Kyiv. Despite Russia’s increasing bombardment of Kyiv and Mariupol, Ukraine said it sees room for agreement in talks with Russia. Meanwhile, some 20,000 people left the port city via a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol, Ukraine, surrounded by Russian forces. Till now such a large number of people had not migrated from there. Meanwhile, the number of people leaving the country crossed three million.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said early on Wednesday that Russia’s demands were becoming “relatively more genuine”, following video conference talks between delegations from Ukraine and Russia on Tuesday. The talks between the two sides are expected to take place again on Wednesday. “Efforts are still needed, there is a need to exercise restraint,” Zelensky said. Any war ends with an agreement.”
He thanked US President Joe Biden and “all friends of Ukraine” for the new $13.6 billion in aid. Zelensky is expected to address the US Parliament on Wednesday. He called again to provide more weapons, impose further sanctions on Russia to punish it, and “close the airspace over Ukraine to Russian missiles and aircraft”.
He said Russian forces were unable to penetrate further into Ukrainian territory on Tuesday, but heavy shelling continued on the cities. He said on Tuesday 28,893 civilians were able to evacuate through nine humanitarian corridors, but the Russians refused to allow aid to Mariupol. While there, Russian forces intensified the bombing of Kyiv and destroyed an apartment, a subway station and other civilian sites.
At the same time, in Kyiv, there were horrific explosions before dawn. Ukrainian officials called it an artillery attack. Russia’s attack on Kyiv appears to be becoming more systematic. On the diplomatic front, Mikhailo Podoliak, a top Ukrainian negotiator and adviser to the president, described the latest talks with Russia as “very difficult and difficult” and said there is a “fundamental contradiction” between the two sides. “There is definitely room for a compromise,” he added. Earlier, Zelensky’s senior official (deputy chief of staff) Ihor Zhovkva said on Tuesday that talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives had become “more constructive”. He said Russia has changed its tone and has stopped demanding Ukraine to surrender. Zhovkova said Ukrainian representatives had some hope of a solution after the talks.
A senior official said about 20,000 people managed to leave Mariupol in 4,000 private vehicles through the humanitarian corridor leading to the city of Zaporizhzhya. Meanwhile, the leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia arrived in Kyiv on an EU mission to show strong support for the war-torn country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday ahead of talks that Russia would insist on its demand that Ukraine abandon its attempt to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Providing a possible basis for a deal with Moscow, Zelensky told European leaders gathered in London that he believed NATO had no intention of acceding to Ukraine. “We’ve heard about NATO’s open doors for years,” Zelensky said, but we’ve also heard that “we can’t enter through these doors.” Meanwhile, the United Nations said that about 700 people had died in the ongoing war in Ukraine, but the actual number could be much higher.