Beter HBO

Negotiation Process With Russia "Very Difficult": Ukraine

-Negotiation Process With Russia "Very Difficult": Ukraine

"The Ukrainian delegation has taken a strong position and does not relinquish its demands. We insist, first of all, on a ceasefire, security guarantees, and territorial integrity of Ukraine," Foreign minister said

Kyiv, Ukraine: Ukraine said Friday that talks with Moscow were "very difficult" and vowed not to back down on its demands, more than a month into Russia's invasion.

"The negotiation process is very difficult," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

He also said there had been "no consensus" on key points with Russia.

"In particular, the Ukrainian language is and will be the only one state language in Ukraine."

He was speaking after Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Kyiv and Moscow appeared to have reached agreement on four key negotiating points, including the language issue.
While Kuleba said this was not true, he said Ukraine "is sincerely grateful" to Turkey "for their political and humanitarian assistance, as well as diplomatic efforts aimed at ending Russia's war against Ukraine".

Moscow has for years alleged that Russian speakers in Ukraine are discriminated against, and has stated this as a key reason for sending troops to the country.

-Russia Hits Ukraine Fuel Storage Site Outside Kyiv

Ukraine confirmed the strike, saying it had hit around 8 pm (0600 GMT) in the village some 40 kilometres south-west of Kyiv.

Brussels, Belgium: A huge plume of black smoke rose from a fuel storage facility in the village of Kalynivka outside Kyiv on Friday, AFP reporters saw, as Russia said it had destroyed the military site with Kalibr cruise missiles.

"On the evening of March 24, Kalibr high-precision sea-based cruise missiles attacked a fuel base in the village of Kalynivka near Kyiv," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.

Moscow claimed it was the largest remaining military fuel storage facility in Ukraine, saying it supplied troops in the central part of the pro-Western country.

Ukraine confirmed the strike, saying it had hit around 8 pm (0600 GMT) in the village some 40 kilometres south-west of Kyiv.

Kyiv's emergencies ministry said there was no threat of the fire spreading outside the oil depot.

AFP saw fireballs leaping into the air from the facility, with a smaller fire blazing from a severed fuel line.

"We saw the explosion, it was very big," a security guard at the facility said at a checkpoint near the depot, asking not to be identified.
"Fortunately, there were no casualties," he said.

Moscow's announcement of the strike came on the 29th day of what Moscow has termed a "special military operation" in Ukraine, with thousands killed and more than 10 million displaced.

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops have destroyed more than 260 drones, over 1,580 tanks and other armoured vehicles and 204 anti-aircraft weapons systems, Moscow said.

While Ukrainian forces have stalled the initial Russian advance and even launched some successful counterattacks, there are early signs that both sides are digging in for a long and bloody war that neither can easily win.

-US Cancels Talks With Taliban Over U-Turn On Girls' Education: State Department

The United States abruptly cancelled meetings with the Taliban in Doha that were set to address key economic issues, officials said on Friday, after Afghanistan's Islamist rulers reversed a decision to allow all girls to return to high school classes.
Kabul/Washington: The United States abruptly cancelled meetings with the Taliban in Doha that were set to address key economic issues, officials said on Friday, after Afghanistan's Islamist rulers reversed a decision to allow all girls to return to high school classes.
The cancellation of talks was the first concrete sign that the Taliban's recent moves on human rights and inclusivity could directly impact the international community's willingness to help the group, some of whose leaders are under U.S. sanctions.

"Their decision was a deeply disappointing and inexplicable reversal of commitments to the Afghan people, first and foremost, and also to the international community," a U.S. State Department spokesperson told Reuters.

"We have cancelled some of our engagements, including planned meetings in Doha, and made clear that we see this decision as a potential turning point in our engagement."

Three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that the series of meeting between U.S. and Taliban administration officials were set to take place on the sidelines of a summit in Qatar's capital on Saturday and Sunday.

Some of the meetings were to have included United Nations and World Bank representatives, the sources added.

An Afghan foreign ministry spokesman confirmed that a Taliban delegation, including the acting foreign minister, had been expecting to go to Doha.

The talks were designed to cover issues including the independence of the Afghan central bank and the printing of Afghani currency bank notes.

Also up for discussion were a humanitarian exchange facility to free up cash and hundreds of millions of dollars of funding currently held in a World Bank Trust Fund that is earmarked for Afghanistan's education sector, according to the three sources.

They declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak with the media.

"The Qatari jet that was meant to collect Muttaqi's delegation in Kabul has not turned up," said a diplomatic source, referring to Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

Qatar's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move shows the headwinds the Taliban administration faces in accessing foreign aid and freeing up the banking sector, which faces hard currency shortages that have fuelled inflation and worsened the economic crisis.

The Taliban have also been unable to access billions of dollars in foreign reserves held overseas as governments including the United States refuse to fully recognise them.

Washington and its allies have insisted that the group, which banned girls from school and most women from work the last time it ruled, improves its human rights record.

The Taliban, who fought an insurgency that toppled the Western-backed government last August, have also been accused of suppressing free speech, violently breaking up protests and exacting deadly revenge on their former foes.

The group says it will honour everyone's rights within its interpretation of Islamic law and has vowed to investigate specific allegations of abuse.

The Taliban on Wednesday backtracked on their previous commitment to open high schools to girls, saying that they would remain closed until a plan was drawn up for them to reopen.

The U-turn shocked many, leaving students in tears and sparking small protests from girls in Kabul. It also drew condemnation from humanitarian agencies and foreign governments.

"They are definitely shooting themselves in the foot," said Graeme Smith, a senior consultant at International Crisis Group, of the decision on girls' education.
A major donor summit for humanitarian aid is set to take place this month, co-hosted by Britain, in an effort to help raise $4.4 billion in funding the United Nations says it needs to meet urgent needs in the country.

-Russian Army Says 1,351 Soldiers Killed In Ukraine

A senior defence ministry official, Mikhail Mizintsev, said 419,736 civilians had been evacuated to Russia from the separatist eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions
Moscow: The Russian army on Friday updated its losses in Ukraine to 1,351 soldiers, while saying that it had evacuated more than 400,000 civilians and condemning Western supplies of weapons to Kyiv.
At a Moscow briefing, senior military officials gave the first update on Russian deaths in weeks, adding that 3,825 soldiers had been wounded.

A senior defence ministry official, Mikhail Mizintsev, said 419,736 civilians had been evacuated to Russia from the separatist eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions, as well as the rest of Ukraine.

Of these, more than 88,000 were children, he added, while 9,000 were foreigners.

"Russia will continue to open and provide humanitarian corridors in all directions," Mizintsev said.

A senior representative of the General Staff, Sergei Rudskoi, said: "We consider a huge mistake the supplies of arms to Kyiv by Western countries.

"This prolongs the conflict, increases the number of victims and will not be able to influence the outcome of the operation," Rudskoi added.
"The real purpose of such supplies is not to support Ukraine, but to drag it into a prolonged military conflict," he said.

"Some members of NATO are suggesting closing the sky. Russia's armed forces will react according," he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called for NATO to impose a no-fly zone over his country.

Rudskoi said that Russia was carrying out an operation "on the whole territory of Ukraine".

He claimed that Ukraine had lost 14,000 troops while 16,000 were wounded.

Vind ik leuk

0 leden vinden dit leuk