On the 37th day of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, this Friday, April 1, follow our latest information live.
► The site of the Russian editorial staff of RFI broadcasts Ukrainian public radio (in Ukrainian language) from the home page.
Article updated regularly, click on this link to refresh
The main points:
► The Ukrainian government continues to strive organize evacuations from Mariupola strategic port in south-eastern Ukraine, on the Sea of Azov, besieged and pounded relentlessly since the end of February by Russian forces and where 160,000 civilians are still believed to be stranded.
►Russian-Ukrainian talks will resume on April 1. Moscow said on Wednesday it saw nothing “promising” in these negotiations, after having qualified them the day before as “significant” and having undertaken to “radically” reduce its military activity in the regions of kyiv and Chernihiv.
► Russian forces are “not withdrawing, but repositioning” in Ukraine and NATO expects “additional offensives” from Moscow, Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday. According to him, Russia “is trying to strengthen its offensive on the Donbass region” and “maintains pressure on kyiv and other cities”.
Times are given in Universal Time (UT)
12:01 am: The President of the European Parliament travels to Kyiv
Roberta Metsola, the Maltese President of the European Parliament, tweeted Thursday evening that she was ” on the way to Kyiv “. ” I’m on my way to Kyiv “, she simply wrote in English and Ukrainian, with a Ukrainian flag and a hashtag of support for the invaded country, and a photo where we see her bundled up in a jacket in front of what appears to be a train car. Ms Metsola, elected President of the European Parliament on January 18, did not add details. Arriving at her destination, she would be the first leader of a European institution to visit the Ukrainian capital since the start of the Russian invasion. Before her, three Polish, Czech and Slovenian Prime Ministers had already traveled to kyiv on March 15 to show their solidarity with Ukraine.
Russia has announced that it will ban European leaders and the majority of MEPs from entering its territory in response to punitive measures targeting Moscow. Russian diplomacy has not published the list of people targeted, but said it had informed the European representation in Moscow of this measure.