Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Saturday for comprehensive peace talks with Moscow to stop its invasion of his homeland, warning it would otherwise take Russia “several generations” to recover from losses suffered in the war.
Since launching the assault on Feb. 24, Russian troops facing tough resistance have largely stalled in their advance, even as they encroach on the capital Kyiv. Looking to regain momentum, they have laid siege to cities and blasted urban areas to rubble.
Air raid sirens sounded early on Saturday in the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr regions, but there were no immediate reports of fresh attacks.
The governor of the eastern region of Luhansk, bordering Russia, said there would be a ceasefire on Saturday morning and a humanitarian corridor for evacuations will be opened.
“A ‘regime of silence’ has been agreed for March 19, starting at 9 a.m.” (0700 GMT), said Governor Serhiy Gaidai in a message on Telegram. Luhansk lies in Ukraine’s coal-rich Donbass region that has been partly controlled by Russia-backed separatists since 2014.
Gaidai, the head of the Ukrainian administration in Luhansk, has said 59 civilians have been killed in the region since the start of the war.
Unprecedented Western sanctions aimed at isolating Russia’s economy have done little to halt what President Vladimir Putin calls a “special operation” to reduce its neighbour’s military capabilities and “denazify” its government.
After Russia said it was “tightening the noose” around the key port of Mariupol, Ukraine’s defence ministry acknowledged on Friday it had “temporarily” lost access to the Azov Sea, which connects to the Black Sea and would be a major loss for Ukraine.
But Western officials say Russia has taken heavy losses with signs of flagging morale among its troops, a trend Zelenskiy alluded to in a video message in which he urged renewed negotiations to end the war.
“I want everyone to hear me now, especially in Moscow. The time has come for a meeting, it is time to talk,” he said early on Saturday. “The time has come to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise, Russia’s losses will be such that it will take you several generations to recover.”
Russia acknowledged on March 2 that nearly 500 of its soldiers had been killed but has given no update since. Ukraine says the number now amounts to many thousands. Reuters could not independently verify the death count.
Kyiv and Moscow reported some progress in talks this week towards a political formula that would guarantee Ukraine security protection outside of the NATO alliance.
But Ukraine said the need for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian troops remained, and each side accused the other of dragging out the talks.
Putin has vowed to continue the invasion until it succeeds, promising tens of thousands of people waving Russian flags at a soccer stadium in Moscow on Friday that Russia “will absolutely accomplish all of our plans.”
The United States has repeatedly warned that Russia may turn for assistance to China, the biggest power that has not condemned the assault.
In a video call on Friday, President Joe Biden told China’s President Xi Jinping there would be “consequences” if Beijing provides “material support” to Russia in Ukraine, the White House said. It said sanctioning Beijing was an option.
China and Russia deny Beijing is considering giving Moscow military aid. China says it wants to see an end to the conflict.
