The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky has agreed to start the peace talks with Russia, as per the statement released by his office on Sunday. After talking on the phone with the Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko, Volodymyr Zelensky’s office mentioned that he has agreed to send a delegation for the meeting on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border located near the Pripyat River.
These would be the first ones to take place ever since Russia has invaded Ukraine and would be held without any preconditions. The statement released by the President of Ukraine said that they had agreed for the delegation to meet near the borders with Belarus. The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin has also ordered nuclear deterrent forces of Russia to be put on high alert amid escalating tensions with the Western powers over his decision to invade Ukraine. President Putin had ordered the defence minister and his chief of the military’s General Staff to put the Russian nuclear forces in a special regime of combat duty. This order by Putin has increased the tensions with the West over the invasion by Russia could lead to the use of nuclear weapons as well.
The forces of Ukraine have been able to repel Russia from attempting to seize Kharkiv. This came after a fierce fight had been reported from the second-largest city of the nation. The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi also held a high-level meeting on the ongoing crisis in Ukraine on Sunday. India has also begun the evacuation of a large number of Indian nationals and students who have been stuck in Ukraine. Over 900 people have been brought back into the country since Saturday. Prime Minister Modi has also spoken with his Russian counterpart along with the Ukrainian President and has called for dialogue to defuse the ongoing crisis.
Meanwhile, the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro has declined to not condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stating that his nation would remain neutral as far as this situation was concerned. He has angered his Western allies by stating that he has in solidarity with Russia.
In another development, India has abstained from the procedural voting in the United Nations Security Council meeting to call for a rare and special emergency session of the General Assembly of the UN regarding the aggression shown by Russia against Ukraine. Although India has abstained from voting along with China and UAE, New Delhi has still welcomed Russia and Ukraine’s decision to hold diplomatic talks on the borders of Belarus.
As per the Interior Ministry of Ukraine, around 352 civilians have been killed during the invasion by Russia, including 14 children. According to the report, around 1600 people including about 100 children have also been wounded. There was no information provided on the casualties among the armed forces of Ukraine by the ministry. Russia has so far claimed that they were only targeting the military facilities of Ukraine and has stated that the civilian population of Ukraine was not at all in danger. There has been no information on the casualties among the Russian military troops as well with the Defence Ministry of Russia confirming that the soldiers have been killed and wounded without specifying the numbers.
