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A recent survey in Bulgaria reveals a clear preference among citizens for the European Union and NATO over Russia, with nearly twice as many respondents supporting the Western alliances
Moscow and Kyiv have agreed to create humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from battle zones. This is the main result of yesterday's second round of Russian-Ukrainian talks. The parties agreed during the evacuation to temporarily stop the shooting in these sectors, “Izvestia” summed up the agreement reached on the eighth day since the beginning of the Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Humanitarian Corridors for Evacuation of Civilians from Ukraine will be Opened
“To this end, special channels for communication and interaction will be organized soon and the relevant logistical procedures will be formed,” the newspaper quoted a statement by Mykhailo Podoliak from the Kyiv delegation, an adviser to the Ukrainian president.
“That is, a ceasefire is possible, but not in the whole of Ukraine,” said “Komsomolskaya Pravda”. According to Podoliak, “many (Ukrainian) cities are surrounded. The situation with food, medicine and the possibility of evacuation is dramatic,” “Trud” reports.
The military will still determine the mechanism for organizing the corridors, explains another negotiator, Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma's foreign policy commission, quoted by “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”. “Parliamentary efforts will be needed, some agreements will have to be confirmed through a ratification procedure,” he added.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry is helping those who want to leave the conflict zone in Ukraine. More than 3,000 Ukrainians have already sought help from it, and optimal and possibly safe evacuation routes have been developed for 400 people, “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” reports, citing Foreign Minister Anatoliy Glaz.
Assistance is also provided by countries bordering Ukraine. However, since February 28, Kyiv has closed all checkpoints on the border with Belarus, which creates additional problems for Belarusian citizens in Ukraine, including truck drivers, Glaz was quoted as saying by Interfax.
At the same time, Moscow is struggling to gain the trust of the people of Ukraine by arranging for the supply of food and basic necessities. Along with the military, Russian troops launched a humanitarian operation. They announced that they were preparing more than 10,500 tons of humanitarian aid, enough for nearly one million Ukrainian families, “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” reported in another article.
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“Ukrainian nationalists have taken the country's civilians hostage and are using them as human shields. However, wealthy Ukrainians may be able to leave Ukraine under guard - on a commercial basis”, writes “Svobodnaya Pressa”.
This opportunity is offered by the American private security company “Silent Professionals”, a link to the websites is in the publication. The company is recruiting staff for “secret operations to evacuate individuals and families in rural and large cities in Ukraine,” according to the newspaper.
The company invites “highly qualified candidates” who speak several languages, know Ukrainian roads, terrain, the mentality of the local people, know how to use Soviet and NATO small arms; people who are in excellent physical shape have combat experience abroad and a passport from a western country. They are promised up to ,000 a day.
The question is whether the service will be sought. Because most of the oligarchs, rich businessmen and MPs have already left Ukraine, adds “Svobodnaya Pressa”.
Ukraine is stopping Exports, but not Transit of Natural Gas
The Kremlin has reason to believe that the Ukrainian side deliberately delayed the talks. This was stated to journalists by Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president, “Kommersant” writes under the heading “Corridor diplomacy”.
According to Moscow, the United States is to blame for the delay, the newspaper continues, quoting Russia's foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin: “They are engaged in cleansing the Middle East, Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region. This will not happen.”
It is difficult to expect serious progress in the negotiations so far, says political scientist Sergei Utkin. “Feeling the support of the West and many other countries, Ukrainians are counting on Russia to figure out what pit it is in and to back down. Russia is making demands that can hardly be accepted once Ukraine's armed forces remain capable of resistance, and most people in Ukraine are clearly rejecting the Russian presence,” he told Kommersant.
Meanwhile, shelling of Ukrainian cities and fighting in the country continue, reminds the online edition of “Medusa”. Citing details of the fighting and the recent actions of the Russian president, the site concluded: “Vladimir Putin does not seem eager to end the war.”
/BTA
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