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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is open to peace talks but insisted he will not cede sovereignty to Moscow as delegations from both countries head to Turkey for a new round of discussions to begin on Tuesday.
Zelensky also told Russian media outlets that Ukraine was willing to discuss adopting a neutral geopolitical status but added that any deal made would need to be validated by a referendum only after Russian troops had left Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion on Feb. 24. In the nearly five weeks since the war broke out, thousands of people, many of them civilians, have lost their lives. Cities have been leveled, and millions have been displaced, with a ballooning humanitarian crisis that rivals World War II.
Both sides have met multiple times to discuss a way to end the war but so far have been unsuccessful. Putin has claimed the West is trying to "cancel" Russia and has justified the invasion by falsely claiming Ukraine is rife with Nazis and that it is his responsibility to purge the country of them.
Zelensky spent early Monday taking verbal shots at the West, slamming political leaders for lacking the courage to help Ukraine. Western countries, including the United States, have levied harsh sanctions against Russia, Putin, and several oligarchs in an effort to isolate Moscow. They have provided billions in financial aid to Ukraine as well as weapons and ammunition. They have sent troops to NATO countries bordering Ukraine but have declined to enforce a no-fly zone or engage in direct combat in an attempt to stave off a third world war. --->READ MORE HERE
Ukrainian forces claimed to have retaken a Kyiv suburb and an eastern town from the Russians in what is becoming a back-and-forth stalemate on the ground, while negotiators began assembling for another round of talks Tuesday aimed at stopping the fighting.
Ahead of the talks, to be held in Istanbul, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country is prepared to declare its neutrality, as Moscow has demanded, and is open to compromise on the fate of the Donbas, the contested region in the country’s east.
The mayor of Irpin, a northwestern Kyiv suburb that has been the scene of some of the heaviest fighting near the capital, said Monday that the city has been “liberated” from Russian troops.
Irpin gained wide attention after photos circulated of a mother and her two children who were killed by shelling as they tried to flee, their bodies lying on the pavement with luggage and a pet carrier nearby.
And a senior U.S. defense official said the U.S. believes the Ukrainians have retaken the town of Trostyanets, south of Sumy, in the east.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. intelligence assessments, said Russian forces largely remained in defensive positions near the capital, Kyiv, and were making little forward progress elsewhere in the country. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to +++++relevant+++++ and related stories:
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