Ukraine and Russia will today hold their first round of peace talks in more than two weeks as Kyiv pushes to secure a ceasefire.
The face-to-face talks in Turkey come as Amnesty International on Monday night accused the Kremlin of committing war crimes in Mariupol, where Ukrainian officials said an estimates 5,000 people have been killed in the brutal Russian siege.
“The minimum programme will be humanitarian questions, and the maximum programme is reaching an agreement on a ceasefire,” Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said on national television, which showed the delegation arriving in Istanbul on Monday night.
“We are not trading people, land or sovereignty.”
A senior US official told Reuters on Monday that Vladimir Putin does not appear ready to make compromises to end the war.
Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, said on Monday that Ukraine must not be sold out in peace talks.
Follow the latest updates below.
01:50 AM
Zelensky urges urgent sanctions
Volodymyr Zelensky has urged Western nations to toughen sanctions quickly against Russia, including an oil embargo, to stop Moscow having a free hand to escalate its measures against his country.
In his nightly video address to Ukrainians, a clearly irritated Mr Zelensky said the West had miscalculated last year in delaying sanctions and the invasion had followed.
“A full-scale war has begun. Now there are many hints and warnings that supposedly tougher sanctions, such as an embargo on Russian oil supplies to Europe, will be put in place if Russia uses chemical weapons,” Ukraine’s president said, occasionally banging his hands on a table.
“There are simply no words… We, people who are alive, have to wait. Doesn’t everything the Russia military has done to date warrant an oil embargo? Don’t phosphorous bombs warrant it? A shelled chemical production facility or a shelled nuclear power plant doesn’t warrant it?”
01:48 AM
Today’s top stories
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Joe Biden said he made “no apologies” for calling for Vladimir Putin’s removal, but claimed he was expressing his “personal feelings” not a new US policy as he defended his off-the-cuff remark
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Roman Abramovich was the suspected victim of poisoning while trying to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine earlier this month, it was claimed on Monday night
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Ukraine has released a list of what it claims are the identities of more than 600 Russian spies, including one who appears to fancy himself as James Bond, in a bid to embarrass Moscow
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Russian fighter pilots are unable to handle the high-risk tactics of their Ukrainian counterparts, according to the Kyiv pilots battling them in the skies
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Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, said on Monday that Ukraine must not be sold out in peace talks with Russia, which were restarting in Turkey this week, as Mr Zelensky criticised France and Germany for being too soft on Putin
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Mr Zelensky accused Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, of “mistakes” in his dealings with Moscow and said Emmanuel Macron, the French president, had refused to send him tanks because he was “afraid of Russia”
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Ukrainian forces succeeded in retaking control of the town of Irpin, the local mayor announced on Monday
