Kyiv Says New Round of Talks with Moscow in Turkey Starting Monday

In the latest development, Ukraine said it will be starting a new round of diplomatic talks with Russia in Turkey starting Monday. Several rounds of talks have failed to yield concrete results even after four weeks of intense fighting.

Russia struck military targets in Lviv with cruise missiles, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday. Russia hit a fuel depot being used by Ukrainian forces near Lviv with long-range missiles and used cruise missiles to strike a plant in the city being used to repair anti-aircraft systems, radar stations and sights for tanks, the ministry said.

Secretary of state Antony Blinken on Sunday said the United States was not trying to topple Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite its harsh condemnations of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Blinken spoke a day after President Joe Biden said of Putin during a speech in Warsaw: ‘For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.’

The Kremlin had dismissed Biden’s comment, saying it was “not for Biden to decide”.

The Russian-backed self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine could hold a referendum soon on joining Russia, local separatist leader Leonid Pasechnik was cited as saying by a local news outlet on Sunday. In a response, however, Ukraine said Russia holding such a referendum in occupied Ukrainian territory would have no legal basis and would face a strong reactions from the international community, deepening its global isolation.

“All fake referendums in the temporarily occupied territories are null and void and will have no legal validity,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said in a statement to Reuters. “Instead, Russia will facе an even stronger response from the international community, further deepening its global isolation.”

Rockets struck the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Saturday, signalling a potential new front in Moscow’s invasion as Biden decried Russian President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power and sought to steel Europe for a long fight ahead.

Intense fighting raged in several parts of Ukraine, suggesting there will be no swift let-up in the month-old war while Biden framed the fight as part of the historic struggle for democratic freedoms in a major address from Poland as he concluded his European trip aimed at bolstering Western resolve.

Health officials say humanitarian aid for Ukraine dwindling: The amount of humanitarian aid arriving in Ukraine is beginning to wane, Ukrainian deputy health minister Oleksii Iaremenko said on Sunday. Speaking in a cargo warehouse near Warsaw’s Chopin airport during a delivery of medical equipment facilitated by charity Direct Relief, Iaremenko said he was grateful to the international community for the relief provided so far. The shipment bound for Ukraine included everything from metal beds to gauze to asthma inhalers and oxygen concentrators. But more support was desperately needed, Iaremenko added, calling on other organisations to send aid. “For the last week, what we see, that the level of humanitarian support is a little bit down. We hope that it will be some pause to find new resources and because Russian aggression are increasing and they are bombing civilians,” he told Reuters.

Biden’s message: In a message of solidarity with Ukrainians, Biden tweeted: “My message to the people of Ukraine: We stand with you. Period.” The message came after the American president visited Ukrainian refugees in Poland, where he also met Ukraine’s top officials in a first face-to-face chat regarding Russia’s invasion. Biden has attracted controversy for calling Putin a “butcher”, following which he also said the Russian president “cannot remain in power” in an impassioned speech to a crowd outside the Royal Castle in Polish capital Warsaw.

French envoy compares besieged Mariupol to Aleppo: France’s top diplomat is warning that the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol is becoming a second Aleppo, the Syrian commercial capital that in 2016 saw widespread Russian-backed destruction. Foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Sunday told the Doha Forum, a policy conference in Qatar, that Russia’s siege warfare against Ukrainian cities should induce collective guilt. “Civilian populations are slaughtered, annihilated, the suffering is horrible,” said a visibly angry Le Drian. Asked if he agreed with US President Joe Biden’s remark in Warsaw that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot remain in power, he said only that diplomacy with both sides remained a French priority.

New round of talks in Turkey: Kyiv said it will begin a new round of talks with Russia in Turkey starting Monday, as per a report by AFP.

US clarification to NATO: In the latest effort to clarify President Joe Biden’s statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”, the US envoy to NATO said on Sunday that the United States did not have a policy of regime change in Russia. Julianne Smith sought to contextualise Biden’s remarks in Poland on Saturday, saying they followed a day of speaking with Ukrainian refugees. Russia’s month-old invasion has driven a quarter of Ukraine’s population of 44 million from their homes. “In the moment, I think that was a principled human reaction to the stories that he had heard that day,” Smith told CNN’s “State of the Union” programme before adding: “The US does not have a policy of regime change in Russia. Full stop.”

UN says 1,119 civilians killed in Ukraine: 1,119 civilians had so far been killed and 1,790 wounded since Russia began its attack on Ukraine, according to the UN human rights office. Some 15 girls and 32 boys, as well as 52 children whose sex is as yet unknown, were among the dead, the UN said on Sunday. The number of deaths took place between February 24 and midnight of March 26. Most civilian casualties have been caused by explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes, the UN said.

