Ukraine war: Peace talks set to resume as Kyiv recaptures villages
Ukrainian and Russian officials will resume peace talks in Turkey tomorrow, after Kyiv claimed that its forces have re-taken villages near two major cities under fierce attack.
David Arakhamiya, a member of the Ukrainian negotiating team, today said on a Facebook video that another round of in-person negotiations will happen between 28 and 30 March.
Volodymyr Zelensky said recently that Ukrainians would have to accept they will never join Nato, a key Russian demand, however he made clear that he would not sign away any of his country’s land in a peace deal with Moscow.
Russia’s faltering invasion has seen them unable to take major Ukrainian cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol or Odessa.
However, Putin’s troops have inflicted serious damage on these cities and their inhabitants as they bomb civilian buildings and block off supply routes.
The Ukrainian army today claimed that it had re-taken villages to the East of Kharkiv and to the North-West of Mariupol.
Ukrainian officials also claimed that Russian forces fired on a nuclear facility in Kharkiv.
British education secretary Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News today that “the Russian military has miscalculated” and is faring very poorly, but warned of further Russian atrocities.
“The important thing to remember is that there is evidence that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine, the targeting of civilian areas,” he said.
“The deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has been working with the international criminal court to make sure that that evidence is well documented, well collected, so those who commit war crimes know that there will be a day of reckoning.”
Zelensky pleaded with Nato countries over the weekend to provide Ukrainian forces with more arms to fight back the invading Russian forces.
“I’ve talked to the defenders of Mariupol today. I’m in constant contact with them. Their determination, heroism and firmness are astonishing,” Zelensky said
“‘If only those who have been thinking for 31 days on how to hand over dozens of jets and tanks had one per cent of their courage.
“We need more ammunition. We’ve already been waiting 31 days. What is Nato doing?”