he said in another tweet.
Zelenskyy also criticized some European countries for not being fast enough in extending assistance to Ukraine amid tensions. “We do not quite see what you are going to do with this; how are you going to defend yourselves if you are so slow helping us in Ukraine,” he said in a televised statement, Sputnik reported.
He said that the sanctions imposed on Moscow were not enough to curtail Russian military operations against Ukraine. He urged Western leaders to disconnect Moscow from the SWIFT banking system and withdraw ambassadors from the Russian capital. Zelensky urged European countries to demand stoppage of the war.
Meanwhile, Beijing supported the settlement of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine through dialogue, the Chinese President said. “Recently, the situation in eastern Ukraine has been changing rapidly, which has attracted increased attention from the international community… China supports the settlement of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine through negotiations,” Xi was quoted as saying by the CCTV. Abdulla Shahid, president of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), stated, “I call for an immediate ceasefire, de-escalation of tensions and a firm return to diplomacy and dialogue,” said the UNGA president in a statement. Underscoring that the UN Charter is based on the principle of sovereign equality, Shahid called on all member states to settle their international disputes by peaceful means. “I renew my call to all member states to uphold their obligations under international law and international humanitarian law,” said the UNGA president. “The safe and unhindered access for humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and its people is a priority and the need of the hour,” he said.
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin spoke with fifteen of his NATO allies and European counterparts regarding Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, Pentagon said on Friday. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said that Austin spoke individually with Defence Ministers from Canada and Turkey and also convened a virtual European Quint meeting with his counterparts from France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. According to the Pentagon statement, Austin also participated for the first time in a secure teleconference with the counterparts from the Bucharest Nine (B-9) Countries—Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. In the wake of Russian military operations, Austin said the US has deployed an additional 15,000 forces in recent days and weeks and now has more than 90,000 U.S. service members in Europe. Austin also spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov.