Russia-Ukraine War: No breakthrough in fourth round of talks; Zelenskyy to address US Congress

As the Russia-Ukraine war entered the 19th day on Monday, Moscow and Kyiv conducted fresh talks in an effort to end the devastating war, despite deadly strikes on a Ukrainian television tower, the capital and a pro-Moscow separatist region.

Here are the day’s most significant development:

Warring parties

On the 19th day of the invasion, the fourth round of talks made no breakthrough other than a planned resumption on Tuesday, as Russian-backed separatists said fragments from a shot-down Ukrainian Tochka-U missile ripped the centre of Donetsk, killing 23 people.

Moscow called it a “war crime” and rebels published photos of bloody corpses strewn in the street, even as the Ukrainian army denied having fired a missile at Donetsk.

Outside the western Ukrainian city of Rivne, nine people died and another nine were injured on Monday when Russian forces hit a television tower, local authorities said.

Rescuers were working to free survivors trapped under the rubble in the village of Antopil, the head of the regional administration, Vitaliy Koval, said on messaging app Telegram.

As Moscow’s military advanced steadily towards several major urban hubs, Russian air strikes killed at least two in Kyiv, now hemmed in on two sides and drained of more than half of its three million residents.

“They say that he is too severely burned, that I won’t recognise him,” sobbed Lidiya Tikhovska, 83, staring at the spot where a paramedic said the remains of her son Vitaliy lay.

“I wish Russia the same grief I feel now,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks as she clung to her grandson’s elbow for support.

During its meeting with Russian representatives, Ukraine said it was demanding “peace, an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops”. The videoconference talks paused without a breakthrough ahead of a planned resumption on Tuesday.

“Only after this can we talk about regional relations and about political differences,” Kyiv’s lead negotiator Mikhailo Podolyak said in a video statement posted to Twitter.

Russian troops not only edged closer to Kyiv but kept up their siege of the southern port city of Mariupol, where officials said nearly 2,200 people have been killed.

At Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986, energy operator Ukrenergo said “occupying forces” had once again damaged its electricity supply.

Russia’s forces had earlier focused on eastern and southern areas of Ukraine — home to more ethnic Russians — but in recent days have moved to the country’s centre.

In Kyiv, only the roads to the south remain open, according to the Ukrainian presidency. City authorities have set up checkpoints, and people are stockpiling food and medicine.

The north-western suburb of Bucha is held by Russian forces, along with parts of Irpin, Ukrainian soldiers told AFP. Some blocks in the once well-to-do suburb have been reduced to rubble.

The Russians are encountering resistance from the Ukrainian army to both the east and west of the capital, according to AFP journalists on the scene.

In a new video released on Monday, Zelenskyy said, “Russia continues to destroy our infrastructure, continues to beat our cities. But we will rebuild every street in every city. Every house, apartment of every Ukrainian. Now that the occupier is still on our land, we must beat him as best we can.”

It was reported that he will deliver a virtual address to the US Congress on Wednesday.

Global diplomacy

The European Union’s foreign policy chief on Monday said the 27-country bloc is finalising its new round of sanctions against Russia for its barbaric invasion of Ukraine.

Josep Borrell said  the fourth package of coercive measures would target Russia’s market access, membership in international financial institutions, and steel and energy sectors.

Meanwhile, Russia’s finance ministry accused foreign countries of wanting to force Russia into an “artificial default” and said it would meet its debt obligations.

Besides, in a sign Moscow may have underestimated the challenge it would face, US officials told media that Russia had asked China for military and economic aid for the war.

US diplomat Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said Putin reportedly asking for military help could be a “defining moment” for China’s Xi Jinping.

Beijing accused Washington of spreading lies over China’s role in the Ukraine war, without directly addressing the US media reports.

The UK government on its part is considering housing Ukrainian refugees in property owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs, as it prepared to announce a programme for people to open their homes to those fleeing the war.

Humanitarian crisis

The United Nations estimates almost 2.8 million people have fled Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale land and air assault on 24 February, most of them to Poland.

The UN human rights office said on Monday it had confirmed the deaths of at least 636 civilians in Ukraine through to 13 March, including 46 children. The actual toll is likely much higher, it said, since there have been delays in receiving reports from Kharkiv and Mariupol.

The UN has also decided to allocate a further 40 million dollars from its central emergency response fund to ramp up humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said during a Security Council meeting on the day.

Meanwhile, efforts continued to get help to the devastated southern city of Mariupol, which aid agencies say is facing a humanitarian catastrophe.

In a glimmer of hope for residents of the besieged city, more than 160 civilian cars were able to drive out along a humanitarian evacuation route on Monday.

The successful evacuation followed several failed attempts since Russian forces surrounded the port city on the Azov Sea early this month.

Heavy bombardment has left some 400,000 inhabitants in the city with no running water or heating and food running short.

India

India on Monday called for direct contacts and negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to cease the hostilities between the two countries and said New Delhi has been and will continue to remain in touch with both Moscow and Kyiv.

India’s deputy permanent representative to the UN Ambassador R Ravindra said India continues to underline the need to respect the UN Charter, international law and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States.

With input from agencies

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