Russian and Ukrainian delegations are preparing for one-on-one talks starting in Turkey on Tuesday. The Kremlin says it is concerned about remarks made by US President Joe Biden that Russian President Vladimir Putin should not remain in power. The mayor of Mariupol says buses are waiting to remove the trapped civilians, but Russia denies safe passage. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hinted at concessions, while stressing that “territorial integrity” remains a priority for Kiev. What questions do you have about Russia’s attack on Ukraine? Email them at [email protected]

Ukraine and Russia were preparing Monday for the first face-to-face peace talks in more than two weeks, but a senior US official said Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear ready to compromise to end the war. Ukrainian officials also downgraded the chances of significant progress in the talks, which were expected to begin in Istanbul on Tuesday, after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Putin on Sunday. But the fact that they took place in person – for the first time since a tough meeting between the foreign ministers on March 10 – was a sign of behind-the-scenes change as Russia’s invasion has stalled. On the ground, there was no sign of rest for civilians in the besieged cities, especially in the devastated port of Mariupol, whose mayor said 160,000 people were still trapped inside and Russia was blocking evacuation efforts. A Ukrainian soldier walks past a wrecked Russian vehicle in the village of Mala Rogan, east of Kharkov, after Ukrainian troops recaptured the village on Monday. (Aris Messini / AFP / Getty Images)
But the mayor of Irpin, near Kyiv, said Ukrainian forces had taken full control of the city. “We have good news today – Irpin has been released,” said Oleksandr Markushyn, noting that further attacks were expected and the city would be defended. Reuters could not immediately verify the information. In Kharkov, Ukraine’s second largest city and one of its hardest hit, people dragged debris from a classroom on the third floor of a school where a wall had been blown up by a rocket before dawn. “That’s a political goal. It’s a school!” said Oleksandr, who had taken refuge with his mother downstairs after their own neighborhood was hit. “They could not capture the city, so they decided to destroy it.”

Zelensky stresses “territorial integrity”

Russia and Ukraine said their delegations would arrive in Turkey on Monday, a day before the talks begin. Ukrainian officials recently suggested that Russia might now be more willing to compromise, as any hopes it could have of a new government in Kyiv were met with fierce Ukrainian resistance and heavy Russian losses. However, a senior US State Department official said Putin did not make that impression. “All I have seen is that he is not prepared to compromise on this point,” the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity after the Ukrainian president outlined a possible way to end the crisis at the weekend. Russia’s military said last week it was shifting its focus to expand separatist-held territory in eastern Ukraine, a month after deploying most of its enormous force in a failed offensive in the capital, Kyiv. Ukrainian soldiers carry the coffin of 32-year-old senior lieutenant Pavlo Chernikov during his funeral after he was killed in battle at the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Lviv, Ukraine, on Monday. (Nariman El-Mofty / The Associated Press)
However, Ukraine said it had seen no sign of Russia abandoning a plan to encircle the capital, where Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 100 people had been killed, including four children, and 82 high-rise buildings had been destroyed. The data could not be verified. When the two sides last met in person, Ukraine accused Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of ignoring calls to discuss a ceasefire, and Lavrov said a ceasefire was not even on the agenda. Since then, they have met repeatedly via video rather than face-to-face. Both sides have publicly discussed a formula under which Ukraine can accept some form of formal neutrality. But neither has given in to Russia’s territorial claims, including Crimea, which Moscow annexed and annexed in 2014, and the eastern territories known as Donbass, which Moscow is seeking to cede to the separatists. “I do not think there will be any progress on the main issues,” Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Vadim Denishenko said on Monday. In an interview with Russian journalists at the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cited some form of compromise on the Donbas, though he did not suggest that it could involve the transfer of land. In his latest comments overnight, he made it clear that “territorial integrity” remains Kiev’s priority.

Kremlin calls Biden’s statements “worrying”

The Kremlin, which regularly accuses the West of Ukraine, has so far given only a measured response to US President Joe Biden’s surprise comment on Putin at the end of a speech in Warsaw at the weekend: “In the name of God “This man can not stay in power.” Washington and NATO have stressed that Putin’s ouster is not US or allied policy, and Biden said on Sunday that he did not call for regime change. CLOCKS Odessa has largely escaped so far, but remains vigilant:

Odessa remains unharmed, but on alert

Ukraine’s Odessa has escaped any major Russian attacks so far, but residents of the large port city say that does not mean they can relax. 2:30
Asked Monday about Biden’s comment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov said: “This is a statement that is certainly worrying. “We will continue to monitor the US president’s statements more closely,” Peshkov told reporters. Earlier, Peshkov had said that it was up to the Russian people to choose their leader. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation” to disarm and “disarm” its neighbor. Kyiv and the West see this as a pretext for an unprovoked invasion that will try to overthrow the elected Ukrainian government.

Evacuation efforts were thwarted

Last week, Ukrainian forces launched an offensive, repelling Russian troops in areas around Kyiv, northeast and southwest. Russia, meanwhile, has continued to push south-east near separatist areas, including the devastating siege of Mariupol, which has been razed to the ground, while tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped inside. Refugees from Ukraine are waiting to be transported to the Medyka border crossing after crossing the Ukrainian-Polish border in southeastern Poland on Monday. (Angelos Tzortzinis / AFP / Getty Images)
Mayor Vadym Boichenko, who has fled the city and was speaking from an unknown location, said 26 buses were waiting to evacuate some of the 160,000 trapped civilians, but that Russia was denying safe passage. “The situation in the city remains difficult. People are beyond the bounds of humanitarian catastrophe,” Boychenko told national television. “We must completely evacuate Mariupol.” Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk said there were no plans to open corridors to evacuate civilians from besieged cities on Monday, amid reports of possible Russian “provocations” along the route. Elsewhere, Russia’s armored personnel carriers have struggled with supply problems and made little or no progress despite pounding in residential areas. Volunteers cover a monument to Princess Olga, Apostle Andrew, Cyril and Methodius with sandbags for protection as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine in central Kiev on Sunday. (Maxym Marusenko / NurPhoto / Getty Images)
“As of today, the enemy is regrouping its forces, but they can not move anywhere in Ukraine,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on Monday. The British Ministry of Defense also said that there has been no significant change in Russia’s position in the last 24 hours, with most Russian gains near Mariupol and heavy fighting going on there. The General Staff of Ukraine stated that the Kiev defense forces are holding back the Russian troops that are trying to break through from the northeast and northwest and occupy main roads and settlements. In the south, Ukrainian forces focused on defending the cities of Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia and Mykolayiv.