Ukraine is opening seven “humanitarian corridors” on Thursday for civilians to leave cities besieged by Russian forces, including the southern port city of Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
Civilians have already started to leave the northeastern city of Sumy under a local ceasefire, the regional governor said.
People were also leaving the nearby settlements of Krasnopillya and Trostyanets, Governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyy said. “The (evacuation) columns are coming out. The ceasefire has been agreed!” he said.
Thousands of people have already left the city of Sumy in the last three days after agreements between Russians and Ukrainians.
Meanwhile, civilians are expected to be evacuated from the city of Mariupol, a day after Ukraine accused the Russians of bombing a children’s hospital and maternity hospital in an airstrike.
Several previous attempts to establish a Mariupol humanitarian corridor have failed, and people in the city of more than 400,000 people have been sheltering there without water or power for more than a week.
Each side blamed the other for the collapse of the local ceasefire, including around Mariupol, and Russia said reports that it bombed a children’s hospital were “fake news”.
The Russians claim the facility is no longer used as a hospital and has long since been taken over by Ukrainian troops.
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For the first time since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, the main diplomats of the two nations involved in the conflict will meet. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday morning (10) in southern Turkey.
Compared to the meetings that have already taken place between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators, this Thursday’s meeting will be the one that involves the highest level officials of the two countries since the conflict began. The expectation is that the chancellors will talk about the opening of more humanitarian corridors and conditions for a pacification of the conflict.
The meeting is to be mediated by the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and will take place during a three-day diplomatic forum organized by the host country and based in the city of Antalya.
Although part of NATO and an ally of Ukraine, Turkey also maintains a close relationship with Russia and, since the beginning of the conflict, has endeavored to maintain contact with the two countries.
Even calling the Russian invasion “unacceptable”, the Turkish government opposes sanctions against Moscow and condemned the “witch hunt” against Russian culture.
Before the meeting, the Ukrainian foreign minister confessed that he has limited expectations regarding negotiations with the Russian government. “But I will say frankly that my expectations of the talks are low,” Kuleba said in a video statement.
“We are interested in a ceasefire, in the liberation of our territories and the third point is the resolution of all humanitarian issues”, added the minister.
Source: CNN Brasil
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