Evacuation Of Citizens And Troops From Mariupol, Ukraine Offers Talks With Russia

Illustration of conditions in Mariupol Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/MVS.gov.ua/Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - Ukraine's senior negotiator on Wednesday offered to hold special talks with Russia in Mariupol, without conditions, in a bid to evacuate troops and civilians from the besieged port city.

In a tweet, negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said it was important to save our people, (far right) Azov (battalion), military, civilians, children, the living and the wounded".

Ukraine accused Russian troops on Wednesday of failing to abide by a local ceasefire agreement long enough to allow large numbers of women, children and the elderly to flee the city, much of which has been crushed to rubble by Russian forces.

The remaining fighters hid in a sprawling steel mill, ignoring an earlier ultimatum by Russia to surrender and explaining Wednesday that their stance has not changed.

David Arakhamia, the second negotiator, said in an online post that he and Podolyak were in constant contact with Ukrainian troops in the city.

"Today, in conversation with the city's defenders, a proposal was put forward to hold direct negotiations, on site, on the evacuation of our military garrison," he said.

"For us, we are ready to arrive for such negotiations at any time as soon as we receive confirmation from the Russian side."

Meanwhile, a senior member of the Azov Battalion, now integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces and leading the defense of Mariupol, previously said troops in Ukraine had rejected Russia's requests to lay down arms and surrender.

They are seeking a deal to allow civilians to leave, but say continued Russian shelling and failure to enforce a ceasefire had made evacuations impossible.

"Therefore, I call for this guarantee to be enforced. Only with the help of a third party can civilians leave the factory," Azov's deputy commander, Svyatoslav Palamar, said in the appeal video.

Azov, he said, had asked Podolyak and Arakhamia to come to the city for joint talks with Russia's top negotiators.

"Let me say, we do not accept the conditions set by the Russian Federation for surrendering our weapons and our defenders surrendering themselves as prisoners," Palamar said.