Russia ready to send a delegation to Belarus for talks with Ukraine
A boy plays on a swing in front of a damaged residential block hit by an early morning missile strike on February 25, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Picture: Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images
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Russia is ready to negotiate with Ukraine following their invasion yesterday morning, a Russian spokesperson has said.
The Kremlin has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to send a high-level delegation to Minsk for talks, according to Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
Peskov told Russian news agencies Russia was willing to send a delegation including foreign and defence ministry officials.
It comes after Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said Ukraine wants peace and is ready for talks with Russia, including on neutral status regarding NATO.
"If talks are possible, they should be held. If in Moscow they say they want to hold talks, including on neutral status, we are not afraid of this," he said via a text message. "We can talk about that as well."
"Our readiness for dialogue is part of our persistent pursuit of peace."
Russia is ready to send a delegation to the Belarusian capital Minsk for talks with Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, a day after Moscow launched a massive invasion of its southern neighbour.
Ukraine has said it is willing to discuss declaring itself a neutral county. Peskov said demilitarisation would need to be an essential part of that.
Russia has pressed its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of the capital after unleashing airstrikes on cities and military bases and sending in troops and tanks from three sides in an attack that could rewrite the global post-Cold War security order.
Explosions sounded before dawn on Friday in Kyiv and gunfire was later heard near the government quarter as Western leaders scheduled an emergency meeting and Ukraine’s president pleaded for international help to fend off an attack that could topple his democratically elected government and cause massive casualties.
Kyiv “has entered into a defensive phase” its mayor Vitali Klitschko has said, as Russian forces closed in on Ukraine’s capital.
Speaking to journalists, he said: "The city has gone into a defensive phase. Shots and explosions are ringing out in some neighbourhoods saboteurs have already entered Kyiv. The enemy wants to put the capital on its knees and destroy us."
The Russian military said it had seized a Hostomel airport just outside Kyiv and cut the city off from the west, and the Ukrainian military said a group of Russian spies and saboteurs had been seen in a district of Kyiv about three miles north of the centre, while police told people not to exit a subway station in the city centre because there was gunfire in the area.
Elsewhere in the capital, soldiers established defensive positions at bridges, and armoured vehicles rolled down the streets, while many residents stood uneasily in doorways of their apartment buildings.
Earlier, the military said that Russian forces had seized two Ukrainian military vehicles and some were heading towards the city to try to infiltrate under the guise of being locals.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin says Russia is ready to send a delegation to Belarus for talks with Ukrainian officials after launching an invasion.
Ukraine wants peace and is ready for talks with Russia, including on neutral status regarding NATO, Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters on Friday.
"If talks are possible, they should be held. If in Moscow they say they want to hold talks, including on neutral status, we are not afraid of this," he said via a text message. "We can talk about that as well."
"Our readiness for dialogue is part of our persistent pursuit of peace."
The Kremlin says it will analyse the Ukrainian president’s offer to discuss a non-aligned status for his country, as a Russian military invasion pushes closer to Kyiv.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described it as “a move in a positive direction”.
He said in a conference call with reporters that “we paid attention to that, and now we need to analyse it”.
But Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Mr Zelensky “is simply lying” when he offers to discuss non-aligned status for Ukraine.
Mr Lavrov said at a briefing that Mr Zelensky “missed the opportunity” to discuss a neutral status for Ukraine when Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed it.
The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has announced the immediate lifting of visa requirements between Ukraine and Ireland.
In a statement, the Minister said that this will "streamline and support the swift exit of both the Ukrainian family members of Irish citizens and the family members of people from Ukraine who are resident in Ireland".
It will apply as an emergency measure to all Ukrainians travelling to Ireland, she added.
People who are considering leaving Ukraine and travelling to Ireland may for the coming period do so without a visa if they judge it safe to travel. Those who travel to Ireland without a visa during this period will then have 90 days after arrival to regularise their position.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded tougher sanctions and support fending off the Russian invasion as Kyiv was hit by air strikes.
Gunfire has been heard near the government quarter of the Ukrainian capital while explosions and gunfire have been heard in a northern district of Obolon, as invading Russian forces closed in.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said just before 4am on Friday that “horrific rocket strikes” had hit Kyiv in an attack he compared to the city’s 1941 shelling by Nazi Germany.
The Ukrainian military said a group of Russian spies and saboteurs had been seen in a district of Kyiv about three miles north of the centre, and police told people not to exit a subway station in the city centre because there was gunfire in the area.
Elsewhere in the capital, soldiers established defensive positions at bridges, and armoured vehicles rolled down the streets, while many residents stood uneasily in doorways of their apartment buildings.
And as air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv early Friday, guests of a hotel in the city centre were directed to a makeshift basement shelter, lined with piles of mattresses and bottles of water.
Kyiv mayor Vitaly Klitschko said at least three people were injured when a rocket hit a multi-storey apartment building in Ukraine’s capital on Friday, starting a fire.
Mr Zelensky said that the Russian military’s claim it is not targeting civilian areas is “a lie”.
He said that military and civilian areas in Ukraine are both being hit by Russian attacks.
Russian forces first arrived on the outskirts of Kyiv on Thursday when helicopter-borne troops assaulted an airfield just outside the city, close to Obolonsky, AFP reports.
As they arrived in Obolonsky, within the city, the Ministry of Defence’s Facebook page urged civilians to resist:
British prime minister Boris Johnson and Mr Zelensky spoke after Kyiv was hit by “horrific rocket strikes” and fighting reached the outskirts of the capital overnight.
