Dialogue between Russian and Ukrainian delegations ends without progress
Moscow and Kiev have sat down again to try to reach an agreement after 19 days of conflict. Mikhail Podoliak, Ukraine's presidential adviser, said on his Twitter account that his country continues to demand a ceasefire and the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from all Ukrainian territory.
The talks will continue on Tuesday so that "the working groups can clarify definitions". Both sides have expressed their positions, but communication is becoming increasingly difficult due to the disparate political systems. "Ukraine is a country that maintains free dialogue in society and Russia ultimately practices the suppression of its own society," urged Podoliak.
For his part, the chairman of the Duma's International Affairs Committee, Leonid Slutsky, stresses the Kremlin's "substantial progress" in advancing the negotiations. The fourth contact between the two sides follows an attack on a residential building in the Obolon district of Kiev.
The shelling has claimed the life of at least one civilian, and 10 other people have been wounded. Russian troops have also carried out two other serious offensives, one on the aircraft manufacturing plant at Antonov airport, 10 kilometres from the capital, and another on the Kurenivka road.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates the number of attacks on health facilities since the beginning of the conflict at 31. Among the victims, the pregnant woman who survived the assault on the maternity hospital in Mariupol stands out. The baby was born with "no signs of life" and the mother died after numerous attempts at resuscitation, according to The Associated Press.
Ukraine is continuing its attempts to evacuate civilians and send aid through various humanitarian corridors. Zelenski says the number of people evacuated from the worst-affected cities now stands at 130,000. In addition, 160 cars carrying civilians have been able to leave Mariupol for the city of Berdiansk.
The Russian onslaught has escalated further in recent hours with the firing of several missiles at a Ukrainian military base in Yavoriv, just 25 kilometres from the Polish border. This development has put EU and NATO members on alert.
Any attack on a country belonging to the Atlantic Alliance would trigger NATO's Article 5. Aggression against one ally is considered aggression against the others. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan notes that "if there is a military attack on NATO territory, it would trigger the invocation of this article" and "the full force of the Alliance" would be used.
Meanwhile, Sullivan has met with Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi in Rome to discuss the impact of the war on global security. The Asian giant denies that Moscow has asked for military assistance to continue its invasion of Kiev, thus denying reports published by several US media.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has described these accusations as "pure disinformation" and assures that they are very concerned and pained by the situation on Ukrainian territory. As for Russia, the Kremlin points out that it has sufficient military power to fulfil all its objectives.
The list of measures to end the war continues to grow. Now, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) advocates launching a similarly-worded Marshall Plan launched in 1947 to rebuild Europe after the Second World War.
"The time has come to think about a Marshall Plan for Ukraine and we are talking about measures in this regard," said Mathias Cormann, secretary general of the OECD, during his participation in Forum Europe. Next Thursday, the organisation will make public its first assessment of the impact of the conflict on the world economy.
Earlier in the day, squatters broke into the London mansion of Oleg Deripaska. The Russian oligarch is among the list of people sanctioned by the UK. The squatters hung several banners in one of the windows of his residence with messages of support not only for the Ukrainian people, but also for the Russian people, as they have never agreed with this "military operation".
Since Putin launched his offensive last February, more than 2.8 million people have left Ukraine. The UN predicts that, if the armed conflict continues, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons could exceed four and six million respectively. The Polish Border Guard estimates that more than 82,000 refugees arrived in Poland on Sunday.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, speaking on Monday, argued that "this attack sets the stage for instability in the rest of the world". The world is now at the mercy of geopolitics and the idea of a possible nuclear conflict is no longer so far-fetched.
