Russia announced the sending of negotiators to Belarus to talk with Ukraine, but the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, refused to talk in this country, considering it complicit in the Russian aggression suffered by his state.
The word negotiation takes shape on the fourth day since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began: while the Russian and Ukrainian delegations anticipated that negotiations would take place in the town of Gomel, in Belarus, Ukraine has reported that it will do so without conditions in the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, along the Pripyat River.
But on the other hand, Putin’s tone against Western countries has risen in volume: he has decided to put the Russian deterrent forces, his nuclear forces, in “special duty regime” after what he considers “aggressive declarations” of the main countries of NATO.
Bargaining in Gomel
Regarding the negotiation, Russian and Belarusian sources took it for granted in Gomel, near the Ukrainian border. For his part, the President of Ukraine, Volodomir Zelensky, said on the official Telegram channel: “We agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian without preconditions at the border between Ukraine and Belarus, near the Pripyat River.”
In the same communication, it is emphasized that the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko “has taken responsibility for ensuring that all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarusian territory remain on the ground during the trip, the talks and the return of the Ukrainian delegation” to Kyiv.
Before the Russian government had announced this Sunday the sending of negotiators to Belarus for a dialogue with Ukraine, but its president, Volodímir Zelensky, had rejected the proposal on the grounds that the Minsk regime is an accomplice of the Russian aggression suffered by his country.
The hypothesis of these contacts was already handled on Friday and both parties accused the other of not wanting to negotiate, when the fourth day of fighting takes place since the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, ordered the military operation against Ukraine.
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, had assured that the presidents of Belarus and Ukraine, Alexander Lukashenko and Volodymyr Zelensky, spoke by telephone and that after that, Lukashenko asked his Russian colleague, Vladimir Putin, not to withdraw the Russian delegation that I was waiting in Minsk.
“Lukashenko called Putin and asked him not to withdraw the Russian delegation because he received signals from the Ukrainian side, which expressed its readiness to travel to the Gomel region for talks,” Peskov said.
Zelensky had requested that these talks take place in “Warsaw, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku… we proposed all this to the Russian side, and in fact any other city in any country from which missiles are not launched at us is worth it.”
Putin hardens tone towards NATO and puts its nuclear missiles on alert
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered this Sunday to put the Russian deterrent forces in “special service regime” after “aggressive declarations” by the main NATO countries.
“The highest officials of the main NATO countries allow themselves aggressive statements against our country, that is why I order the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff to put the containment forces of the Russian Army in a special service regime,” said.
The Russian president gave these instructions in a meeting with the Russian Defense Minister, Sergey Shoigu, and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Valeri Gerasimov.
Putin stressed that the West is taking unfriendly steps towards Russia from the economic point of view.
“I am referring to the illegitimate sanctions well known to all,” he added, referring to the gale of Western sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin calls a “special military operation” of “demilitarization and denazification” of the neighboring country. .
Ukraine claims they control the situation while Russia advances
The spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashénkov, indicated today that “in the last 24 hours the Russian Armed Forces completely blocked the cities of Kherson and Beryánsk. They took control of the city of Genichevsk and the Chernobayevka airfield next to Kherson,” he added.
He added that as the military operation progresses, a massive desertion of the Ukrainian military is observed.
From Kiev, for their part, they assure that the Ukrainian forces maintain their positions and the fighting is taking place in “the same places as three days ago.”
“We control the situation in the regions of Ukraine,” said today the adviser to the Presidency of Ukraine Mikhail Podoliak, in a video released by the UNIAN agency.
Russia, he said, cannot take control of any Ukrainian city and he was wrong if he thought his soldiers would be greeted with flowers.
Ukrainian refugees
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today raised to 368,000 Ukrainian refugees who have left their country due to the Russian invasion that began on February 24, including the 150,000 it estimates have fled to neighboring Poland.
Another 43,000 crossed the border to Romania, and there have also been movements to Moldova, Slovakia and even Russia, according to the United Nations agency, which also estimates some 160,000 internally displaced by the war.
The United Nations Office for Human Rights calculates that the conflict has left at least 64 civilians dead and some 180 wounded and also denounces that the attacks have damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes.