The Ukrainian government's negotiations with its partners on possible foreign military contingents in Ukraine are at a very early stage and it is too early to talk about specific numbers, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said today, quoted by Reuters, BTA reports.
"Yes, the issue of... military contingents of foreign forces, of foreign countries, that may be deployed in Ukraine is being discussed. This discussion is at a very early stage," the spokesman said.
At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that only his US and Chinese counterparts, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, can push Russian leader Vladimir Putin towards peace, Ukrinform reported.
"I think Xi Jinping can push Putin towards peace. President Trump is the strongest, as is Xi Jinping. I don't think there are others who could do it, because Putin's economy after all the sanctions is very dependent on China and on the decisions of the Chinese leader. Maybe it makes sense for Trump and Xi Jinping to hold a dialogue on how to put pressure on Putin together," he said in an interview with "Bloomberg" Zelensky.
He stressed that peace talks should not be held without the participation of Ukraine and that the most important issue in these negotiations is effective guarantees for the security of Ukraine.
At the same time, the governor of the Kharkiv region announced that the Ukrainian authorities had ordered the forced evacuation of families with children from 16 settlements in the region due to the intensification of Russian strikes.
"A total of 267 children and their families must be evacuated from 16 settlements located near the front line," explained the head of the regional administration, Oleg Sinegubov, in "Telegram".
Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubynets said that Russia had probably executed six more Ukrainian prisoners of war.
"Another video is circulating on the Internet, showing the alleged cynical execution of unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war. In the video, the occupiers personally document their crime - the execution of six Ukrainian soldiers who were taken prisoner. They were shot in the back. The video ends with the seventh soldier lying on the ground, his fate unknown. Each execution of the captured individuals is carried out in front of their comrades. Meanwhile, the occupiers order them to lie down and be quiet, and the perpetrator behind the camera is heard saying: “The one is mine”, before firing several bullets into the back of one of the captives,“ Lubinets said.
An official representative of the Russian Kursk region told Agence France-Presse today that the Russian authorities are constantly working to return Russian civilians to the area occupied by Ukrainian troops.
Hundreds of Russian civilians, caught off guard by the Ukrainian offensive, did not have time to evacuate and are still in the area near the fighting, cut off from their families and the rest of Russia, AFP notes.
“National and local authorities “are constantly working to achieve concrete results in the search and return of Kursk region residents with whom their relatives have lost contact,” said Mikhail Shumakov, spokesman for the regional administration.
This work is being carried out jointly with the Russian Red Cross, volunteers and human rights activists, he said.