Russia and Ukraine have held several peace talks so far, in light of the ongoing tensions between the two countries. Ahead of another such round of talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday warned that if "negotiations" with Russian President Vladimir Putin fail then "that would mean that this is a third World War."
"I'm ready for negotiations with him. I was ready for the last two years. And I think that without negotiations we cannot end this war," reported CNN.
"I think that we have to use any format, any chance in order to have a possibility of negotiating, the possibility of talking to Putin. But if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a third World War," Zelensky added.
Soon after his statement, the Russian defense ministry demanded that Ukraine should surrender the besieged city of Mariupol. In response, Ukraine clearly said 'No'. Russia had offered to create humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of people from Mariupol if Ukraine accepted its demand.
Russia's defense ministry has consistently leveled charges of serious human rights violations on the Azov battalion of the Ukrainian armed forces. The Azov battalion has been alleged to consist of "neo-Nazi" Ukrainian nationalist elements.
"There is a terrible humanitarian catastrophe in Mariupol as a result of the lawlessness brought about by Ukrainian nationalists. Desperate and mindless bandits, realizing the impossibility of receiving any assistance from Kyiv, terrorize those neighborhoods of the city that are still under their control," the head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, Mikhail Mizintsev, said on Sunday.
He added that the Ukrainian nationalists in the besieged city are killing between 80 and 235 civilians that try to flee each day, Sputnik News Agency reported.
(With ANI Inputs)
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