Iran Press/ Europe: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejected a Russian offer of talks in Belarus on Sunday, saying Minsk itself was complicit in the Russian operation in Ukraine, but leaving the door open to negotiations in other locations.
The Kremlin said on Sunday its delegation was ready to meet Ukrainian officials in the Belarusian city of Gomel, according to Reuters.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said Russian troops started advancing into Ukraine again on Saturday after Putin paused the offensive a day earlier in anticipation of talks with Kyiv that never happened.
In the latest development, the regional governor of Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv says the Russian troops had entered the city on Sunday and that street fighting was underway.
UN reports at least 240 civilian casualties, 64 deaths in Ukraine
A United Nations relief agency said Sunday that at least 64 civilians have been killed and more than 160,000 are on the move after Russian troops entered Ukraine this week.
"As of 5:00 p.m. on 26 February, (UN human rights office) OHCHR reports at least 240 civilian casualties, including at least 64 dead," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a status report.
It added the actual figures were likely to be "considerably higher".
It cited the UN refugee agency as saying more than 160,000 people had been internally displaced and more than 116,000 forced to flee into neighboring countries.
On Wednesday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin officially announced a special military operation against Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin says he had no other choice than to launch the military operation to stop the Ukrainian military’s interference in two eastern republics that have broken away from Ukraine. Russia perceives NATO’s eastward expansion as a threat.
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