Ukraine: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday said it was time for meaningful talks with Moscow, saying this is Russia’s only chance to reduce the damage from its own mistakes. In a video address, Zelenskyy said, “Meaningful negotiations on peace, on security for us, for Ukraine – are the only chance for Russia to reduce the damage from its own mistakes. It’s time to meet. Time to talk.” The Ukrainian president said the price of war would cause huge losses for Russia which could take generations to recover.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made an appearance at a rally in Moscow and praised the country’s troops as they continued their offensive on Ukrainian cities with shelling and missiles. Talking about Putin’s address in Moscow, Zelenskyy said, ” It is reported that a total of about 200,000 people were involved in the rally in the Russian capital. Approximately the same numbers of Russian troops were involved in the invasion of Ukraine.
Just imagine 14000 corpses and tens of thousands of wounded and maimed people at that stadium in Moscow.” Meanwhile, Ukraine’s defence ministry said late Friday it lost access to the Sea of Azov “temporarily” as invading Russian forces were tightening their grip around the Sea’s major port of Mariupol.
While rescuers were trying to search for trapped civilians under the debris of a theatre in Mariupol that was bombed by the Russians on Wednesday. Zelenskyy said over 130 people had been rescued so far. However, there was no information about how many people had died, he said. Hundreds of civilians are feared trapped in debris under a bombed-out theatre in Mariupol as Russian forces charged on Ukrainian cities with missiles. Meanwhile, Kyiv and Moscow have reportedly made some progress towards guaranteeing Ukraine security outside of the NATO alliance.