Officials of two nations will meet at an unspecified location on Belarus border, says Ukraine prez office; move comes after Putin puts nuclear forces on alert
A girl cries as she sits on a camp bed at a temporary shelter for Ukrainian refugees at the border crossing in Ubla, eastern Slovakia, on Sunday. Pic/AFP
Russian military vehicles pushed into Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, on Sunday, the fourth day of fighting in the biggest assault on a European state since World War II.
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The Ukrainian president’s office on Sunday said that a delegation will meet with Russian officials at an unspecified location on the Belarusian border, but did not give a precise time for the meeting.
The announcement on Sunday came hours after Russia announced that its delegation had flown to Belarus to await talks. Ukrainian officials initially rejected the move, saying any talks should take place elsewhere than Belarus, where Russia placed a large contingent of troops before it invaded Ukraine starting Thursday.
The meeting news came shortly after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear forces put on high alert in response to what he called “aggressive statements” by leading NATO powers. Belarus held a referendum on Sunday to adopt a new constitution that would ditch its non-nuclear status. The vote, almost certain to pass, could see nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil for the first time since the country gave them up after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Oil terminal, gas pipeline set ablaze
KYIV: Russian troops blew up a natural gas pipeline in Kharkiv before daybreak, a Ukrainian state agency said, sending a burning cloud up into the darkness. Russian missiles found their mark overnight, including a strike that set an oil terminal ablaze in Vasylkiv, southwest of Kyiv, the town’s mayor said.
“The enemy wants to destroy everything,” said the mayor, Natalia Balasinovich. Ukraine’s gas pipeline operator said the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine, vital for Europe’s energy needs, was going on as normal. Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom also said gas exports via Ukraine continued normally.
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