Delegations from Russia and Ukraine began their first negotiations on Monday since the start of the invasion launched five days ago by Moscow’s troops, who continue their offensive despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request for an “immediate” ceasefire.
“Russia and Ukraine are holding the first talks,” said the Belarusian agency Beta about these talks, which are taking place in the Gomel region of Belarus, near the border with Ukraine, and which coincide with an increase in Kiev’s resistance to advance of Moscow troops.
The Russian invasion unleashed a cascade of sanctions by Western countries and their allies that include blockades of access to the financial system, but also a closure of airspace for Russian planes.
Many countries have offered weapons to Ukraine, but have insisted that they will not engage militarily.
Ukraine demands an “immediate” ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory and President Zelensky urged Moscow’s soldiers to “lay down their arms” and “save their lives”, in a message in Russian published on social networks.
Zelenski, with an agile media presence during the crisis, also asked the European Union (EU) to immediately admit his country to the bloc, but in Brussels “there are different opinions” on the matter, responded the president of the European Council, Charles Michel .
For his part, the Russian chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinski, affirmed that his country “seeks an agreement”, but the Kremlin said that it does not want to reveal its position before the negotiations.
Zelensky admitted to being skeptical about the talks.
“As always, I don’t really believe in the outcome of the meeting, but let them try,” he said.
No resounding victory
On the ground, the Ukrainians seem to be increasing their ability to resist the Russians, who have not yet managed to announce any resounding victory.
On Monday, Ukrainian authorities said the Russians repeatedly attempted an assault on the capital overnight, without success. Kiev was under a strict curfew over the weekend that was lifted at 0800 GMT on Monday.
In the city, long queues formed outside supermarkets, where the population showed exhaustion and embarrassment. In the streets brigades of volunteers with yellow and blue ribbons in the national colors erected makeshift barricades.
The Russian military claimed civilians could “freely” leave Kiev and accused the Ukrainian government of using them as “human shields.”
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Moscow “slowed down the pace of the offensive.”
The Ukrainian presidency said that the city of Berdyansk, on the Sea of Azov, is “occupied” and the Russian army said it has surrounded the town of Kherson, further west in the country.
Both cities are close to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 and from which it launched one of its several invasion forces.
The balance of the conflict remains uncertain, with Ukraine reporting 200 civilian and dozens of military deaths since Thursday, including 16 children.
For its part, the UN registered 102 civilian deaths, including 7 children and 304 wounded, but warned that real figures on the ground may be “considerably” higher.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that Russian actions are justified to defend pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. The rebels have faced the Ukrainian government for eight years, in a conflict that has claimed 14,000 lives.
Russia acknowledged for the first time on Sunday that the country suffered human losses in the conflict, but gave no figures, saying it still has “air supremacy” over Ukraine.
Both the talks and the conflict on the ground are marked by the threat launched on Sunday by Putin ordering the nuclear deterrence forces to be placed on high alert.
The United States called Putin’s order “totally unacceptable” and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called Moscow’s attitude “irresponsible.”
a mass exodus
Meanwhile, the exodus of refugees continued and according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, since Thursday about 500,000 people have fled to neighboring countries. The EU expects this conflict to leave seven million displaced.
Most of the refugees went to Poland, a neighboring country where there is a large community of Ukrainian immigrants, but they also arrived in Romania, Slovakia and Hungary.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is known for his tough stance against immigrants, relaxed restrictions against asylum seekers over the weekend and at the border Hungarians tried to comfort the displaced with food or offers of accommodation. .
At the Medyka border crossing in Poland, 25-year-old Katarzina Jasinska handed over a child’s coat to a Ukrainian. “They arrived without anything or with what they were wearing. They were fleeing and did not have time to take anything apart from what they had on,” she told this veterinary technician in tears.
Around the world, hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated over the weekend with Ukrainian flags to reject the Russian invasion, and on social media, many people showed their support for Kiev by placing the Ukrainian flag on their profiles.
The ruble collapses
The sanctions against Moscow caused a debacle in the Russian markets and the ruble depreciated sharply in opening operations, forcing the suspension of exchanges. To support the national economy, the Russian Central Bank raised the guideline rate by 9.5 points to 20%.
In addition, the European Central Bank revealed that the European branch of the Russian Sberbank faces possible bankruptcy.
On the political level, the Russian state media RT and Sputnik were banned and a response from the Kremlin is still awaited in the face of the escalation of sanctions.
A key consequence of the conflict is the impact on oil prices, with both Brent and WTI rising on fears of an energy crisis.
The UN General Assembly will hold an emergency session on Monday to discuss the conflict and the White House announced that US President Joe Biden will hold talks with allies at 4:15 p.m. GMT and partners to discuss the “events” in progress .
In Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council on Monday approved the holding of an urgent debate on Thursday, at the request of Kiev and supported by a broad coalition of countries.
Russia, which was opposed, moved to vote on the proposal. Finally, it was approved with 29 votes in favor, 5 against -including China and Cuba, as well as Russia- and 13 abstentions (the Council has 47 members).