Negotiations resume. New negotiations begin on Tuesday March 29 in Istanbul to try to end the war that has raged in Ukraine since the Russian invasion more than a month ago. Russian negotiators arrived in Istanbul on Monday, where a previous negotiating session had already taken place on March 10, at the level of foreign ministers, but had not resulted in any progress. The discussions then continued by videoconference. Follow our live.
Ukraine’s neutrality in question. One of the important points of the negotiations relates to “guarantees of security and neutrality, the denuclearized status of our State”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Russian media on Sunday. This point “is studied in depth” but he will make a referendum and security guarantees necessary, he warned, accusing his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and his entourage of doing “dragging things”.
Irpin returns to Ukrainian hands. Ukrainian authorities announced on Monday evening that Irpin, the scene of fierce fighting on the outskirts of kyiv, had been “liberated” from Russian forces. “The occupiers are pushed back from Irpin, pushed back from kyiv. However, it is too early to talk about security in this part of our region,” said Volodymyr Zelensky.
Blockade at Mirupol. Volodymyr Zelensky denounced on Sunday a total blockade of the city of Mariupol, a strategic port city on the Sea of Azov which the Russian army has been trying to seize since the end of February. About 160,000 people are still stuck there, according to its mayor Vadim Boitchenko.