Mariupol truce bid fails again: Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his campaign in Ukraine is going according to plan and will not end until Kyiv stops fighting as efforts to evacuate the heavily bombarded city of Mariupol failed for a second day in a row.

He made the comments in a phone call with Turkish President Tayyep Erdogan, who appealed for a ceasefire in the conflict that the United Nations says has created the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

Russian media said Putin also held almost two hours of talks on Sunday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who has stayed in regular contact but – as with other international efforts – has yet to convince Russia to call off a campaign now in an 11th day.

Authorities in Mariupol had said on Sunday they would make a second attempt to allow some of the 400,000 residents to leave after the Ukrainian coastal city endured days of shelling that has trapped people in without heat, power and water.

But the ceasefire plan collapsed, as it had on Saturday, with each side blaming the other for the failure.

A convoy of evacuees was not able to leave Mariupol because Russian forces continued shelling despite a temporary ceasefire agreement, local authorities said.

“It is extremely dangerous to take people out under such conditions,” the city council said in an online statement.

According to pro-Russian separatists, about 300 people were initially able to leave Mariupol.

Putin told Erdogan he was ready for dialogue with Ukraine and foreign partners but any attempt to draw out negotiation would fail, a Kremlin statement said.

Turkey said Erdogan had called for a ceasefire to ease humanitarian concerns.

Ukraine renewed its appeal to the US and its allies to toughen sanctions beyond existing efforts that have hammered Russia’s economy.

It also requested more weapons, including a plea for Russian-made planes, to help it repel Russian forces.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said his government was “very, very actively” considering how it could backfill aircraft for Poland, if the eastern European country decided to supply its warplanes to Ukraine, speaking on a trip to neighbouring Moldova.

Russia calls the campaign it launched on February 24 a “special military operation,” saying it has no plans to occupy Ukraine.

“They’re destroying us,” Mariupol mayor Vadym Boychenko told Reuters in a video call, describing the plight of the city of 400,000.

“They will not even give us an opportunity to count the wounded and the killed because the shelling does not stop.”

Russia, which denies attacking civilian areas, has poured troops and equipment into Ukraine.

A huge Russian convoy on a road north of Kyiv has made limited visible progress in recent days, although Russia’s defence ministry released footage on Sunday showing some tracked military vehicles on the move.

In the capital, Ukrainian soldiers bolstered defences by digging trenches, blocking roads and liaising with civil defence units as Russian forces bombarded areas nearby.

“Positions are prepared, we’ve fitted them out and we are simply waiting to meet them here,” said a soldier in a video released by Ukraine’s armed forces.

“Victory will be ours.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia was also preparing to bombard another southern city, Odessa.

Ukrainians continued to spill into Poland, Romania, Slovakia and elsewhere.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said more than 1.5 million people had fled in the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

The agency has said the number could hit four million by July.

Sanctions have pushed many companies to exit investments in Russia while some Russian banks have been shut out of a global financial payment systems, driving down the rouble and forcing Russia to jack up interest rates.

Tightening the screws further, US payment companies Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc said they would suspend credit card operations in Russia.

Hundreds of people were detained in anti-war protests in 21 cities across Russia, according to an independent Russian-based protest monitor.

Mariupol truce bid fails again: Ukraine
Independent Information