Russia gives deadline for Ukraine officials to meet in Belarus
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Russia has given Ukrainian officials a deadline of 3 pm local time on Sunday to meet for talks in Belarus.
Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation and aide to President Vladimir Putin, told state news agency RIA Novosti they would stay until the allocated time and wait for a response.
“As soon as we receive this confirmation, we shall immediately set off to meet our counterparts in the negotiations,” Medinsky said. “We stand for peace.”
Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would be willing to hold talks with Russia but refused the talks to be in Belarus.
According to Ukrainian officials, Belarus is a key ally of Russia and supported it in the invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine said it had intercepted a cruise missile launched toward Kyiv from Belarusian territory.
In the same context, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed Sunday that “very soon the Russian leadership will feel what a high price they will have to pay” for the invasion of Ukraine, as he announced he will raise German military funding in a special session with lawmakers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “will not change his path overnight,” Scholz conceded.
The agency’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported “at least 240 civilian casualties, including at least 64 people killed” in the fighting that has erupted since Russia launched the attack.
The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian army of killing civilians and praised Ukrainians for having the courage to defend themselves.
In a statement on Sunday, Zelensky called for people around the world to join the fight against Russian, saying, “all citizens of the world, friends of Ukraine, peace and democracy, anyone who wants to join the defense of Ukraine, Europe and the world can come and fight side by side with the Ukrainians against the Russian war criminals.”
Earlier today, street fighting broke out in the center of Kharkiv as Russian troops entered Ukraine’s second largest city, Oleh Synehubov, the head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration said Sunday.
Reporting by Sara Youssef