Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi says he is ready to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite horrors by Russian forces across Ukraine.
30.4. 05: 03 • Updated April 30. 05:06
We gathered the key news from last night and last night in connection with the war in Ukraine.
Zelenskyi ready to meet with Putin despite the actions of Russian troops
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said he was still ready to meet with the Russian president Vladimir Putin although Russian forces have committed horrors in Bocha and Mariupol, among others.
He says he wants to meet with Putin because “one man decides everything in Russia”.
According to Zelensky, the risk of failure of negotiations between the countries is high because of what Russia has done in the occupied territories.
– After the events in Bushan and Mariupol, the people just want to kill them (the Russians). It’s hard to discuss anything when the atmosphere is like this, Zelenskyi says.
Zelenskyi says he supports the Ukrainians, but wants negotiations if the opportunity arises.
Russia has tried to exchange the Ukrainian soldiers it has imprisoned for prisoners of war
Russia has tried to exchange Ukrainian civilians with Russian soldiers imprisoned in Ukraine, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said Iryna Vereštšuk on Friday To the BBC (switch to another service).
Vereshchuk told the BBC that the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office in charge of exchanging prisoners had responded negatively to Russia’s proposal and advised Russia to release the imprisoned civilians.
Evidence has been found of the forcible transfer of Russian civilians captured by Russia across the border to Russia since the outbreak of hostilities in February.
According to Vereshchuk, the abducted civilians are being used as hostages.
The taking of hostages by civilians is prohibited by the Geneva Convention.
– We know that there are more than a thousand hostages there, including almost 500 women, Vereshchuk says.
Lavrov: Russia does not feel at war with NATO
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Russia would not feel at war with NATO. The matter was reported by Reuters, citing data from the Russian state news agency Ria.
According to Lavrov, a development in which NATO and Russia were at war with each other would increase the possibility of a nuclear war and could not be allowed.
Lavrov also said Russia is not threatening anyone with a nuclear war. According to Lavrov, this is a Western talk on the subject.
According to Lavrov, Moscow and Kiev would have already achieved significant results in the peace talks if Kiev did not change its position according to US and British regulations.