(Reuters) – Ukraine on Monday rejected a deal with Russia on the evacuation of civilians from a steel mill in the city of Mariupol, urging the United Nations to be the “initiator and guarantor” of such an agreement.
Russia said earlier on Monday it would open a humanitarian corridor for civilians to leave the massive Azovstal steelworks, where they sheltered Ukrainian fighters attacked by Russian forces.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in the Telegram messaging application, “It is important to understand that a humanitarian corridor was opened by agreement between the two parties. A corridor that was declared unilaterally does not provide security and therefore is not a humanitarian corridor.”
Shortly after the statements, an aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Russian forces attacked the facility from the air, with artillery and tanks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that it was unnecessary to enter the factory where the last Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol were besieged after two months of Russian siege and bombing.
Vereshchuk said Ukraine has called on the UN to make the organization “the initiator and guarantor of the Azovstal humanitarian corridor for civilians”. He said that when any corridor is established, UN and International Committee of the Red Cross officials should be present.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who wants a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine, will meet with Putin in Moscow on Tuesday and Zelensky in Kiev on Thursday.
source: Noticias
