The negotiations between Moscow and Kiev remain deadlocked, except for an agreement on the establishment of humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians. Vladimir Putin called Emmanuel Macron to repeat his determination.
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While the Russian forces pounded several cities in Ukraine, a second round of negotiations, Thursday, March 3, between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations. The meeting took place on the border between Poland and Belarus. Kiev had three claims: an immediate ceasefire, armistice and the establishment of humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians, trapped trap. At the end of the talks, an agreement was concluded for the establishment of these evacuation corridors. For the rest, on the other hand, there was no advance, according to a member of the Ukrainian delegation. “Unfortunately, there are not yet the desired results for Ukraine,” said Twitter Mykhailo Podoliak, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s adviser.
In exchange for an improbable ceasefire, Russia continues to advance conditions considered unacceptable by Kiev and its Western allies: to neutralize Ukraine, demilitarize it, to obtain recognition that Crimea, annexed in 2014 By Moscow, is Russian, and “denazify” the country, that is to say, to change the elected leaders. Vladimir Putin recalled these requirements during a new phone call with Emmanuel Macron: “He said that if the Ukrainians did not accept that through the diplomatic channel he would obtain it anyway by the military way,” said the ‘Elysee.
“The only thing I can say is that we have discussed in detail the humanitarian aspects because many cities are circled” by the Russian forces, added Mykhailo Podoliak about the tractings of the day. He worried about a “dramatic situation with food, drugs and evacuation possibilities”. “It will be possible to stop the fire during the duration of the evacuation, not everywhere, but only in the places where the humanitarian corridors will be”, “said Mr. Podoliak. The two delegations are, moreover, agreed to provide drugs and food where the most intense fights take place.
“The worst remains to come”
Despite the violence of the Russian offensive, this is the first time the negotiators manage to agree on since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Thursday, February 24. “We believe it is a significant progress,” said a Russian negotiator. “The main question that has been resolved today is the rescue of civilians who have found themselves in the area of clashes,” he added. A third negotiation session must take place earlier next week, announced Mykhailo Podoliak, cited by the Belorusse Belta agency.
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