Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the port city of Mariupol “doesn’t exist anymore” after weeks under Russian siege.
The remaining Ukrainian military forces and citizens in the city have been “encircled by Russian forces,” Kuleba said in an interview with Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan that aired Sunday on CBS.
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“The situation in Mariupol is both dire militarily and heartbreaking. The city doesn’t exist anymore,” Kuleba said. “It seems from the way the Russian army behaves in Mariupol, they decided to raze the city to the ground at any cost.”
More than 10,000 residents have died in Mariupol during the fighting, the mayor recently said.
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Kuleba responded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying the elimination of all Ukrainian forces from Mariupol would mean an end to all negotiations with Russia, noting that “Mariupol may be a red line.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says “the city doesn’t exist anymore”, on the key port city of Mariupol after Russian siege pic.twitter.com/bUslxezT54
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 17, 2022
The Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams still have contact despite “no high-level talks” taking place as fighting has intensified, the foreign minister said.
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As some Ukrainian intelligence indicates Russia wants to proclaim some sort of victory by May 9, Kuleba suggested the situation in the country will deteriorate further in the intervening weeks.
“Intensification of heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine, in Donbas, large-scale offensive of Russia in that part of Ukraine. And also desperate attempts of the Russian forces, as I said, and, to finish with Mariupol at any cost. These are my expectations,” Kuleba said.