President Zelensky said Ukraine demands “effective counteraction” from allies against Russia including further sanctions.
The Ukrainian leader tweeted: “Held talks with PM @BorisJohnson. Reported on the course of (Ukraine’s) defence and insidious attacks on Kyiv by the aggressor. Today (Ukraine) needs the support of partners more than ever.
“We demand effective counteraction to the Russian Federation. Sanctions must be further strengthened.”
Held talks with 🇬🇧 PM @BorisJohnson. Reported on the course of 🇺🇦’s defense and insidious attacks on Kyiv by the aggressor. Today 🇺🇦 needs the support of partners more than ever. We demand effective counteraction to the Russian Federation. Sanctions must be further strengthened.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 25, 2022
Mr Johnson committed to providing further support to Ukraine after receiving an update from president Zelensky on the “terrible developments” in Kyiv.
Ukrainian soldiers who died defending an island in the Black Sea from an air and sea bombardment reportedly told an officer on board a Russian navy warship to “go fuck yourself” when asked to surrender.
There were 13 border guards stationed on Snake Island, a roughly 16-hectare (40-acre) rocky island owned by Ukraine that sits about 186 miles (300km) west of Crimea, when Russian troops bombed the island on Thursday.
An approaching Russian navy vessel, in which a Russian officer told the Ukrainian forces on the island to “lay down your weapons”.
“This is a military warship. This is a Russian military warship. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and needless casualties. Otherwise, you will be bombed,” the Russian officer was recorded as saying on a naval radio channel.
After a short period of silence in the recording, a Ukrainian officer reportedly responded: “Russian warship, go fuck yourself.” All 13 soldiers died after refusing to surrender, Ukrainian officials announced.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed on Friday to stay in Kyiv as his troops battled Russian invaders advancing toward the capital in the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.
Russia launched its invasion by land, air and sea on Thursday following a declaration of war by President Vladimir Putin.
An estimated 100,000 people fled as explosions and gunfire rocked major cities. Dozens have been reported killed.
US and Ukrainian officials say Russia aims to capture Kyiv and topple the government, which Putin regards as a puppet of the United States.
Russian troops seized the Chernobyl former nuclear power plant north of Kyiv as they advanced along the shortest route to Kyiv from Belarus to the north.
"(The) enemy has marked me down as the number one target," Zelensky warned in a video message as heavy fighting was reported on multiple fronts.
"I will stay in the capital. My family is also in Ukraine."
Putin says Russia is carrying out "a special military operation" to stop the Ukrainian government from committing genocide against its own people - an accusation the West calls baseless.
He also says Ukraine is an illegitimate state whose lands historically belong to Russia.
Asked if he was worried about Zelenskiy's safety, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS: "To the best of my knowledge, President Zelensky remains in Ukraine at his post, and of course we're concerned for the safety of all of our friends in Ukraine - government officials and others."
A democratic nation of 44 million people, Ukraine voted for independence at the fall of the Soviet Union and has recently stepped up efforts to join the NATO military alliance and the European Union, aspirations that infuriate Moscow.
The United States, Britain, Japan, Canada, Australia and the EU unveiled more sanctions on Moscow on top of penalties earlier this week, including a move by Germany to halt an $11 billion gas pipeline from Russia.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described the bloc's measures as "the harshest package of sanctions we have ever implemented".
China came under pressure over its refusal to call Russia's assault an invasion.
US President Joe Biden, speaking to reporters at the White House, said: "Any nation that countenances Russia's naked aggression against Ukraine will be stained by association."
He declined to comment directly on China's position.
Russia is one of the world's biggest energy producers, and both it and Ukraine are among the top exporters of grain. War and sanctions will disrupt economies around the world.
Oil prices soared as much as $2 per barrel on Friday as markets brace for the impact of trade sanctions on major crude exporter Russia.
US wheat futures hit their highest in nearly 14 years, corn hovered near an eight-month peak and soybeans rebounded on fears of grain supply disruptions from the key Black Sea region.
Airlines were also facing disruptions, with Japan Airlines (9201.T) cancelling its Thursday evening flight to Moscow and Britain closing its airspace to Russian carriers.
Zelenskiy said 137 military personnel and civilians had been killed in the fighting, with hundreds wounded. Ukrainian officials had earlier reported at least 70 people killed.
Ukrainian forces downed an aircraft over Kyiv early on Friday, which then crashed into a residential building and set it on fire, said Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to the interior minister. It was unclear if the aircraft was manned.
A missile hit a Ukrainian border post in the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhya, killing and wounding some guards, the border guard service said.
The United States and other NATO members have sent military aid to Ukraine but there is no move to send troops for fear of sparking a wider European conflict.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba pleaded for "more weapons to continue fighting ... the amount of tanks, armoured vehicles, airplanes, helicopters that Russia threw on Ukraine is unimaginable".
Some 90 km (60 miles) north of Kyiv, Chernobyl was taken over by forces without identifying marks who disarmed a Ukrainian military unit guarding the station, Ukraine's state nuclear regulator said.
It said there had been no casualties, that nothing had been destroyed and that radiation levels were unchanged. It informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that it had lost control of the plant.
The UN Security Council will vote on Friday on a draft resolution that would condemn Russia's invasion and require Moscow's immediate withdrawal.
However, Moscow can veto the measure, and it was unclear how China would vote.
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