A third round of negotiations
Negotiations aimed at ending the war made little progress during the third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine on Monday in Belarus. However, there have been “some positive results” regarding the logistics of the humanitarian corridors, said Mykhaïlo Podoliak, a member of the Ukrainian delegation at the negotiating table. Two evacuation attempts failed last weekend.
Russia announced Monday evening the implementation of ceasefires from 10 a.m. Tuesday morning Moscow time, intended for the evacuation of civilians from Kiev as well as the cities of Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol.
During negotiations on Monday, the Russians offered evacuation routes that lead to Russia and its ally Belarus rather than to western Ukraine, spared from the fighting for now. An option rejected by the Ukrainian side and which Volodymyr Zelensky compared to cynicism.
For their part, the Russian negotiators felt that the result of this third session did not live up to their expectations.
Other civilians killed
At least 13 people were killed following the bombing of an industrial bakery in Makariv, a town located west and near Kiev. Nearly 30 people were there, according to the Ukrainian emergency services. This new deadly bombardment comes as the Russian army continues its advance towards the capital, which expects an attack “in the coming days”, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior.
The European Union is studying Ukraine’s candidacy
The European Union (EU) on Monday launched the procedure for studying membership applications made by Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The European Commission will have to issue a formal opinion, and the 27 member countries will then decide whether to grant candidate status to applicants. However, the EU integration process is long and requires complex negotiations.
Further pressures to come on Russia
The United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom are “determined to continue to increase the cost” inflicted on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine, according to a statement released by the House on Monday. -White.
The countries are considering imposing an embargo on imports of Russian hydrocarbons. The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, rejects this possibility, considering that the supply of Europe “cannot be ensured otherwise for the moment”. The US president has yet to make a decision.
Ottawa wants to prevent collusion on fuel prices
The war in Ukraine has sent gasoline prices skyrocketing, and the federal government has asked the Competition Bureau to monitor the fuel market to verify that there is no collusive price-fixing.
“I took the Competition Bureau to [lui] ask to put teams in place to ensure that there is no collusion, that there are no unfair practices, “said the Minister of Innovation, Science and ‘Industry, François-Philippe Champagne.
Alberta has reduced its gasoline tax, and the price at the pump will drop by 13 cents per liter on 1er April.
Almost all Russian troops are deployed
The Pentagon said Monday that Russia had almost fully deployed the troops it had massed along the Ukrainian border in recent months, estimated at more than 150,000 troops.
But apart from advances in southern Ukraine, Russian forces “have not really made any notable progress in recent days”, said its spokesman, John Kirby. According to the Pentagon, Moscow is stepping up bombardments, missiles and air strikes to make up for the lack of ground advance.
In addition, Russia is recruiting Syrian mercenaries with experience in urban guerrilla warfare to fight in Ukraine.
With Agence France-Presse and La Presse canadienne