The ordeal of Mariupol, a strategic port city on the Sea of Azov, continues… and should continue. Its thousands of inhabitants could still remain stranded there. After a discussion between Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Poutine, this Tuesday, the Élysée estimated that a humanitarian operation in the city was not possible “at this stage”. A few days ago, at the end of the European Council, the French president had nevertheless announced a “humanitarian operation” of evacuation “in the very next few days”.
Around 160,000 people are still believed to be stuck in Mariupol. “What the Russian troops are doing in Mariupol is a crime against humanity, which is taking place live before the eyes of the planet”, lamented this Tuesday the Ukrainian president, during a videoconference intervention in front of the Danish Parliament, accusing Moscow of deliberately bombing the shelters of civilians in this besieged city. There are at least 5,000 dead in the city, authorities said. “They even blow up shelters when they know full well that civilians are hiding there, women, children and old people,” he also said.
The conditions for launching the humanitarian operation – proposed by France, Turkey and Greece – “are not met at this stage”, specified the Elysée. According to the Palace, Vladimir Putin said “he was going to think about it” before giving an answer, added the presidency. Until then, “there is no question of relaxing efforts” because the situation is “dramatic” and “catastrophic” in Mariupol. “For the moment, the war continues” and “our demands remain the same”, including that of a ceasefire, added the Elysée, refusing to comment on the results of the talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, described as “substantial” by negotiators on both sides.
Putin wants Ukrainians to lay down their arms
“To find a solution to the difficult humanitarian situation in this city, Ukrainian nationalist fighters must stop resisting and lay down their arms,” Vladimir Putin said, according to a Kremlin statement summarizing a telephone exchange with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin informed Emmanuel Macron of the “measures taken by the Russian army to provide emergency humanitarian aid and ensure the safe evacuation of civilians” in Ukraine. “It is agreed to continue contacts” between the Russian and French presidents, added the Kremlin.
Ukraine had announced earlier in the day a resumption of evacuations of civilians via three humanitarian corridors, in particular from the besieged city of Mariupol, after a day of suspension for fear of Russian “provocations”. The first corridor was to be established between Mariupol and Zaporozhye further north by car, and from Berdyansk, where civilians had already been evacuated in the previous days, to Zaporozhye.