The Ukrainian Parliament majority Sluha Narodu Party has proposed to sign a new security guarantee agreement for Ukraine with the US, Turkey, and Russia instead of NATO membership.
“The alliance is not ready to admit Ukraine over the course of at least the next 15 years and has made this clear,” the Sluha Narodu (Servant of the People) party announced. Therefore, it said, it was time to discuss concrete security guarantees with Russia.
By signing the agreement, Sluha Narodu suggested “Russia will be under a legal obligation to recognise Ukrainian statehood and refrain from threatening the Ukrainian people and its government,” Ukrayinska Pravda reported.
According to the United Nations, on the 14th day of the conflict the number of refugees taking refuge across Ukraine’s borders to escape towns devastated by shelling and air strikes has exceeded two million, Al-Jazeera reported today.
Buses streamed out through an evacuation corridor from the northeastern city of Sumy — where 21 people were killed in air strikes overnight — while civilians on foot took an unofficial escape route out of the bombarded Kyiv suburb of Irpin.
But Ukraine accused Russia of attacking a corridor from the beleaguered southern port city of Mariupol, where aid workers said tens of thousands were living in “apocalyptic” conditions.
Kyiv has branded the corridors a publicity stunt as many of the exit routes lead into Russia or its ally Belarus. Both sides accuse each other of ceasefire violations.
US President Joe Biden said Ukraine would “never be a victory” for Putin, as he announced the measures targeting the energy sector that props up the Russian economy and its war effort.
The Pentagon estimated that between 2,000 and 4,000 Russian soldiers had been killed so far. Russia said on March 2 that 498 Russian troops had been killed in Ukraine.
