Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk stated Monday that no agreement has been made with Russia on a passage for the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol.

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“Today, the Russian side once again announced the existence of a corridor for civilians to leave Azovstal,” she said in a statement on Telegram. “This could be believed if the Russians had not broken the humanitarian corridors many times before. I know what I am saying because, on behalf of the president, I am personally conducting such negotiations and organizing humanitarian corridors. It is important to understand that the humanitarian corridor is opened by agreement of both sides. The corridor, announced unilaterally, does not provide security, and therefore, in fact, is not a humanitarian corridor,” Vereshchuk said.

“So, I declare officially and publicly: unfortunately, there are no agreements on humanitarian corridors from Azovstal today,” she added.

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Russia’s Ministry of Defense published a statement Monday promising to halt all hostilities near the Azovstal complex, a huge facility where Ukrainian forces remain entrenched, in order to allow civilians to flee “in any direction they choose.”

According to Vereshchuk, the Ukrainian side has requested that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres begin and guarantee an evacuation path for civilians from Azovstal. Guterres will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin separately.

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“In particular, we ask that representatives of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross be present in the humanitarian column,” Vereshchuk said. “We hope for the effectiveness of the UN Secretary General’s talks with Russian representatives.”