Poland has proposed for the European Union to implement a total ban on trade with Russia, prime minister Mateus Morawiecki has said. “Poland is proposing to add a trade blockade to this package of sanctions as soon as possible, (including) both of its seaports... but also a ban on land trade. Fully cutting off Russia’s trade would further force Russia to consider whether it would be better to stop this cruel war,” Morawiecki said. Earlier this week EU member states agreed on a fourth package of sanctions against Russia.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy says the time has come for peace talks, warning that it will otherwise take generations for Russia to recover from losses suffered during the war. He released a video address saying Ukraine wanted meaningful and honest negotiations with Moscow on peace and security without delay, Reuters reported. “The time has come for a meeting – it is time to talk.” Zelenskiy said Russian forces were deliberately blocking humanitarian supplies to cities under attack. Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, warned that talks could be a “smokescreen,” adding: “what we’ve seen is an attempt to create space for the Russians to regroup”.
Ten humanitarian corridors have been agreed on with Russian for the evacuation of citizens, according to Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk. Reuters reported that Vereshchuk said a corridor had been agreed for the besieged city of Mariupol, although the authorities’ previous efforts to evacuate civilians there under a temporary ceasefire have mostly failed, with both sides trading blame. About 350,000 civilians are stranded in the city with little food or water.
Fighting has reached the centre of the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, where 350,000 civilians have been stranded with little food or water. The Russian defence ministry said its forces were “tightening the noose” around the city, and that “fighting against nationalists” was taking place in the city centre. Mariupol’s mayor, Vadym Boichenko, said fighting was “very active”. Hundreds of people remain buried under the rubble of a theatre that was hit by a Russian airstrike on Wednesday, Zelenskiy said. In a video address, he said more than 130 people had been rescued so far.
