KYIV: The Russian and Ukrainian governments on Friday signalled an openness to negotiations even as authorities in Kyiv urged citizens to help defend the capital from advancing Russian forces in the worst European security crisis in decades.
Ukraine and Russia will consult in coming hours on a time and place for talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy`s spokesman Sergii Nykyforov said on social media, offering the first glimmer of hope for diplomacy since the invasion began.
The Kremlin said earlier it offered to meet in the Belarusian capital Minsk after Ukraine expressed a willingness to discuss declaring itself a neutral country, but that Ukraine had proposed Warsaw as the venue. That, according to Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov, resulted in a “pause” in contacts.
“Ukraine was and remains ready to talk about a ceasefire and peace,” Nykyforov said in a post on Facebook. “We agreed to the proposal of the President of the Russian Federation.”
But US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Russia`s offer was an attempt to conduct diplomacy “at the barrel of a gun”, and that President Vladimir Putin`s military must stop bombing Ukraine if it was serious about negotiations.
The diplomatic overtures stood in stark contrast to events unfolding on the ground and Putin`s harsh rhetoric against Ukrainian leaders, including a call for a coup by the country`s military.
Ukrainian President films himself on streets of Kyiv, vows to defend independence
Kyiv residents were told by the defence ministry to make petrol bombs to repel the invaders, and on Friday evening witnesses reported hearing artillery rounds and intense gunfire from the western part of the city. The sound of frequent artillery fire, apparently some distance from the city center, continued in the early hours of Saturday.
President Zelenskiy filmed himself with aides on the streets of the capital, vowing to defend Ukraine`s independence.
“Tonight they will mount an assault. We all understand what awaits us – we must endure this night,” Interfax Ukraine quoted Zelenskiy as saying. “The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now.”
Deep respect to President @ZelenskyyUa and the brave people of #Ukraine
The spirit of a free and democratic #Ukraine is strong. pic.twitter.com/vOIZA3FoYE
— Charles Michel (@eucopresident) February 25, 2022
After weeks of warnings from Western leaders, Putin unleashed a three-pronged invasion of Ukraine from the north, east and south on Thursday, in an attack that threatened to upend Europe`s post-Cold War order.
“I once again appeal to the military personnel of the armed forces of Ukraine: do not allow neo-Nazis and (Ukrainian radical nationalists) to use your children, wives and elders as human shields,” Putin said at a televised meeting with Russia`s Security Council on Friday. “Take power into your own hands.”
Putin has cited the need to “denazify” Ukraine`s leadership as one of his main reasons for invasion, accusing it of genocide against Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies dismiss the accusations as baseless propaganda.
Moscow said on Friday it had captured the Hostomel airfield northwest of the capital – a potential staging post for an assault on Kyiv that has been fought over since Russian paratroopers landed there in the first hours of the war.
Ukraine said more than 1,000 Russian soldiers had been killed so far. Russia did not release casualty figures.
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