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Without agreements and with controversial statements by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba ended in Turkey. Following international condemnation of the Russian attack on a children’s hospital in Mariupol, Lavrov assured that there were no women or children there. Kiev confirmed 17 injuries, most of them women in labor, and the death of three people, including a child.
Fifteen days after starting the war in Ukraine, the Russian attack does not stop and the high-level talks between the two countries do not prosper.
Without any agreement on the table, the first meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, concluded on March 10, which took place in Turkey with the intervention of that country’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu.
In a press conference after the meeting, Lavrov showed a defiant tone with which he denied the presence of women and children in the children’s hospital that his army attacked in Mariupol.
These are the main news of the day:
- 07:15 (BOG) Kamala Harris confirms shipment of Patriot missiles to Poland
The Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, arrived in Poland on Thursday, where she confirmed that her country has already sent Patriot missile systems to that country, a member of NATO, and the border with Ukraine.
Harris pointed out that it is a sign that his country is committed to enforcing article 5 of the alliance that promises a general intervention of allied troops in the event of an attack against any of the member countries.
Although Kiev is not part of NATO, the organization continues to send weapons to its military to support them in defense against the might of the Russian Army and insists that it prepares itself in case Moscow decides to extend its aggression to other European countries with Western troops. .
“Together we will do whatever is necessary to support Ukraine (…) We have witnessed atrocities of unimaginable proportions in Ukraine,” the leader stressed.
- 6.40 (BOG) France and Germany pressure Putin for a ceasefire
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron called for an immediate ceasefire during a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Macron and Scholz also assured Putin that any resolution to the war in Ukraine must come through direct negotiations with the Kiev government.
The three agreed to remain in close contact in the coming days, a German official added.
- 06:15 (BOG) Kyiv accuses Moscow of blocking new evacuation attempt
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych assured that Russia is deliberately blocking the evacuation of citizens from the city of Mariupolin the east of the country.
The official pointed out that the Kremlin troops have not allowed the civilians to leave because they have failed to seize the strategic port city on the shores of the Black Sea.
Hours earlier, the Ukrainian government announced the opening of seven humanitarian corridors, including one from Mariupol.
- 5:50 (BOG) Lavrov denies the presence of women and children in hospital attacked
Repeatedly questioned at a press conference about the attack by Russian troops on the Mariupol children’s hospital, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov assured that the bombing occurred after the Ukrainian forces took the place and there were no patients there.
The Russian foreign minister insisted that “there were only armed radicals” in the place and denounced an alleged “Russophobia throughout the West directed from the United States.”
Contrary to Moscow’s statements, footage from the hospital released by Ukrainian authorities showed dozens of civilians trying to flee the hospital after the airstrike. Kiev reported that 17 people were injured, most of them women in labor. And three more died, including a child.
“What kind of country is this, the Russian Federation, that is afraid of hospitals and maternity hospitals and destroys them? (…) pregnant women were going to shoot at Rostov? Did someone at the maternity hospital abuse Russian speakers? What was that? Was it the denazification of the hospital?” questioned the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.
- 5:35 (BOG) Kuleba: Russia will not get Ukraine to surrender
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that it seemed that Russia would continue its assault and seek a surrender of Kiev that it will not obtain.
Kuleba said his impression from the meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was that Moscow is not in a position at the moment to establish a ceasefire after invading Ukraine.
Lavrov has a different impression of what foreign ministers do in a crisis, he added.
- 5:15 (BOG) Ukraine says no progress on ceasefire
Dmytro Kuleba asserted that no progress was made towards a ceasefire during Thursday’s talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, the first high-level talks between the two since Moscow invaded their neighboring country.
From the south of Turkey, Kuleba indicated that the most difficult situation is in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol and that Lavrov did not commit himself to the formation of a humanitarian corridor there, to evacuate thousands of civilians.
However, Kuleba demanded that Russian troops especially leave the territories with nuclear and gas facilities in Ukraine.
With Reuters and AP