Volodymyr Zelensky threatens ‘impasse’ in Russia-Ukraine talks if troops eliminated from Mariupol

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky threatened to end peace talks with Russia on Saturday if the last Ukrainian troops stuck in Mariupol would be eliminated. The port city has been of the hardest-hit areas in Ukraine after it was invaded on February 24.

“The destruction of all our guys in Mariupol — what they are doing now — can put an end to any format of negotiations,”, Zelensky said in a televised interview. He added, “That will be an impasse as we do not negotiate neither our territories nor our people.”

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In an attempt to take back the key Ukrainian port city, Zelensky suggested two possible ways. “Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade.”

“Or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive”, Zelensky said was the second option, according to reports from Associated Press.

The negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow have not yielded much so far, at least in terms of containing the war. Russia said that it will retract its troops from the Ukrainian capital earlier this month, only to reposition them in the Eastern parts of the country.

Zelensky estimated that 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the war, and about 10,000 have been wounded. The office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general said Saturday that at least 200 children have been killed, and more than 360 wounded.

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Russian forces also have taken captive some 700 Ukrainian troops and more than 1,000 civilians, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Saturday.

Ukraine holds about the same number of Russian troops as prisoners and intends to arrange a swap but is demanding the release of civilians “without any conditions,” she said.