According to Russian sources, the heavy fighting around Mariupol has ended, but Ukrainian troops and civilians are still there. The UN could now help with an evacuation.
At his meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin once again declared the fighting in the south-eastern Ukrainian port of Mariupol to be over.
“There are no hostilities there, they’re over,” Putin emphasized on Tuesday in the Kremlin at a long oval table at a great distance from Guterres. At the same time he called on the Ukrainian troops to release the civilians in the Mariupol steelworks.
According to the United Nations, Moscow believes that the UN could play a role in a possible evacuation of the plant. “The President agreed in principle to the participation of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross in the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol,” the UN said. The United Nations should remain in contact with the Russian Ministry of Defense on the subject. The conversation with Putin was also about improving humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
Guterres advocates humanitarian corridor
The Kremlin chief claimed that civilians in Mariupol were being used as human shields. If they were not released, the Ukrainian troops acted “like terrorists in many countries around the world”. During the conversation in the Kremlin, excerpts of which were shown on Russian state television, Guterres again advocated a humanitarian corridor at the steelworks. The Ukrainian government had spoken of ongoing fighting and accused Russian troops of sabotaging the corridors.
The UN chief proposed a group of representatives from the UN, the Red Cross and the Ukrainian and Russian military to take care of the safe functioning of the humanitarian corridors. Guterres had previously met with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for a discussion lasting several hours. He repeatedly criticized the Russian invasion of Ukraine and called for a ceasefire.
Putin also commented on the negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv to end hostilities in Ukraine. A “breakthrough” was initially achieved in Turkey. Then Ukraine changed its position – after the “provocation in Bucha”. Hundreds of bodies were found in the suburb of the capital Kyiv after Russian troops withdrew. Ukraine speaks of a massacre of civilians and accuses Russia of war crimes.
Russia maintains claims on Bucha
“The Russian army has nothing to do with it,” Putin said again. Russia knows who did it, by what means, and in what way. The former intelligence chief gave no details. Many eyewitnesses, journalists, coroners and Western politicians got an idea of the crimes in Bucha. Nevertheless, Russia claims to have nothing to do with it.
UN Secretary-General Guterres now wants to travel to Ukraine via Poland, where he will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday. Guterres has recently come under pressure to take a more active role in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Source: Stern
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