Russia and Ukraine fail to reach ceasefire agreement, offensive continues

The heads of Russian and Ukrainian diplomacy failed to reach an agreement for a ceasefire in Turkey on Thursday, in their first face-to-face after two weeks of invasion and hours after the bombing of a pediatric hospital in the city of Mariupol, which caused three deaths and global revulsion.
“We wanted to get a 24-hour ceasefire. (Russian Foreign Minister Sergey) Lavrov said Moscow wanted to talk about humanitarian corridors,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said after the meeting in Antalya, southern Turkey.
The Ukrainian official said that Russia intends to “continue its aggression until Ukraine capitulates.”

“I heard today that the ceasefire is linked, on the part of Russia, to respect for the demands expressed by President (Vladimir) Putin to Ukraine,” he added. “But Ukraine has not surrendered, it does not surrender and will not surrender,” he told reporters.
Russia “did not attack Ukraine”
Despite not relenting in their positions, both officials said they wanted to continue negotiating and making efforts after this first meeting since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
Lavrov said his country was willing to continue talks in the same format as the first three meetings in Belarus and that a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was ruled out for now.

Responding to reporters after the meeting, Lavrov also said that “Russia does not plan to attack other countries and did not attack Ukraine” but responded to “direct threats” against its security.
Read: Russia and Ukraine: the images that reveal the destruction left by war
The minister also criticized the “dangerous” arms deliveries from Western countries to Kiev.
“Those who stuff Ukraine with weapons have to understand, of course, that they will bear responsibility for their actions,” he said.
So far, talks between Kiev and Moscow have led to local truces and the establishment of humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians. But Russia has been accused of not having respected these agreements.
Lavrov said Thursday that the “Russian initiative for the daily opening of humanitarian corridors remains in force.”
Russia maintains the siege of large Ukrainian cities and continues to bomb various regions. Hundreds of civilians have been protecting themselves from shelling in basements and makeshift shelters for days. At some points, the humanitarian situation is critical, according to witnesses.
Turkey’s encounter came a day after the bombing of a children’s hospital in Mariupol, in the southeast of the country, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov that is besieged by Russia.
At least three people, including a girl, were killed in the attack, according to the latest tally from municipal authorities released on Thursday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who called the bombing a “war crime,” posted videos showing the destruction of the site.
Surrounding Kiev
The images provoked worldwide revulsion. The White House denounced a “savage” use of force and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the attack “immoral.”
On Thursday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez accused Russia of likely committing “war crimes” for attacking “civil society in an indiscriminate manner.”
On Thursday, the Kremlin said it would ask the army for information about the attack, but Lavrov in Turkey said it was a base for a nationalist battalion.
“All the women who were going to give birth, all the nurses and all the support staff had been expelled,” Lavrov said.
More than 1,200 people have been killed in Mariupol since the Russian military siege began nine days ago, according to municipal figures.
On Wednesday, in its latest official tally, the UN estimated that 516 civilians have been killed and 800 injured in Ukraine since the start of the invasion, which also led to the forced departure of more than two million people from the country.
On Wednesday, at least 35,000 civilians were evacuated from Sumy, Enerhodar and areas near Kiev, according to figures reported by Zelensky.
Read: Russia and Ukraine: what is the “Russkiy Mir” that Putin wants to unify
In the last hours and according to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russian forces continue to advance to “encircle Kiev”, attacking also on other fronts, such as the cities of Izium, Petrovske, Sumy, Ojtyrka and the Donetsk region.
Northeast of the capital, significant plumes of smoke rose Thursday morning, according to AFP journalists.
“Assistance and more sanctions”
Since the beginning of the invasion, the United States and its NATO partners support Kiev but avoid getting directly involved in the conflict. On Wednesday, Washington definitively rejected the offer. from Poland to deliver fighter jets to Ukrainian troops.
However, the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a new federal budget that includes nearly $14 billion for Ukraine.
This is humanitarian aid, but also arms and ammunition for Kiev, it must now be voted on in the Senate before being signed into law by President Joe Biden.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also approved $1.4 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry accused the United States of having funded a biological weapons program in Ukraine and said it had found evidence in Ukrainian laboratories.
“The goal of these Pentagon-funded biological investigations in Ukraine was to create a secret spread mechanism of deadly pathogens,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
In Russia, Western sanctions are beginning to weigh on the population. The last foreign companies to leave the country were Japanese video game giants Sony and Nintendo.
Read: 6 key points to understand where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is and its consequences
On Thursday, the British government announced new sanctions against Russia, which will affect seven oligarchs, including Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea FC, which it recently put up for sale.
These punitive measures involve a freeze on assets, a ban on transactions with British individuals and companies and a travel ban.
And on Thursday, European Union (EU) leaders will meet in Versailles, France, to discuss the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, from the point of view of security and energy.
 
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Original source in Spanish