Russian troops were still trying to encircle Kiev on Saturday March 12, while continuing their offensive in southern and eastern Ukraine. During a meeting with Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron called on his Russian counterpart to put an end to “the abuses of the Russian army” in the neighboring country. The French president said he was “determined to use all the resources of diplomacy”but also sanctions, to respond to the invasion of Ukraine.
Mariupol is in an “almost hopeless” situation
After twelve days of siege by the Russian army, Mariupol had no water, gas, electricity or communications on Saturday March 12. In a situation “almost hopeless” sAccording to Doctors Without Borders, residents have been fighting for food lately. Some 1,582 civilians were killed in this strategic port in southeastern Ukraine and buried in mass graves, according to the head of Ukrainian diplomacy.
Russian troops also continued their offensive in Kiev on Saturday, which they were trying to encircle. Present in the suburbs of the capital, the soldiers sought to eliminate the Ukrainian defenses to the west and north of the city for the “to block”, said the Ukrainian general staff. In Vassylkiv, south of Kiev, Russian rockets “completely destroyed” the local airport and an oil terminal also affected caught fire, according to local authorities.
In the south of the country, the port city of Mykolaiv, near Odessa, was bombed overnight from Friday to Saturday. Shots hit a cancer center emptied of its occupants and an eye hospital housing an unspecified number of patients.
“About 1,300” Ukrainian servicemen have been killed since Feb. 24, Volodymyr Zelensky said, in the first official tally provided by Ukrainian authorities since the start of the invasion. Russia had reported on March 2 of 498 soldiers killed among its forces, and has not communicated any other assessment to date.
Zelensky hails ‘Russian signal’ in talks
The Ukrainian president on Saturday welcomed an approach “fundamentally different” of Moscow in its recent talks with Kiev, emphasizing that Russia is no longer satisfied with “just issue ultimatums”. The day before, Vladimir Putin had mentioned “advanced” in negotiations with Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky replied on Saturday to be “glad to have a signal from Russia” in these exchanges, during a press conference in Kiev broadcast on the Telegram account of the Ukrainian presidency.
Putin accuses Kiev of violations of humanitarian law, Paris evokes “lies”
Vladimir Putin on Saturday accused Ukrainian forces of “gross violations” of humanitarian law, during a telephone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The Russian President spoke of “extrajudicial killings of opponents”from “civilian hostage-taking” and their “use as human shields”as well as “the deployment of heavy weapons in residential areas, near hospitals, schools and kindergartens”.
These charges are “lies” reacted the Elysée after this exchange of 75 minutes, the second bringing together the three leaders in three days. The exchange took place “focused” at the request of Paris and Berlin to“an immediate ceasefire and the beginning of a diplomatic solution”separately specified the French presidency and the German chancellery.
Emmanuel Macron told his Russian counterpart that “the exactions of the Russian army had to stop” and that the “violations” of “the worst way” could be, “within the meaning of international law and subject to the ongoing investigation”, “classified as war crimes”. The Europeans are currently examining new sanctions against Moscow and the ambassadors of the 27 member states are due to meet in Brussels on Sunday March 13 to discuss them. For his part, Joe Biden opened the way Friday to punitive tariffs against Russia.