RUSSIA,UKRAINE: Ukraine was “still ready” to continue negotiations with Moscow, which have stalled since the discovery of atrocities in Bucha and other areas near Kyiv, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday.
“Ukraine has always said it is ready for negotiations and looking for any way to stop this war,” Zelensky said in a press conference with the Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who visited Bucha.
“Sadly, in parallel we see the preparations for important battles, some people say decisive ones, in the east,” he said, referring to an anticipated Russian offensive.
The last face-to-face talks between the two sides took place on March 29, during which Ukrainian negotiators are said to have signalled their readiness to accept neutrality in return for security guarantees from third parties.
“In the east and in the south, we have seen a concentration of arms, equipment and troops who are getting ready to occupy another part of our territory,” Zelensky said.
Meanwhile, Civilian evacuations moved forward in patches of battle-scarred eastern Ukraine a day after a missile strike killed at least 52 people at a train station where thousands were waiting to leave the increasingly vulnerable region before an expected Russian onslaught.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demanded a tough global response to Friday’s train station attack in Kramatorsk, calling it the latest sign of war crimes by Russian forces and hoping to prod Western backers to step up their response to help his country defend itself.
Russia denied it was responsible and accused Ukraine’s military of firing on the station to try to turn blame for civilian slayings on Moscow. A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman detailed the missile’s trajectory and Ukrainian troop positions to bolster the argument. Western experts and Ukrainian authorities insisted that Russia launched the missile.
Meanwhile, more than 4.4 million Ukrainian refugees have fled their country since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion on February 24, according to figures from the UN refugee agency.
The UNHCR said there were 4,441,663 Ukrainian refugees on Saturday.
The United Nations estimates that 7.1 million people have been displaced within the country, according to figures published by the IOM on April 5.
More than 11 million people, or more than a quarter of the population, have been forced to flee their homes, cross the border into neighbouring countries or seek refuge elsewhere in Ukraine.
– THE HINDU, THE HINDUSTAN TIMES