LAST UPDATE 23:24
After more than five hours, talks between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Gomel, Belarus, on the possibility of a ceasefire and the end of the war were completed.
As it was announced, the delegations will return to their seats for consultations and then, according to the Ria Novosti agency, a second round of talks will follow.
A member of the Ukrainian delegation to the ceasefire talks with Russia on Monday said negotiations were difficult and the Russian side was biased. “Unfortunately, the Russian side still has a very biased view of the destructive process that has begun,” an adviser to Ukrainian President Mikhail Pontoliak said on Twitter after attending talks near the border with Belarus.
Negotiations began around noon today, and according to Kyiv, Ukraine’s goal is an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine.
Explosions in Kyiv
At the time of the announcement of the end of the talks, huge explosions shook Kyiv. According to the foreign media, these are powerful explosions, while at the same time war sirens do not stop ringing.
On the streets of Kiev, signs commonly used for traffic alerts read: “Putin lost the war. The whole world is with Ukraine.”
Russia has deployed about half of its forces on Ukraine’s border with its former Soviet neighbor, Western officials said Monday.
Satellite images taken Monday showed Russian ground forces continuing to approach the Ukrainian capital in a 27-kilometer military convoy, a private US company said.
Maxar Technologies said the convoy at the eastern end of Antonov Airport contained hundreds of armored vehicles, tanks, artillery and logistics vehicles and continued on its way south to Kyiv.
France will move its embassy from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to the western city of Lviv, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told BFM TV on Monday. Paris is the last western country to move its embassy from the capital, but has chosen to relocate it due to the deteriorating situation on the ground.
Conflicts in Kharkov
Russian artillery shelled residential neighborhoods in Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, on Monday, killing dozens of people, Ukrainian officials said, as Moscow’s invading forces met fierce resistance from Ukrainians on the fifth day of the conflict.
The head of the regional administration Oleg Synegubov said that the Russian artillery pounded residential areas, although there were no Ukrainian army positions or strategic infrastructure. At least 11 people were killed, he said.
Earlier, Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashenko said that Russian rocket attacks in Kharkov had killed dozens. Independent verification of victim numbers was not possible.
Fighting also broke out overnight around the port city of Mariupol on Sunday night, said Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kirilenko. He did not say whether Russian forces had won or lost ground.
Russian forces have captured two small towns in southeastern Ukraine and the area around a nuclear power plant, according to the Interfax news agency.
Violent clashes continue around Chernihiv, a city in northern Ukraine, and Kharkiv, the Pentagon said in a Twitter post, stressing that both cities remain under Ukrainian control.
Macron-Putin conversation
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke today for about an hour and a half with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to French diplomatic sources, the telephone call was made at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with whom the French president has spoken several times today.
For the duration of the talks between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine, the French President asked for the following to be implemented:
– Immediate cessation of all attacks on civilians
– Protection of urban infrastructure
– Securing roads, especially those south of Kiev
According to the announcement of the Champs Elysees, the Russian president said he was willing to respect these three conditions. From the other side, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin to his French counterpart Emanuel Macron Russia’s demands are:
– Recognition of Russian sovereignty in Crimea
– The demilitarization and “de-Nazification” of the Ukrainian state
– Ensuring the neutral status of Ukraine
The official request for Ukraine’s accession to the EU was signed by Zelensky
The same time the formal request for Ukraine to join the EU signed by the President of the country V. Zelensky. This is stated in the tweet of the official account of the Ukrainian parliament, where it is underlined that this is a historic moment.
President @ZelenskyyUa has signed application for the membership of #Ukraine in the European Union.
This is a historic moment! pic.twitter.com/rmzdgIwArc
– Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (@ua_parliament) February 28, 2022
Earlier today, it became known that Volodymyr Zelensky asked the European Union to allow Ukraine to become a direct member of the European bloc with a special fast-track procedure, as the country defends itself against the invasion of Russian forces.
“Our goal is to be with all Europeans and, above all, to be equal. I am sure this is fair. I am sure we deserve it,” he said in a videotaped message.
Germany sends warplanes to the Baltic
Berlin sends Tornado fighters and a naval cooperation aircraft on a reconnaissance mission in the Baltic Sea region, such as announced Germany’s representative to NATO.
Asked about the mission, a spokesman for the German Ministry of Defense said he could not disclose details for operational security reasons.
Earlier in the day, the German Navy ordered the deployment of six warships, four of which are heading to the Baltic Sea.
Finland sends arms and ammunition to Ukraine
Helsinki announced today that it made the “historic” decision to supply arms to Ukraine after the Russian invasion of that country.
Finland will provide military assistance to Ukraine. “This is a historic decision for Finland,” Prime Minister Sanaa Marin told a news conference today.
The mission will include 2,500 assault rifles, 150,000 bullets, 1,500 anti-tank weapons and 70,000 packages of food, Defense Minister Andy Kaikonen added.
Policy shift from Norway as well: It will send arms to Ukraine
The Norwegian government will send weapons to Ukrainesaid in a statement on Monday, the last European nation to do so after the Russian invasion.
The decision overturns a Norwegian policy that has been in place since the 1950s not to send weapons to non-NATO countries at war or in danger of armed conflict.]
Norway will donate up to 2,000 M72 anti-tank weapons, the government said in a statement.
Source: Capital
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