The first round of talks between the Foreign Minister of Russia and Ukraine ended without any progress
The first round of talks between the Foreign Minister of Russia – Sergei Lavrov and Foreign Minister of Ukraine – Dmytro Kuleba in Turkey ended without any progress on ceasefire or humanitarian corridors.
Kuleba said that Russia is adamant on breaking Ukraine. He said that Russian demands amount to surrender. He made it clear that Ukraine would not surrender to Russia and would rather look for a balanced diplomatic solution.
Lavrov said that Russia would continue attacking Ukraine until its demands are met. Russia wants Ukraine to never join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), accept Crime as a part of Russia and recognise the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states. Lavrov also accused the West of helping Ukraine by supplying weapons to them.
Meanwhile, Ukraine criticised Russia for bombing a maternity hospital in Mariupol. There have been 4 casualties in the bombing.
Taking it to twitter, the President of Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted,
Mariupol. Direct strike of Russian troops at the maternity hospital. People, children are under the wreckage. Atrocity! How much longer will the world be an accomplice ignoring terror? Close the sky right now! Stop the killings! You have power but you seem to be losing humanity. pic.twitter.com/FoaNdbKH5k
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 9, 2022
The U.N. Secretary General – António Guterres described the attack as “horrific” and the US accused Russia of a “barbaric use of military force to go after innocent civilians.”
Local authorities Mariupol have accused Russian forces of bombing the green corridor, designated to evacuate Mariupol residents.
The Ukrainian Defence Ministry has said that they have defeated a regiment of Russian troops and eliminated its commander – Colonel A. Zakharov, in Brovary, which is Northeast of Kyiv. Separately, the President of France – Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor of Germany – Olaf Scholz once again demanded immediate ceasefire during a call with the President of Russia – Vladimir Putin.
The Governor of Ukraine’s Central Bank – Kyrylo Shevchenko has said that frozen Russian assets should be used to rebuild Ukraine after the war. He also called for more sanctions, suspending card payments and suspending Russia’s access to International Monetary Fund (IMF).
He said, “The need for money will be huge. It could be fulfilled through loans and grants from multinational organisations and direct help from other countries. However, a large share of financing is needed to be obtained as a reparation from the aggressor, including funds that are currently frozen in our allied countries.”
A total of U.S. $ 630 billion of foreign exchange reserves which are thought to be held outside the country, have been effectively frozen by sanctions in the United States (U.S.) and European Union (E.U.).c
