A woman reacts as she is assisted by police after fleeing her home in the suburbs of Kiev, on March 26, 2022. (FADEL SENNA / AFP)
KIEV / WARSAW / SOFIA – Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said that Kiev insists on a system of security guarantees for Ukraine as one of the key elements of negotiations with Russia, the presidential press service reported Saturday.
During an interview with German media, Podolyak stressed that such a system "is impossible without the participation of the United States in the first place."
According to the negotiator, the future of Crimea, certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk should be decided only by the presidents of Ukraine and Russia.
US President Joe Biden on Saturday met with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov during his visit to Poland, "for an update on Ukraine's military, diplomatic, and humanitarian situation"
He called on Ukraine's partners to provide air defense systems, give weapons to "adequately help" Kiev, adding that sanctions, such as oil embargoes and restrictions on financial transactions, are also needed.
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Earlier this month, Podolyak said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, may hold talks soon.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that it is too early to talk about a meeting between the two presidents, as there is no breakthrough yet in the peace talks.
Ukrainian and Russian delegations held three rounds of peace talks in-person in Belarus since Feb 28, and the fourth one started on March 14 in a format of video conference.
Biden
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden on Saturday met with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov during his visit to Poland, "for an update on Ukraine's military, diplomatic, and humanitarian situation," according to the White House.
Biden dropped in a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and their Ukranian counterparts, Kuleba and Reznikov.
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They discussed "further efforts to help Ukraine defend its territory" and the United States and its allies' ongoing actions towards Russia, the White House said in statement.
In a tweet, Kuleba said that the meeting between Ukrainian ministers and US secretaries allowed him to seek "practical decisions in both political and defense spheres in order to fortify Ukraine's ability to fight back," while Reznikov tweeted that he acquired "cautious optimism."
Dark smoke rises from a fire following an air strike in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, on March 26, 2022. (YURIY DYACHYSHYN / AFP)
Biden is visiting Poland, after attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, G7 gathering and the summit of the European Council — three intensive summits in two days with the Ukraine crisis as major focus.
The US president tried to coax a display of unity with European partners, but failed to talk them into concerted actions against Russia.
The NATO summit concluded Thursday with no agreement to impose additional sanctions against Moscow, especially the country's oil and gas products. Nor did the European Council summit succeed in reaching a consensus on the same issue.
Lviv
Also on Saturday, at least five people were injured in missile attacks on Ukraine's western city of Lviv, Head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration Maksym Kozytskyi said on Facebook.
Two missile strikes hit the city at about 4:30 pm local time (1430 GMT), Kozytskyi said, noting that residential buildings were not affected, according to preliminary information.
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The threat of new attacks on the city persists, the official added, urging people to stay in shelters.
Kozytskyi said in an earlier post that three powerful explosions occurred on the city's eastern outskirts.
The news above has yet to be confirmed from the Russian side.
Bulgaria
In Sofia, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said on Saturday that he would not allow his country to be involved in the conflict in Ukraine, according to a press release by his press office.
"As head of state, I will not allow Bulgaria to be involved in this conflict," Radev said while answering a question about Bulgaria's decision, along with Hungary, of not to send weapons to Ukraine.
