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Talks between Russia and Ukraine’s international ministers on Thursday made no obvious progress in direction of a ceasefire within the two-week-old battle or on a humanitarian hall from the southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol.
Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba stated after the talks that he had sought a 24-hour ceasefire throughout the entire fight zone in addition to the opening of a Mariupol hall, however that his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov didn’t decide to both.
Lavrov stated he reminded Kuleba that Moscow had introduced proposals to Kyiv, and that Russia wished to see what he referred to as a pleasant, demilitarised Ukraine.
The assembly, within the southern Turkish resort of Antalya was the highest-level contact between the 2 sides since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. It lasted just below an hour and a half.
Each Kuleba and Turkish Overseas Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who hosted the talks, stated it was not a straightforward assembly.
“I made a easy proposal to Minister Lavrov: I can name my Ukrainian ministers, authorities, president now and provide you with 100% assurances on safety ensures for humanitarian corridors,” Kuleba instructed a information convention.
“I requested him ‘Are you able to do the identical?’ and he didn’t reply.”
At a separate information convention Lavrov stated there had been no dialogue of a ceasefire, and that the talks in Turkey couldn’t be a substitute for the “actual, essential diplomatic monitor”, referring to lower-level conferences in Belarus, an ally of Moscow.
“I’m not shocked that Mr Kuleba stated that it was not potential to agree a few ceasefire. Right here, nobody was meaning to agree a ceasefire,” he stated.
HOSPITAL BOMBING
Responding to Kyiv’s condemnation of Wednesday’s bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Lavrov stated the constructing was not used as a hospital and had been occupied by Ukrainian forces, although the Kremlin individually stated the incident was being investigated.
“Three days in the past on the UN Safety Council assembly our delegation introduced details that this maternity hospital had lengthy been seized by the Azov battalion and different radicals,” he stated.
Russia’s invasion has uprooted greater than 2 million folks in what the United Nations calls the fastest-developing humanitarian disaster in Europe since World Conflict Two.
Moscow has stated that every one of its calls for – together with that Kyiv takes a impartial place and drops aspirations of becoming a member of the NATO alliance – should be met to finish its assault.
Moscow calls its incursion a “particular navy operation” to disarm Ukraine and dislodge leaders it calls “neo-Nazis.” Kyiv and its Western allies dismiss that as baseless pretext for an unprovoked battle towards a democratic nation of 44 million folks.
Lavrov stated he didn’t imagine the battle would spiral right into a nuclear battle however he cautioned the US and Europe that Moscow by no means once more wished to be reliant on the West.
“We are going to do every part to make sure that we by no means once more rely upon the West in these areas of our life which have a major which means for our folks,” he stated.
Turkey, which hosted Thursday’s assembly, shares a maritime border with Russia and Ukraine within the Black Sea and has good ties with each. It has referred to as Russia’s invasion unacceptable and appealed for a ceasefire however has opposed sanctions on Moscow.
Supply: Reuters
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