Europe 1 with AFP 07:16, March 30, 2022

On the 35th day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the country and its Western allies are skeptically awaiting the 'reduction of military activity' around kyiv and another major city announced by Moscow after talks of peace.

However, caution was called for within the Ukrainian general staff.

Europe 1 takes stock of the evolution of the situation.

THE ESSENTIAL

Ukraine and its Western allies on Wednesday awaited with skepticism the "reduction of military activity" around kyiv and another major city announced by Moscow following peace talks, in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said seen "positive" signs.

“We can say that the signals we are hearing in the negotiations are positive, but they do not make us forget the explosions or the Russian shells,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message on Tuesday.

And after about five weeks of war, thousands of victims and millions of refugees, caution was also called for within the Ukrainian general staff.

The main information:

- "substantial" talks

- nearly four million refugees

- 12 dead in Mykolaiv

Towards a Zelensky-Putin meeting?

The conditions for a first meeting between the Ukrainian president and his Russian counterpart since the start of the Russian invasion are now possible, kyiv and Moscow said after several hours of Russian-Ukrainian talks on Tuesday in Istanbul.

"As the negotiations on an agreement on the neutrality and non-nuclear status of Ukraine entering a practical dimension (...), it was decided, in order to increase confidence, to drastically reduce military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Cherniguiv," the Russian Deputy Defense Minister said.

“We can say that the signals we are hearing in the negotiations are positive, but they do not make us forget the explosions or the Russian shells,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message on Tuesday.

Ukraine will agree to be neutral if it obtains an "international agreement" to guarantee its security, of which several countries would be signatories acting as guarantors, detailed the Ukrainian chief negotiator in Istanbul, David Arakhamia.

Wary Westerners

The American, French, British, German and Italian leaders were cautious after the announcement of these advances in the Russian-Ukrainian talks.

"We'll see if they keep their word," US President Joe Biden told reporters on Tuesday, shortly after meeting with French, British, German and Italian leaders.

“There seems to be a consensus that you have to see what they have to offer,” he added.

In London, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not say otherwise.

London will judge "Putin and his regime by his deeds, not his words," he said.

The UK will hold a donors' conference on Thursday to mobilize more lethal weapons for Ukraine.

European stock markets have returned to optimism by ending up sharply.

Putin asks Ukrainian nationalists to "lay down their arms"

Vladimir Putin demanded on Tuesday that the Ukrainian "nationalists" in Mariupol "lay down their arms" so that we can "find a solution to the humanitarian situation" in this strategic port, according to a press release from the Kremlin published after an exchange with Emmanuel Macron.

The latter for his part estimated that the conditions for launching in the coming days a humanitarian operation to help the inhabitants of this besieged city were "not met at this stage".

Volodymyr Zelensky called the Russian attacks on Mariupol a "crime against humanity, which is taking place live before the eyes of the planet".

In a videoconference before the Danish Parliament, he accused Moscow of deliberately bombing civilian shelters there.

Death toll in Mykolaiv rises to 12

Twelve people were killed and at least 33 others injured Tuesday in a Russian strike that partially destroyed the building of the regional administration of Mykolaiv, in southern Ukraine, according to a new report given by Ukrainian relief.

Russian forces have also bombed the military airfield of Starokostiantyniv (west), destroying all fuel stocks in this city, announced its mayor.

Are Americans at risk of being arbitrarily arrested in Russia?

American citizens in Russia risk being arbitrarily arrested by the authorities, the United States State Department warned on Tuesday, which renewed its call not to travel to the country or to leave it immediately.

Russia accused of causing a global food crisis

Before the UN Security Council, Russia was accused on Tuesday of having caused a "world food crisis" or even of putting people at risk of "famine" by having started a war against Ukraine, the "breadbasket wheat of Europe".

Russian President "Vladimir Putin started this war. He created this world food crisis. And he is the one who can stop it", hammered the number two of American diplomacy Wendy Sherman during a meeting of the Security Council devoted to the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.

On Europe 1, economist Bruno Parmentier warned of the risk of a global food crisis caused by the conflict in Ukraine.

Nearly four million refugees

The number of refugees who have fled Ukraine since the invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin is approaching the symbolic bar of 4 million which could be crossed in the next few days, according to the UN, estimating at almost 6.5 million the number internally displaced persons.

With 3,901,713 Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children, Europe has not seen such a flood of refugees since World War II.