Zelensky says peace talks are on the verge of collapse

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday there was a high risk of ending peace talks with Russia, and US lawmakers vowed to move quickly on a project to send up to $33 billion (164 billion Brazilian reals) to help Kyiv keep up the resistance. The attack from Moscow.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said during a visit to Kyiv on Thursday (28) that There were intense discussions underway to evacuate civilians from the steel plants in Mariupol Which is under fierce attack by Russia as part of its offensive in southern and eastern Ukraine.

One of the soldiers trapped in the city, a major target of the Russian invasion, told Reuters that Guterres’ comments gave him hope for the evacuation of hundreds of civilians held in the steel plant for weeks after several failed attempts.

Zelensky’s office said there was an operation planned to remove civilians from steel plants on Friday, but there was no sign of a withdrawal as night fell. He later expressed pessimism about the possibility of continuing peace talks with Russia, and blamed popular anger at what he described as atrocities committed by Russian soldiers.

“People [ucraniano] They want to kill them. “When there is this kind of situation, it is difficult to talk about things,” he told Polish reporters, according to Interfax.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Kyiv of changing its position on what he described as orders from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Zelensky praised US President Joe Biden’s bid for help Thursday, which is nearly 10 times the aid Washington has sent so far since The invasion began on February 24. Moscow says the war is a “special military operation”.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers hope to pass a $33 billion aid package “as soon as possible.”

Having failed an attack on Kyiv in northern Ukraine last month, Russia is now trying to capture two eastern provinces known as Donbass. By pledging tens of billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, Biden has dramatically increased the United States’ involvement in the conflict.

The United States and its allies are now sending heavy weapons, including artillery, with the aim, according to Washington, not only of repelling Russia’s attack, but of weakening its armed forces so that they can no longer threaten its neighbor.

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, this week threatened unspecified retaliation against the West To send weapons to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Lavrov warned of the danger of nuclear war. Lavrov said on Friday that Russia does not consider it at war with NATO, reversing his previous statements.

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