- Ukrainian President Zelenskyy tells media he is open to compromise on Ukrainian NATO membership
- Ukrainian forces say they’ve retaken strategic Kyiv suburb
- Joe Biden calls out India’s reluctance to condemn the war
This article was last updated at 09:25 UTC/GMT
UN refugee agency says 3.5 million refugees fled Ukraine
The UN refugee agency says more than 3.3 million Ukrainian refugees have poured into neighboring countries since Russia’s invasion on February 24.
The vast majority, more than 2 million, crossed the border into Poland, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said.
Germany’s interior ministry said so far 232,462 refugees had made their way to the country. However, the actual number was probably higher because there are no regular checks at the German-Polish border.
People with Ukrainian passports can enter and move freely in the EU visa-free for at least 90 days.
On Monday, the International Organization for Migration said nearly 6.5 million people had been displaced inside Ukraine due to the war.
“The scale of human suffering and forced displacement due to the war far exceeds any worst-case scenario planning,” IOM Antonio Vitorino, Director General of the International Organization for Migration said.
Ukraine’s military holds Mariupol, according to UK intelligence
The UK’s Ministry of Defense said Ukrainian forces continued to “repulse” Russian attempts to take over the southern port city of Mariupol.
The intelligence assessment confirms Ukraine’s Defense Ministry claim early on Tuesday that it forces were still defending the city.
On Sunday, Reuters reported that Russian forces held parts of Mariupol.
The port city has been besieged for more than three weeks and has seen some of the heaviest bombardment and fighting of the war.
Ukraine said efforts to evacuate civilians were focused on Mariupol but did not announce any new agreement with Russia to allow safe passage.
“We are focusing on evacuations from Mariupol,” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. About 3,000 people were evacuated from the city on Monday.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called Russia’s siege and bombardment of Mariupol “a massive war crime.”
Ukraine claims it has retaken strategically important Kyiv suburb
The Ukrainian military said its troops have driven Russian forces out of Makariv, a town about 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of Kyiv.
The strategically important town was the scene of a fierce battle and has sustained significant damage from Russian shelling, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said, adding its recapture prevents Russian forces from encircling the capital from the northwest.
The “state flag of Ukraine was raised over the city of Makariv” as the Russians retreated, the ministry wrote in a post on Facebook.
DW could not confirm the claim by the Ukraine forces.
Zelenskyy open to NATO compromise with Putin to gain cease-fire
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was willing to consider dropping its demands for full NATO membership in exchange for security guarantees.
“It’s a compromise for everyone: for the West, which doesn’t know what to do with us with regard to NATO, for Ukraine, which wants security guarantees, and for Russia, which doesn’t want further NATO expansion,” Zelenskyy said late Monday in an interview with Ukrainian television channels.
Ukraine is well aware it cannot be admitted to NATO at the moment because they “do not want to fight with Russia,” Zelenskyy said, adding, “Okay, what other security guarantees are possible?”
Zelenskyy was adamant that he needed to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putinin order to understand whether Russia even intends to stop the war. Putin has so far ignored Zelenskyy repeated requests for direct talks.
On Monday, Zelenskyy said again that he is ready to meet Putin “in any format” but would also not bow to ultimatums from Russia to surrender.
The president also suggested that after a cease-fire agreement, Kyiv would be ready to discuss the status of Crimea and the eastern Donbas region held by Russian-backed separatists.
However, Zelenskyy said he plans to put any agreements reached with Russia to a nationwide referendum for public approval.
Biden says India’s response to war ‘shaky’
US President Joe Biden said India’s response to the warin Ukraine was an exception among Washington’s allies.
India has so far refused to speak out against the Russian invasion and has abstained from UN resolutions condemning the war.
Biden, during an address to a meeting of US business leaders in Washington late Monday, praised NATO, the European Union and “Quad” countries Japan and Australia, for their response to the war.
The so-called Quad countries, namely Australia, India, Japan, and United States, have in recent years formed a security dialogue that meets at regular intervals to discuss coordinating strategic policies in the Indo-Pacific region.
Unlike other Quad member, India continues to purchase Russian oil. Russia is also the top supplier of arms to India.
“We have presented a united front throughout the NATO and in the Pacific … with the possible exception of India being somewhat shaky on some of this,” Biden said, referring to dealing with “Putin’s aggression.”
Biden praised Japan and Australia’s response as “extremely strong.”
Ukraine intelligence claims Zelenskyy assassination bid foiled
Ukrainian counter-intelligence has scuppered a possible attempt on the life of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to local media reports.
News agency UNIAN reported that a man belonging to group of Russian saboteurs was arrested in Uzhhorod, a city in the far west of the country.
The group of up to 25 men planned on pretending to be members of the Ukrainian armed forces in a bid to make their way towards Kyiv. The report states that the group was also planning on carrying out acts of sabotage.
Ukraine’s government has claimed that Russia has sent a number of assassination squads to kill Zelenskyy.
The report could not be independently verified.
Pentagon accuses Moscow of ‘indiscriminate’ attacks
The US Department of Defense has accused Russia of attacking Ukrainian cities in an “indiscriminate” manner.
“Whether that’s cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, artillery fire, they’re lobbying an awful lot of hardware into the cities to try to
force their surrender,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. “And that’s resulting in more civilian casualties, more damage to residential areas, hospitals, schools, and innocent victims at greater rates and greater numbers,” Kirby said, adding: “In many ways, it’s indiscriminate.”
Russia pulls out of Japan peace treaty talks
Russia’s Foreign Ministry says it has withdrawn from peace treaty negotiations with Japan, as a result of sanctions imposed by Tokyo over the invasion of Ukraine.
“Under the current conditions Russia does not intend to continue negotiations with Japan on a peace treaty,” the foreign ministry said and cited Japan’s “openly unfriendly positions and attempts to damage the interests of our country.”
Last week Japan announced plans to revoke Moscow’s trade status and expand freezing of assets against Russian individuals.
Russia and Japan have not officially ended World War II hostilities due to a dispute over islands north of Hokkaido.
And Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hit back at Russia’s decision to withdraw from the peace treaty.
“The latest situation occurred as a result of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and Russia’s attempt to shift the issue to Japan-Russia relations is extremely unjustified and absolutely unacceptable,” he said in parliament.
Japan “strongly protests,” he added, condemning Russia for its actions to “unilaterally change the status quo by force.”
Summary of Monday’s events in Ukraine-Russia crisis
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said again that he is ready to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin “in any format” but would also not bow to ultimatums from Russia to surrender.
Russian publication Komsomolskaya Pravda briefly published a casualty figure of nearly 10,000 deaths of Russian soldiers since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24 began, but then deleted it.
US President Joe Biden says Vladimir Putin is considering the use of biological and chemical weapons as a false flag attack, based on US intelligence assessments.
The Pentagon has accused Russian forces of committing war crimes in Ukraine and said it would help gather evidence of them.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday that Russia’s attacks on the Ukrainian coastal city of Mariupol amount to a “war crime.”
German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) lawmaker Michael Brand called for sanctions against former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder over his strong links with Russia.
Humanitarian organization Save the Children said upwards of 6 million children are in imminent danger as a growing number of hospitals and schools come under attack during Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
A Moscow court ruled in favor of Russia’s FSB intelligence services on Monday, agreeing to label the US internet giant Meta (formerly Facebook) an “extremist organization.”
kb/jsi (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)
Ukraine: Zelenskyy open to NATO ‘compromise’ with Putin to gain cease-fire — live updates
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