KHAKIV: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday offered conditions to end the invasion of Ukraine, as Moscow’s troops shelled the country’s second city and the West prepared more sanctions.
Putin’s ultimatum came as Moscow and Kyiv held their first talks since the outbreak of war last Thursday, which shocked the world and sparked a huge backlash in diplomacy, economy, culture and sport.
Shortly before the talks broke down, Putin agreed to hold a second round of talks “soon”, with Putin laying out prerequisites for ending the war in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“Putin stressed that this is possible only if Russia’s legitimate security interests are unconditionally taken into account, including the recognition of Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, the demilitarization and de-Nazification of the Ukrainian state, and its neutrality,” the Kremlin said. solve.”
Fighting continued during the talks, with a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city near the Russian border, killing at least 11 people.
Ukraine said more than 350 civilians, including 14 children, were killed during the invasion and more than half a million others fled the country.
Oleg Sinegubov, the governor of the region that includes Kharkiv, said the “Russian enemy is bombing residential areas of Kharkiv, where there is no critical infrastructure, where there are no positions of the armed forces”.
An AFP photographer in the city inspected damage caused by fighting on Sunday, finding a destroyed school, as well as several burned out Russian infantry vehicles.
Russian corpses in army fatigues could also be seen in the streets.
In Kyiv, many were preparing for a fresh assault with makeshift barricades dotting the streets.
The Russian army urged Ukrainians to leave Kyiv “freely” on one highway out ahead of what is an expected Russian offensive to capture the capital.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was “gravely concerned” by the advance of Russian forces towards Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, strongly warning against any military action that could threaten the Zaporozhye nuclear facility.
