Ukraine: Two days after Russia announced it would significantly scale back operations near Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv, US President Joe Biden stated that there’s “no clear evidence” that Moscow is doing as it said it would. This comes as Kyiv suburbs continued to be shelled. Meanwhile, Turkey has said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba may meet within two weeks for peace talks.
Turkey hosted negotiators from both sides earlier this week. The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog will lead a mission to the Chernobyl plant ‘as soon as possible’ after Ukraine announced that Russian troops have left the site. The mission will be the first of a series of missions to ensure the safety and security of nuclear power plants. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian troops have left the settlements in Kyiv and Chernihiv regions.
Russia and Ukraine have resumed peace talks by video conference after Moscow reported a Ukrainian strike on a fuel depot in western Russia. China is accusing the United States of instigating the war in Ukraine and says Nato should have been disbanded following the break-up of the Soviet Union. Russia was responding to a reported Ukrainian airstrike on a fuel depot in western Russia.
An aide to the mayor of Mariupol said on Friday that the besieged southern Ukrainian city remained closed for anyone trying to enter and was “very dangerous” for anyone trying to leave. Petro Andryushchenko said Russian forces had since Thursday been preventing even the smallest amount of humanitarian supplies from reaching trapped residents, making clear a planned “humanitarian corridor” had not been opened.