Ukraine's president was preparing to make a direct appeal for more help in a rare speech by a foreign leader to the U.S. Congress, as Russia continued its bombardment of the Ukrainian capital Wednesday.
In the war's third week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested there was still some reason to be optimistic txjmtzywhat negotiations with the Russian government might yet yield an agreement.
Previewing his speech to the U.S. Congress, Zelensky thanked President Joe Biden and "all the friends of Ukraine" for $13.6 billion in new support. He appealed for more weapons and more sanctions to punish Russia and repeated his call to "close the skies over Ukraine to Russian missiles and planes."
Zelensky said Russia's demands were becoming "more realistic" after their delegations met Tuesday via video. The sides were expected to speak again later Wednesday.
"Efforts are still needed, patience is needed," he said in his video address to the nation. "Any war ends with an agreement."
He said Russian forces had been unable to move deeper into Ukrainian territory but had continued their heavy shelling of cities.
Developments on the diplomatic front and on the ground occurred as the number of people fleeing Ukraine amid Europe's heaviest fighting since the Second World War eclipsed three million.
What's happening on the ground?
- Shrapnel from an artillery shell slammed into a 12-storey apartment building in central Kyiv on Wednesday, obliterating the top floor and igniting a fire that sent plumes of smoke over the area, according to a statement and images released by the Kyiv emergencies agency. The neighbouring building was also damaged. The agency reported two victims, without saying if they were injured or killed.
- In Kharkiv, a powerful explosion thundered overnight that was heard across the eastern city.
- In addition to airstrikes and shelling by ground forces, Russian naval ships fired overnight on a town south of Mariupol on the Azov Sea and another near Odesa on the Black Sea, according to local officials.
- In Mariupol, Russian troops seized the city's largest hospital, regional leader Pavlo Kyrylenko said. He said the troops forced about 400 people from nearby homes into the Regional Intensive Care Hospital and were using them and roughly 100 patients and staff as human shields by not allowing them to leave. Kyrylenko said shelling had already heavily damaged the hospital's main building, but medical staff have been treating patients in makeshift wards in the basement.
- Ukraine's president said 28,893 civilians were able to flee through nine humanitarian corridors in the past day although the Russians refused to allow aid into Mariupol.
Russian forces have intensified fighting in the Kyiv suburbs, notably around the town of Bucha in the northwest and the highway leading west toward Zhytomyr, the head of the Kyiv region Oleksiy Kuleba said. He said Russian troops are trying to cut off the capital from transport arteries and destroy logistical capabilities even as they plan a wide-ranging attack to seize Kyiv. Twelve towns around Kyiv are without water and six without heat.
Russia has occupied the city of Ivankiv, 80 kilometres north of Kyiv, and controls the surrounding region on the border with Belarus, Kuleba said.
Across the Kyiv region, he said, "Kindergartens, museums, churches, residential blocks and engineering infrastructure are suffering from the endless firing."
A senior U.S. defence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the Pentagon's assessment, said Tuesday the Russians were using long-range fire to hit civilian targets inside Kyiv with increasing frequency but that their ground forces were making little to no progress around the country.
The official said Russian troops were still about 15 kilometres from the centre of the capital.
Zelensky signals Ukraine unlikely to enter NATO
Russian and Ukrainian representatives held talks on Monday and Tuesday. A key adviser to the Ukrainian president has said they were expected to continue Wednesday.
Before Tuesday's talks with Ukrainian officials, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow would press its demands that Ukraine drop its bid to join NATO, adopt a neutral status and "demilitarize."
In a statement that seemed to signal potential grounds for agreement with Moscow, Zelensky told European leaders gathered in London that he realizes NATO has no intention of accepting Ukraine.
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"We have heard for many years about the open doors, but we also heard that we can't enter those doors," he said. "This is the truth, and we have simply to accept it as it is."
NATO does not admit nations with unsettled territorial conflicts. Zelensky has repeatedly said he realizes NATO isn't going to offer membership to Ukraine and that he could consider a neutral status for his country but needs strong security guarantees from both the West and Russia.
The UN said close to 700 civilians in Ukraine have been confirmed killed, with the true figure probably much higher. Zelensky told Canadian MPs in a video address on Tuesday that 97 children had been killed to date.
Zelensky pleads for more help from Canada as Trudeau blacklisted by Russia
9 hours agoDuration 2:59Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a powerful plea to Canada in a virtual address to Parliament, urging for more sanctions against Russia and a no-fly zone. His remarks came as Russia announced it would place Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and hundreds of other Canadians on its ‘black list,’ barring them from entering the country. 2:59
