UN: Putin "in principle" agreed to the evacuation of civilians from Azovstal

War in Ukraine - 62st day

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One of the destroyed buildings in Marijupolje, Photo: Reuters
One of the destroyed buildings in Marijupolje, Photo: Reuters
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.
Ažurirano: 26.04.2022. 21:52h
Finished
21: 26h

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said he had agreed with Ukraine to help repair the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant after it was seized by Russian troops.

"It is visible that there is damage and we are assessing it," Grossi said at a press conference in Kiev after visiting the station, Reuters reports.

21: 15h

Members of the US mission in Ukraine who moved to Poland traveled to the western city of Lviv on Tuesday as Washington works to secure the return of its diplomats to Ukraine, the US State Department said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

American diplomats left the embassy in Kiev nearly two weeks before Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine, moving some functions to Lviv before eventually moving to Poland.

20: 59h

The US State Department has criticized Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's comments about the potential for nuclear war, saying loose talk of nuclear escalation is "the height of irresponsibility", reports Reuters.

Lavrov warned the West on Monday not to underestimate the increased risk of a nuclear conflict over Ukraine and said he believed NATO was "essentially" engaged in a proxy war with Russia by supplying Kiev with weapons.

20: 48h

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he does not expect Russian President Vladimir Putin to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine if he faces more military setbacks in the country, Reuters reports.

Johnson told Talk TV that he thinks Putin has enough political space and support in Russia to back down and withdraw from Ukraine.

20: 29h

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed "in principle" for the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross to participate in the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal factory in Mariupol, Ukraine, the United Nations announced, Reuters reports.

"Further talks will be held with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Russian Ministry of Defense," UN spokesman Stefan Dizarik said in a statement after Putin met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Moscow.

19: 59h

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that Russian forces have liberated the entire Kherson region in southern Ukraine, reports Reuters.

It quoted a senior official as saying that elsewhere in southern Ukraine, Russian troops had seized parts of the Zaporozhye and Mykolaiv regions, as well as part of the Kharkiv region east of Kiev.

19: 48h

Poland's energy supply is safe, Poland's climate ministry said after Gazprom announced it would cut off supplies from the Yamal gas pipeline on Wednesday morning, Reuters reports.

Polish climate minister Anna Moskva said there was no need to draw gas from reserves and that gas to Polish customers would not be reduced.

Flows from other directions will replace Gazprom's supply, said the Polish minister in charge of energy security Piotr Naimski, adding that the contract with Jamal was supposed to end in December anyway.

19: 39h

Putin said that the situation in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol is difficult and "perhaps tragic", writes Reuters.

He said the Ukrainian army should let civilians leave the city.

18: 49h

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the peace talks with Ukraine will continue in an online format, writes Reuters.

He said, at the beginning of the conversation with UN Secretary General António Guterres, that he hoped for a positive outcome of the negotiations, according to the agency.

Change: 19:39 p.m
18: 45h

The Dutch government will provide Ukraine with a "limited number" of armored howitzers to support its war effort, the ANP news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the Dutch defense minister, Reuters reports.

The howitzers, described as one of the most powerful in the Dutch military, are to be delivered in cooperation with Germany, which will provide training and ammunition, the report said.

18: 23h

The US and its allies will hold monthly meetings to strengthen Ukraine's military capabilities against Russia, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said today.

"Today's meeting will become a monthly contact group for the defense of Ukraine," Austin said at the Ramstein military base in Germany after a meeting with representatives of about 40 countries.

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photo: Reuters

Austin said he wanted to organize actions to strengthen efforts and coordinate aid to Ukraine.

"We are all determined to help Ukraine win today and grow stronger in the long term," Austin said, adding that there was no time to lose, adding that the coming weeks would be crucial for Ukraine as Russia aims to take full control of southern Ukraine and the Donbass region.

Change: 18:54 p.m
17: 37h

Russian gas deliveries to Poland have been stopped under the Yamal contract, private broadcasters Polsat News and website Onet.pl reported, citing unnamed sources, Reuters reports.

17: 29h

The US government welcomed Germany's decision to send heavy weapons to Ukraine for the first time, Reuters reports.

"I think it is significant that Germany has announced that it will provide 50 Cheetah systems," US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said after speaking to dozens of his colleagues in Ramstein, Germany, calling the Cheetah anti-aircraft guns by their English name.

"I think those systems will provide a real capability for Ukraine." And in terms of what else Germany will do in the future, again, that's a sovereign decision that the German leadership will make, and I don't want to speculate on that," he added.

17: 25h

The United States is looking into the cause of recent violence in the Russian-backed breakaway region of Transnistria, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday.

"I'm not really sure what it is, but it's something we're going to stay focused on," Austin said, according to Reuters.

16: 47h

The United States and Ukraine are "largely aligned" on what Ukraine needs to continue its fight against Russian invasion and what Washington can provide, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he discussed those needs with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his recent trip to Ukraine.

16: 35h

Russia wants to avoid a scenario in which Moscow would have to intervene in the self-proclaimed region of Transnistria in Moldova, RIA Novosti reports, citing the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as reported by Reuters.

16: 25h

Russia has warned Great Britain that if it continues to provoke Ukraine to attack targets in Russia, there will be an immediate "proportionate response", the RIA news agency quoted the Russian Defense Ministry as saying.

British Defense Secretary James Happy said it was perfectly legitimate for Ukraine to strike Russian logistics lines and fuel supplies.

He admitted that the weapons now provided by the international community have the range to be used in Russia, reports Reuters.

16: 17h

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expressed its concern about the situation in the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova and condemned, as it said, Russia's attempts to draw the region into Russia's war against Ukraine, reports Reuters.

After a series of explosions in Transnistria, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed its support for the territorial integrity of Moldova and said that the Ukrainian armed forces are ready to defend their country against any threat.

16: 03h

A court in Moscow has seized the assets and frozen the bank accounts of Google's Russian subsidiary as a guarantee against a possible court decision in connection with a lawsuit filed against the American technology giant by a subsidiary of the Gazprom-Media holding company.

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