Zelensky ready to discuss status of Crimea and Donbas with Putin

PanARMENIAN.Net - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed an offer of direct peace talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin overnight to Tuesday, March 22, declaring the status of Russia-occupied Crimea and two self-declared pro-Moscow republics in Donbas could be up for debate and a possible referendum, France 24 reports.

Zelensky told local media that he was ready to meet Putin “in any format” to discuss ending the almost one-month-old war that has shattered several Ukrainian cities.

Kyiv on Monday night entered a new, longer curfew that is scheduled to last until Wednesday morning because authorities expect the Ukrainian capital to come under further shelling by Russian forces.

The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Boryspil, just east of Kyiv and close to the Boryspil International Airport, is urging civilians to leave the city because of fighting nearby.

“There is no need to be in the city now as there is already fighting going on in the area around it. I call on the civilian population to be smart, reach out to our call centre and leave town as soon as an opportunity arises,” Mayor Volodymyr Borysenko said in a video address.