FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Ukraine’s leadership has rejected negotiations – Kremlin

Ukraine’s leadership has rejected negotiations – Kremlin

The Kremlin said Saturday that Kyiv has refused to hold talks with Moscow, causing Russian forces to resume operations in Ukraine.

"The Ukrainian side has refused to negotiate. This afternoon Russian forces have resumed their advance in accordance with the plan of the operation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered a halt to military operations in light of the expected negotiations that were previously planned with Ukraine, local media reported citing Peskov.

Putin on Thursday authorized "a special military operation" in Donbass, and Ukraine confirmed that military targets across the country were under attack.

Also on Saturday, Oleksiy Arestovich, advisor to the head of Ukraine's presidential office, said Kiev refused to negotiate with Russia because the conditions Russia proposed are "unacceptable" for the country, calling those conditions as "an attempt to force us to surrender."

The Russian Armed Forces have struck Ukrainian military objects with air- and sea-based cruise missiles, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Saturday.

"In total, the Russian Armed Forces hit 821 military infrastructure objects of Ukraine. Among them: 14 military airfields, 19 control points, and communication centers, 24 S-300 and Osa anti-aircraft missile systems, 48 radar stations," Konashenkov said, according to a statement published by the ministry.

"I would like to emphasize once again that only military facilities are subject to attack, no damage is caused to residential and social infrastructure," he added.

Konashenkov also said that the Russian Armed Forces have established full control over the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol, which the Russian Defense Ministry said earlier in the day that the Russian military had entered without meeting resistance.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday in a video message that Ukraine has successfully beat off "enemy attacks," but battles are ongoing across the country.

He refuted reports that the country's army will disarm and evacuate, noting that he did not leave Kyiv, which was under heavy shelling overnight.

He said on Twitter that "partners" are sending weapons to help Kyiv, adding that he had spoken by phone with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron.

Zelensky also called on the European Union to grant Ukraine membership into the bloc.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Facebook that Ukraine shot down a Russian transport plane IL-76 near Vasylkiv town in Kyiv.

According to a report by the government-run Ukrinform news agency, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Saturday that a missile hit an apartment building on the southwestern outskirts of the city, but no casualties were immediately reported.

Klitschko said at least 35 Kyiv residents, including two children, were injured in clashes with Russian forces or shelling.

RELATED
nationthailand