Macron warns of ‘verbal escalation’ after Biden calls Putin ‘butcher’: French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Sunday against a verbal “escalation” over Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, after Biden branded Putin a “butcher” who “cannot remain in power”, according to a report by news agency AFP.

Ukraine says Russia wants to split nation: Russia wants to split Ukraine into two, as happened with North and South Korea, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief said on Sunday, vowing “total” guerrilla warfare to prevent a carve up of the country.

Russia says it hit Lviv with cruise missiles: The Russian defence ministry said it struck military targets in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv with high-precision cruise missiles. Russia hit a fuel depot being used by Ukrainian forces near Lviv with long-range missiles and used cruise missiles to strike a plant in the city being used to repair anti-aircraft systems, radar stations and sights for tanks, the ministry said, showing a video of the missile strikes. Officials in Lviv, just 60 km from the border with NATO-member Poland, said people had been wounded in the missile attacks.

Blinken says US not seeking regime change in Russia: Secretary of state Antony Blinken said the United States was not trying to topple Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite its harsh condemnations of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Blinken spoke a day after President Joe Biden said of Putin during a speech in Warsaw: ‘For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.’ At a news conference in Jerusalem, Blinken said Biden’s point was that Putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else. He said the US has repeatedly said it did not have a strategy of regime change in Russia, or anywhere else for that matter. “In this case, as in any case, it’s up to the people of the country in question. It’s up to the Russian people,” Blinken added.

Zelenskyy again asks West to give warplanes, missiles: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has again urged the West to provide Ukraine with warplanes and air defense missiles. Speaking in a video address early Sunday, Zelenskyy said his partners had all that, and it was just “collecting dust”. And, in fact, it was necessary not just for Ukraine’s freedom, but for the freedom of Europe, he added. Zelenskyy warned that the Baltic states, Poland and Slovakia, could eventually face a Russian attack just because they will have kept in their hangars just 1 per cent of all NATO warplanes and 1 per cent of all NATO tanks. He said the country’s partners must step up their aid to Ukraine.

IMF head says Ukraine war could stoke civil unrest in Middle East, beyond: The head of the International Monetary Fund is warning that the global economic strain caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine could stoke civil unrest in the Middle East and beyond. Speaking at the Doha Forum in Qatar on Sunday, Kristalina Georgieva said Russia’s invasion and the resulting sanctions on Moscow have forced the world’s poorest to bear the worst with inflation and employment issues.

Ukrainian rebel region may vote to join Russia: The Russian-backed self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine could hold a referendum soon on joining Russia, the republic’s news outlet cited local separatist leader Leonid Pasechnik as saying. Ukraine, meanwhile, said Russia holding a referendum in occupied Ukrainian territory would have no legal basis and would face a strong response from the international community, deepening its global isolation.

Russia’s Su-25 aircraft destroys Ukrainian army warehouses with ammo, weapons

Russia fails to seize any major Ukrainian city: After more than four weeks of fighting, Russia has failed to seize any major Ukrainian city and the conflict has killed thousands of people, sent nearly 3.8 million abroad and driven more than half of Ukraine’s children from their homes, according to the United Nations.

Moscow to scale back: Moscow signalled on Friday it was scaling back its military ambitions to focus on territory claimed by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday implored the West to speed up military aid.

Lviv hit by rockets, five hurt: Four rockets on Saturday hit the outskirts of Lviv, some 60 km (40 miles) from the border with Poland just before Biden delivered his remarks in Warsaw. The attack appeared to be the first time the western Ukrainian city was struck after so far escaping the heavy bombardment that has devastated other cities closer to Russia. Regional Governor Maksym Kozytskyy said five people had been wounded and residents were told to head to shelters after an initial strike hit mid-afternoon. Reuters witnesses saw black smoke rising from the northeast side of the city and Lviv’s mayor said an oil storage facility had been hit. Ukrainian officials later reported another strike significantly damaged Lviv’s infrastructure but that so far there were no reported deaths.

Chernobyl staff town seized by Russian troops: Russian forces also seized Slavutych, a town where workers at the nearby defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant live, and three people were killed, Interfax Ukraine news agency quoted the local mayor as saying. Ukrainian staff have continued to work at Chernobyl after the plant was seized by Russian forces, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has expressed alarm about the situation if workers are unable to rotate.

Russians fire at nuclear facility: Russian forces also fired at a nuclear research facility in the city of Kharkiv, the Ukrainian parliament said in a Twitter post on Saturday.

Mariupol situation critical: In the encircled southern city of Mariupol, Mayor Vadym Boichenko said the situation remained critical, with street fighting in the centre. Mariupol has been devastated by weeks of Russian fire.

(With agency inputs)

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