Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is open to peace talks but insisted he will not cede sovereignty to Moscow as delegations from both countries head to Turkey for a new round of discussions to begin on Tuesday.
Zelensky also told Russian media outlets that Ukraine was willing to discuss adopting a neutral geopolitical status but added that any deal made would need to be validated by a referendum only after Russian troops had left Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion on Feb. 24. In the nearly five weeks since the war broke out, thousands of people, many of them civilians, have lost their lives. Cities have been leveled, and millions have been displaced, with a ballooning humanitarian crisis that rivals World War II.
Both sides have met multiple times to discuss a way to end the war but so far have been unsuccessful. Putin has claimed the West is trying to “cancel” Russia and has justified the invasion by falsely claiming Ukraine is rife with Nazis and that it is his responsibility to purge the country of them.
Zelensky spent early Monday taking verbal shots at the West, slamming political leaders for lacking the courage to help Ukraine. Western countries, including the United States, have levied harsh sanctions against Russia, Putin, and several oligarchs in an effort to isolate Moscow. They have provided billions in financial aid to Ukraine as well as weapons and ammunition. They have sent troops to NATO countries bordering Ukraine but have declined to enforce a no-fly zone or engage in direct combat in an attempt to stave off a third world war.
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Members of the G-7, a group made up of seven countries that dominate global trade, announced Monday they have rejected a demand by Putin to pay for Russian gas and oil in rubles, Robert Habeck, Germany’s economy minister and vice-chancellor, said.
“All of the Group of 7 ministers have fully and unanimously agreed that would be a clear violation of the contracts,” he said.
Ukrainian troops have regained control of the eastern town of Trostianets, a move that could mark a breakthrough for Kyiv’s counteroffensive.
Dmytro Zhyvytsky, the head of the Sumy regional military administration, announced both the recapture of Trostianets as well as the town of Boromlia via the messaging app Telegram.
If accurate, it would bring Ukrainian forces within 30 miles of the provincial capital of Sumy, which has been surrounded by Russian forces.
“Today, our Trostianets and Boromila were liberated by the armed forces together with local residents,” Zhyvytsky said. “We bow to the local defense forces and to all those who helped liberate the communities.”
The Ukrainian military also announced it had taken control of two towns close to Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
In Stoyanka, a village near Kyiv, Ukrainian soldier Serhiy Udod said Russian troops had taken up defensive positions and suffered heavy losses.
He said Russian forces probably “thought it would be like Crimea,” which Russia annexed in 2014, “but here it’s not like in Crimea. We are not happy to see them. Here they suffer and get killed.”
It was a much different scene in the besieged port city of Mariupol.
Mayor Vadym Boychenko accused the Russian military of committing war crimes in an interview with the UNIAN news agency.
“This is genocide,” he said. “There is no other way to call what is happening.”
Mariupol, located in eastern Ukraine, has been pummeled repeatedly by Russian forces. Residents still trapped there don’t have access to clean water, food, or electricity.
Boychenko also accused Moscow of wanting to “wipe the city off the face of the earth.”
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk meanwhile blamed Russia for “irresponsible” acts around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and warned their actions have put “hundreds of thousands of Europeans” at risk of radiation. She also called on the United Nations to establish a mission to take immediate measures to demilitarize the exclusion zone around the plant. Chernobyl is the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, both in cost and casualties.
Vereshchuk claimed Russia has been transporting large amounts of old and badly maintained weapons, creating a risk of damaging the containment vessel constructed around the station’s wrecked fourth reactor.
As the fighting continues, Ukraine announced it has banned reporting on troop and equipment movements not announced or approved by the military. Journalists who violate the law could face three to eight years in prison. The move was made after Ukrainian authorities criticized social media users for posting photos and videos of troop movements. One Kyiv resident was called out by the security services for posting images to TikTok that showed Ukrainian military vehicles near a shopping mall that was later destroyed by a Russian missile strike.
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Moscow has also clamped down on journalists.
Novaya Gazeta, the Russian newspaper known for its independent reporting, announced it would suspend publication until the end of the war. The news organization’s editor, Dmitri Muratov, won the Nobel Prize last year and said the decision was prompted by pressure from Russian authorities.
