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Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia is ready to send a delegation to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, for talks with Ukraine, Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti reported, which Ukraine said it is “considering.”
“As you know, today the President of Ukraine [Volodymyr] Zelensky announced his readiness to discuss the neutral status of Ukraine,” Peskov said, according to RIA.
“Initially, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the purpose of the operation was to help the LPR and the DPR [Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, separatist statelets in eastern Ukraine recently recognized by Russia as independent], including through the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. And this, in fact, is an integral component of neutral status.”
Putin has called for the “denazification” of Ukraine, language that has been roundly condemned internationally, especially considering that Zelensky is Jewish.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych told CNN on Friday that the Ukrainian government is “considering the proposal” to hold talks with the Russian delegation in Minsk.
In a separate video message issued soon afternoon on Friday, Zelensky called for direct talks with Putin.
This comes with Ukraine under significant pressure, as Russian forces appear to be closing in on Kyiv. They have entered the Obolon district in the north of the city, just a few miles from its centre, according to the Ukrainian defence ministry.
Zelensky has not directly proposed neutral status but has signalled a willingness to discuss it while insisting his country be provided security guarantees.
In a video message Thursday, Zelensky said, “Today we heard from Moscow what they want to talk. They want to talk about Ukraine’s neutral status. I asked all the partners of the state if they are with us. They are with us, but they are not ready to take us into an alliance with them.”
“We are not afraid to talk with Russia, we are not afraid to talk about everything, about security guarantees for our country. We are not afraid to talk about neutral status,” Zelensky added
Russia has strongly warned that it would have to respond if Sweden and Finland decides to join NATO.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova held a press conference on Friday and boldly reflected on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the intentions of Russia going forward.
“Finland and Sweden should not base their security damaging the security of other countries,” Ms Zakharova said.
“Clearly [the] accession of Finland and Sweden into NATO, which is first and foremost a military alliance, would have serious military-political repercussions that would demand a response from our country”
Russia’s comments came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that the country was receiving support from both nations.
“Discussed with [Finnish President Sauli Niinistö] countering the aggressor. Informed about our defense, insidious shelling of Kyiv,” Mr Zelensky tweeted on Friday.
“Grateful to [Finland] for allocating $50 million [in] aid. It’s an effective contribution to the anti-war coalition. We keep working. We need to increase sanctions and [Ukraine] defense support,” he added.
Later, Mr Zelensky tweeted “Sweden provides military, technical and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Grateful to [Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson] for her effective support. Building an anti-Putin coalition together.”
Both Finland and Sweden had condemned the invasion of Ukraine by Russia
Today I initiated a phone call with the president of the Russian Federation. The result was silence.
Though the silence should be in Donbas. That’s why I want to address today the people of Russia. I am addressing you not as a president, I am addressing you as a citizen of Ukraine.
More than 2,000km of the common border is dividing us. Along this border your troops are stationed, almost 200,000 soldiers, thousands of military vehicles.
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Your leaders approved them to make a step forward, to the territory of another country. And this step can be the beginning of a big war on the European continent.
We know for sure that we don’t need the war. Not a Cold War, not a hot war. Not a hybrid one. But if we’ll be attacked by the [enemy] troops, if they try to take our country away from us, our freedom, our lives, the lives of our children, we will defend ourselves. Not attack, but defend ourselves. And when you will be attacking us, you will see our faces, not our backs, but our faces.
The war is a big disaster, and this disaster has a high price. With every meaning of this word.
People lose money, reputation, quality of life, they lose freedom. But the main thing is that people lose their loved ones, they lose themselves.
They told you that Ukraine is posing a threat to Russia. It was not the case in the past, not in the present, it’s not going to be in the future. You are demanding security guarantees from NATO, but we also demand security guarantees. Security for Ukraine from you, from Russia and other guarantees of the Budapest memorandum.
But our main goal is peace in Ukraine and the safety of our people, Ukrainians. For that, we are ready to have talks with anybody, including you, in any format, on any platform.
The war will deprive [security] guarantees from everybody – nobody will have guarantees of security any more. Who will suffer the most from it? The people. Who doesn’t want it the most? The people! Who can stop it? The people. But are there those people among you? I am sure.
I know that they [the Russian state] won’t show my address on Russian TV, but Russian people have to see it.
They need to know the truth, and the truth is that it is time to stop now, before it is too late. And if the Russian leaders don’t want to sit with us behind the table for the sake of peace, maybe they will sit behind the table with you.
Do Russians want the war? I would like to know the answer. But the answer depends only on you, citizens of the Russian Federation
United States President Joe Biden has finally announced sanctions clearly targeting Russian assets in response to the expanded invasion of Ukraine on Thursday.
Biden also speaks on the role United State would played in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia
The announced sanctions include export blocks on technology, which the Biden administration said would severely limit Russia’s ability to advance its military and aerospace sector.
Mr Biden appeared in the East Room of the White House to deliver a national address on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.“Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences,” Mr Biden said.
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Mr Biden also applied sanctions on four Russian banks and “corrupt billionaires” and their families who are close to the Kremlin.
These banks hold over $1 trillion in assets, including the country’s largest bank. Mr Biden reiterated that U.S. troops would not engage in direct conflict in Ukraine, despites announcing a new deployment of ground and air forces to NATO’s eastern flank.
“Our forces are not and will not be engaged in the conflict,” he said.
“Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine but defend our NATO allies and reassure those allies in the east.”
The United States joins the United Kingdom in announcing measures targeting dozens of Russian banks, businesses and wealthy elites and banning Russia’s national airline Aeroflot from the country’s airspace.