As the fighting continues, the Ukrainian president calls on Russia to play the game of negotiations, to “minimize the damage caused by its own mistakes”.
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He wants real negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday March 19 that it was time for Russia to agree to stand “reunite” for “to discuss” seriously peace. “Peace and security negotiations for Ukraine are the only chance for Russia to minimize the damage caused by its own mistakes”Zelensky said in a video posted on Facebook, filmed at night on a deserted street.
“It’s time to come together. It’s time to discuss. It’s time to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine”pleaded the head of state. “Otherwisehe warned, the losses for Russia will be such that it will take several generations to recover”.
Several rounds of negotiations between kyiv and Moscow have taken place in person and by videoconference since the Russian invasion of Ukraine launched on February 24. The fourth opened on Monday at the level of delegations negotiating remotely. The head of the Russian delegation spoke on Friday evening of a “reconciliation” positions on the question of a neutral status for Ukraine – like Sweden and Austria – and progress on the demilitarization of the country. However, he noted “shades” about the “security guarantees” claimed by Ukraine.
But a member of the Ukrainian delegation, the adviser to the presidency Mikhaïlo Podoliak, indicated that the “statements of the Russian side are only their demands to leave”. “Our position has not changed: ceasefire, withdrawal of (Russian) troops and strong security guarantees with concrete formulas”he tweeted.
Meanwhile, shelling and fighting rage across Ukraine, especially for the coveted city of Mariupol (southeast). The Russian army said on Friday that it had succeeded in entering and fighting in the city center alongside troops from the separatist “republic” of Donetsk. Taking Mariupol would be an important turning point in the war and would allow Russia to ensure territorial continuity between its forces coming from annexed Crimea (south) and the troops from Donbass (east).