Dhe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj does not yet see any concrete results of the talks with Russia. “Yes, there is a negotiation process that is ongoing. But so far it’s just words. Nothing concrete,” he said in a video message published on Thursday night. Russia is not withdrawing voluntarily from the areas around Kyiv and Chernihiv, but is being ousted there by the Ukrainian army. At the same time, Kyiv is noticing a deployment of Russian troops for new attacks in the Donbass, Zelensky said. “And we’re preparing for that.”
The Ukrainian leadership does not trust nice words. The situation on the battlefield shows how it really is. “And that’s the most important thing at the moment. We won’t give up anything. And we will fight for every meter of our land, for every one of our people.”
After the negotiations in Istanbul, Russian negotiators declared on Tuesday that the government in Moscow would “radically” scale back its attacks on Kyiv and Chernihiv in the north. However, the shelling continued throughout the night.
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Negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are to continue online on Friday, according to Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamiya. For a personal talk between the two presidents, as the Ukrainian side again suggested in the most recent negotiations, Russia makes a coordinated draft contract a condition, according to Arakhamiya.
The negotiator also praised Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who was involved in recent talks. This plays a positive role, said Arachamija according to Ukrainian media reports. Abramovich offers an “unofficial channel of communication” that helps to discuss in normal and not in diplomatic language. The oligarch strives for neutrality, said Arachamija. “Although we don’t perceive him as a neutral party. But we can say that he is certainly more neutral than the official side of the negotiations.”
Zelenskyj asks for tanks and planes
In such a situation, the Ukrainian army does not need anyone to give it unsolicited advice from a chair, Zelensky said. “If anyone pretends to teach our armed forces how to fight, it is best that they go straight to the battlefield.”
Ukraine is fighting for freedom and protection of democracy and has the right to ask for help from partners – such as tanks, aircraft and artillery systems – at this difficult time, he stressed. “Freedom must not be worse armed than tyranny.” Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian nation was fighting for its survival. “In this, without exaggeration, patriotic war against Russia.”
The US government earlier said Russia had withdrawn a small portion of its troops from the Kyiv area within 24 hours – “probably about 20 percent of the troops,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. Some of these soldiers have been transferred to Belarus. According to the US government, President Putin does not get an honest description of the situation in the Ukraine war. Putin’s senior advisers are “too afraid to tell him the truth,” said White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield.
According to Ukrainian sources, a rocket filled with fuel in the city of Dnipro destroyed an oil depot. Debris also damaged two tankers, said the head of the regional council, Mykola Lukaschuk. There weren’t any victims. According to Ukrainian sources, a rocket hit a factory in Novomoskovsk, northeast of Dnipro. There were no deaths here either.
Pavlo Kyrylenko from the Donetsk Region Coordination Center accused Russia of using phosphorus shells. According to the Air Force in Kyiv, Russia fires missiles at targets in Ukraine even from the Caspian Sea. The information provided by the warring parties cannot be independently verified. For the city of Mariupol, which has been fought over for weeks, Russia offered a ceasefire for Thursday to give civilians the opportunity to flee.
Ceasefire for Mariupol?
For the city of Mariupol, which has been fought over for weeks, Russia offered a ceasefire for Thursday to give civilians the opportunity to flee. “Russia’s armed forces declare a cease-fire on March 31 from 10:00 a.m. (9:00 a.m. CEST) for humanitarian purposes only,” Major General Mikhail Mizintsev said, according to the Interfax agency. At the same time, he demanded that Ukraine, for its part, should declare a ceasefire by 5:00 a.m. German time.
The deadline passed on Thursday morning, initially without a public statement from the Ukrainian leadership. Baerbock appealed to Moscow to allow escape and help. “The attacks must be stopped immediately. Humanitarian international law must be observed,” said the Greens politician in Berlin.
Confusion about the gas
Will Russia continue to accept German and European gas payments in euros? Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to talk about this this Thursday with representatives of the energy giant Gazprom and the Russian central bank. Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had put the first of three crisis levels of the so-called gas emergency plan into force out of concern about possible restrictions. The background to this is Russia’s announcement that it will only deliver gas against payment in rubles. Germany and other Western countries insist on continuing to pay in euros and dollars.
After a phone call between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Putin, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said on Wednesday evening that Western payments could continue to go to Gazprom Bank in euros after April 1, as usual. The bank then converts the money into rubles. Scholz did not agree to this, but asked for written information.