Ukraine sets ceasefire goal for new Russia talks

KHARKIV, Ukraine- Airstrike sirens sounded across Ukraine just before dawn on Tuesday as Ukrainian and Russian negotiators prepare to meet for face-to-face talks in Turkey, the Kyiv region or Wants a ceasefire without compromising on sovereignty.

Ukraine and the United States have little hope of any progress in the meeting, the first direct talks between the two sides in more than two weeks, although Russia’s attack appears to have stalled on several fronts.

More than a month into the war, the biggest attack on a European nation since World War Two, more than 3.8 million people have fled abroad, thousands have been killed and injured, and Russia’s economy has been pummelled by sanctions.

In the besieged southern port city of Mariupol nearly 5,000 people have been killed, including about 210 children, according to figures from the mayor. Reuters was unable to immediately verify the numbers.

Survivors have told harrowing tales of people dying from lack of medical treatment, bodies being buried wherever space could be found, and women giving birth in basements.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said of the talks in Turkey: “We are not trading people, land or sovereignty.”