Ukraine-Russia peace talks will end if Moscow ‘eliminates’ Mariupol fighters, says Zelenskyy

Russia has told Ukrainian soldiers in southern city to surrender as Ukraine president laments ‘inhuman’ situation there

A Russian military convoy moves on a highway in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces near Mariupol, Ukraine, Saturday, April 16, 2022. Pictures: AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov

Russia’s demand that Ukrainian forces in Mariupol surrender by 3am Irish time passed without immediate signs of a response, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that peace talks would be scrapped if the city’s remaining defenders were killed.

As air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine, including in the Kyiv region, early on Sunday, Russia said its troops had cleared most of the besieged city, with only a small contingent of Ukrainian fighters remaining in the giant Azovstal steelworks in the south-eastern port, as missiles hit Kyiv and other cities.