New Delhi: Vladmir Putin has agreed to send a delegation to Belarus’ capital Minsk to hold talks with Ukranian authorities as Russian forces escalate towards Kyiv on the second day of Russian invasion in Ukraine.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson said that the Russian president was 'ready' to send a high-level delegation "for talks with a Ukrainian delegation" to Minsk, the host city for previous peace talks and agreements, reports news agency AFP.
This comes after Ukraine on Friday said that it wanted peace and is ready to talk with Russia including on neutral status regarding NATO, following Moscow’s offer to open a communication channel with Ukraine on a condition that the Ukrainian Army “lays down weapons.”
"If talks are possible, they should be held. If in Moscow they say they want to hold talks, including on neutral status, we are not afraid of this," Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters on Friday, reported Reuters.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had said that Moscow would be ready for negotiation with Ukraine, if the Ukrainian military lays down its army.
The Russian Foreign Minister, however, insisted that Russian forces’ invasion in Ukraine was to liberate Ukraine from “oppression.”
Meanwhile, Russian military has claimed that it has taken control of a strategic airport just outside the Ukrainian capital and cut Kyiv off from the west.
Several reports stated that Russia pressed its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of the capital today after unleashing airstrikes on cities and military bases and sending in troops and tanks from three sides.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded for international help to fend off an attack that could topple his democratically elected government pleaded for international help to fend off an attack that could topple his democratically elected government.
Zelenskyy even appealed to global leaders for even more severe sanctions than the ones imposed by Western allies and for defense assistance.
Zelenskyy also informed that 137 heroes, including 10 military officers, had been killed, and one of his advisers said about 400 Russian forces had died. Moscow, however, has given no casualty count so far.