Muristek
Moscow, April 20
The Kremlin's spokesman says Russia has presented Ukraine with a draft document outlining its demands as part of peace talks and is now awaiting a response from Kyiv.
Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters Wednesday that Russia has passed on a draft document containing "absolutely clear, elaborate wording" to Ukraine and now "the ball is in their court, we're waiting for a response".
Peskov didn't give further details. He blamed Ukraine for the slow progress in negotiations, and claimed that Kyiv constantly deviates from previously confirmed agreements. "The dynamic of work on the Ukrainian side leaves much to be desired, the Ukrainians do not show a great inclination to intensify the negotiation process," he said.
Ukraine presented Russia with its own draft last month in Istanbul, where the two sides held talks aimed at ending the conflict. It has been unclear how regularly the two sides have spoken to each other since then.
The German government and military are rejecting an assertion by Ukraine's ambassador that the country could spare armoured fighting vehicles and deliver them to Kyiv.
Ambassador Andriy Melnyk, who has frequently criticized perceived German slowness on weapons deliveries and other issues, argued that Germany's Bundeswehr uses about 100 Marder vehicles for training and they could be handed over to Ukraine immediately.
But Defence Ministry spokesman Arne Collatz said Wednesday that Germany needs the vehicles for deployments on NATO's eastern flank and for training. He said that "a delivery from Bundeswehr stock of heavy material...is not foreseen".
He spoke after the German military's deputy chief of staff, Lt Gen Markus Laubenthal, told ZDF television that the military has "wide commitments" and needs the weapons systems it has.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Tuesday that Germany is reaching the limits of possible weapons deliveries from its own stocks and will finance Ukrainian purchases of equipment from a list drawn up by the German defence industry. That didn't satisfy critics who have called for direct German deliveries of heavy weapons such as tanks.
Mariupol mayor Vadym Boychenko appealed Wednesday to people who had already left Mariupol to contact relatives still in the city and urge them to evacuate. He said 200,000 people had already left the city, which had a pre-war population of more than 400,000.
"Do not be frightened and evacuate to Zaporizhzhia, where you can receive all the help you need—food, medicine, essentials—and the main thing is that you will be in safety," he wrote in a statement issued by the city council.
Boychenko said buses would be used for the evacuation and there will be three pickup points, one of them near the Azovstal steel mill which has become Ukrainian forces' last stronghold in the city. Many previous evacuation efforts relied on civilians being able to leave in private cars after efforts to bring buses from Ukraine-held territory into the city failed.
Mariupol, Ukraine's tenth-largest city, came under attack from Russian forces almost immediately after the invasion began in late February. The port city has strategic value as a link between territories in the south and east of Ukraine which are held by Russian forces or Russia-backed separatists. AP