Muristek
Kyiv, March 21
The Russian military has offered the Ukrainian troops defending the strategic port of Mariupol to lay down arms and exit the city via humanitarian corridors, but that proposal was quickly rejected by the Ukrainian authorities.
Russia's Col Gen Mikhail Mizintsev said on Sunday that all Ukrainian soldiers could leave the Azov Sea port on Monday using safe routes for evacuating civilians that had been previously agreed with Ukraine and head to areas controlled by the Ukrainian authorities.
He said that "all those who lay down arms will be guaranteed a safe exit from Mariupol".
Mizintsev added that Russia would wait until 5 am on Monday for a written Kyiv's response to the Russian proposal for the Ukrainian troops to leave Mariupol but didn't say what action Russia would take if its "humanitarian offer" is rejected.
Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in remarks carried by Ukrainska Pravda news outlet that Kyiv already had told Russia that "there can be no talk about surrender and laying down weapons".
She rejected the Russian statement as "manipulation".
Mizintsev said that the deliveries of humanitarian supplies to the city would immediately follow if the Ukrainian troops agreed to leave the city. He added that civilians would be free to choose whether to leave Mariupol or stay in the city.