China News Agency, Beijing, March 19th. Comprehensive news: The head of the Russian negotiating delegation and Russian presidential assistant Mekinsky said on the 18th that Russia and Ukraine have "maximum convergence" on the issue of Ukraine's neutrality and non-joining NATO.
According to foreign media reports on the 19th, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has admitted that the Ukrainian armed forces have lost control of the Azov Sea outlet.
In addition, there are media reports that the sharp rise in food and energy prices triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict has a greater impact on the world's poor.
Data map: On March 4, local time, in Lviv, Ukraine, people took protective measures for buildings and sculptures in the historic district of Lviv city center.
The neighborhood was previously included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Russia says both sides have 'converged' on Ukraine's neutrality
The head of the Russian negotiating delegation and assistant to the Russian president, Mekinsky, said on the 18th that Ukraine's neutrality and commitment not to join NATO are one of the core issues of the negotiations, and the two sides have converged to the greatest extent on this.
According to him, there are still differences between the two sides' positions on the Ukrainian security guarantees-related agreement.
If Ukraine does not join NATO, Ukraine demands security guarantees from other countries.
According to Mekinsky, in the negotiation process between the two sides, the issue of "demilitarization" of Ukraine has been "half done".
But he said he was not authorized to disclose any details of the talks.
Mejinsky said it would be possible to talk about the possibility of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky only after the text of the agreement negotiated by the two sides is approved.
On the 19th local time, Podoljak, an adviser to the Ukrainian President's Office, said that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia may continue for several weeks.
Podoljak said the negotiating process could drag on longer, given the many mutually exclusive positions.
Uzbekistan will never make concessions on certain issues, such as the territorial issue.
The basic demands of Ukraine remain security guarantees, a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops.
Ukraine loses control of Azov sea outlet
According to a report by RIA Novosti on the 19th, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has admitted that the Ukrainian armed forces have lost control of the Azov Sea outlet.
According to Ukrainian media reports, the Ukrainian armed forces said they had only "temporarily lost" control of the Azov sea outlet.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Konashenkov said on the evening of the 18th that the Russian army used long-range high-precision weapons to strike Ukrainian military infrastructure that morning, destroying an aviation maintenance plant in Lviv and the fighter plane in Nikolai. Warehouses of ammunition and military equipment on the outskirts of the cities of Yev and Voznesensk.
Kyiv Mayor Klitschko said on social media on the 18th that a residential area in Kyiv was bombed, killing one person and injuring 19 others.
According to Ukrainian media reports, the aircraft repair plant in the western city of Lviv was bombed by the Russian army on the 18th.
Putin talks with French, German leaders on the phone
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron on the 18th, and the two sides discussed the situation in Ukraine.
In response to the concerns of the French side, Putin once again emphasized that the Russian armed forces will make every effort to protect people's lives during the "special military operation", including organizing humanitarian channels to safely evacuate people.
Macron expressed "extreme concern" about the situation in Mariupol, a city in the Donbas region, during the call, believing that the situation in Ukraine is deteriorating, the continuous bombing endangers the safety of civilians, and the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have not yet made substantial progress.
Macron again called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
According to the Kremlin website, Putin said in a phone call with German Chancellor Scholz on the 18th that the Russian armed forces are doing everything possible to save civilian lives, including setting up safety corridors for the evacuation of residents in combat areas.
Talking about the ongoing negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian representatives, Putin said that Ukraine is doing everything possible to delay the negotiation process and put forward more and more unrealistic proposals.
Nevertheless, the Russian side is still ready to continue to seek solutions to the problem with a well-known principled attitude.
According to a statement issued by the German federal government, Scholz urged an end to the fighting, improved humanitarian conditions and a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Data map: On March 8, local time, in Sumy, Ukraine, people were evacuating.
According to reports, two humanitarian corridors were opened that day, allowing civilians from the northeastern city of Sumy and the southeastern port city of Mariupol to evacuate.
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has a greater impact on the global poor, and nearly 6.5 million people have been displaced in Ukraine
According to a Reuters report on the 18th, the Center for Global Development said on the same day that the sharp rise in food and energy prices caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine will push more than 40 million people into extreme poverty, and warned of export restrictions and sanctions on Russian food production.
The "Wall Street Journal" reported on the 18th that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on the 17th that households around the world will feel the impact of rising energy and food prices brought about by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
OECD chief economist Laurence Boone said low-income earners around the world would be hit harder because food and energy accounted for a larger share of their spending than wealthier households.
On March 18, local time, a joint investigation report released by the International Organization for Migration showed that during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, nearly 6.5 million people have been displaced in Ukraine, and more than 3.2 million people have fled from Ukraine. One of the biggest immigration crises.
The report also noted that more than 12 million people are estimated to be unable to leave Ukraine due to security risks or road congestion.
Large numbers of displaced people forced to take refuge in overcrowded places with limited sanitation facilities, limited medical services, and potentially exacerbating the spread of coronavirus, HIV and tuberculosis in Ukraine, the United Nations said.
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