Ukraine war update, March 21: Biden to visit Poland, fight for Mariupol intensifies

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President Joe Biden will travel to Poland as part of his diplomatic outreach to the US’s NATO and other Western allies around the Russia-Ukraine war. He will stop in Warsaw on Friday “where he will hold a bilateral meeting with President Andrzej Duda.The President will discuss how the United States, alongside our Allies and partners, is responding to the humanitarian and human rights crisis that Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war on Ukraine has created,” according to a White House press statement.

Before heading to Warsaw, Biden will hold meetings in Brussels with NATO Allies, G7 Leaders, and European Union leaders to discuss international efforts to support Ukraine.

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The number of people dying in the war is nearing 1,000

In its latest update on civilian casualties in Ukraine due to the war, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights says from February 24 to March 19, it has recorded the deaths of 2,361 civilian casualties — 902 killed and 1,459 injured. As the UN agency puts out only numbers of verified deaths, the real number could be higher.

The war shows no sign of abating

The Russian Defense Ministry has asked Ukraine to surrender the port city of Mariupol by 5 am local time, blaming the “lawlessness” of Ukrainian nationalists for the “terrible humanitarian catastrophe” in the south-eastern city. It claimed that every day, from 80 to 235 innocent citizens who try to leave the city are dying as hostages of “Nazis” in the city, a demand that Russia has rejected. Ukraine has rejected the demand.

A statement by the Ministry of Defense on a Telegram channel said this: “The Ministry of Defense calls on Kyiv for prudence and the abolition of previously issued instructions that obliged the militants in Mariupol to sacrifice themselves.The Ministry of Defense insists on receiving a written response from Kyiv to the proposals made on Mariupol before 5 am.”

Separately, the Russian military appeals to the local authorities of Mariupol: now you have the right to make a historic choice – either you are with your people, or you are with bandits, otherwise the military tribunal that awaits you is just a little that you have already deserved.

To save civilians, the Russian Ministry of Defence announces the opening of humanitarian corridors from Mariupol from 10 am on March 21 – both in the eastern and western directions (as agreed with Kiev).

From 10 am to 12 pm, it is proposed to organise an exit from the city of Ukrainian military and foreign mercenaries without weapons (in this case, they are guaranteed to save their lives). Then the passage of humanitarian convoys into the city and the evacuation of civilians should follow.

Representatives of the UN, OSCE, Red Cross are invited to accompany this humanitarian operation “on the ground”.

Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Ministry of Transport and Communications Iryna Vereshchuk :”We can’t talk about surrendering weapons. We have already informed the Russian side about it. I wrote that instead of spending time on 8 pages of letters, just open the corridor.

We informed the UN and the ICRC. Now we are waiting for the reaction of the international community. It’s a deliberate manipulation and it’s a real hostage-taking.”

Zelensky says if talks fail, it could mean a third world war

The Ukrainian side is ready for negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said in an interview with the CNN.

“I’m ready for negotiations with him. I was ready for the last two years. And I think that without negotiations we cannot end this war. I think that we have to use any format, any chance in order to have a possibility of negotiating, possibility of talking to Putin,” Zelensky said. “But if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a third World War,” he added.

He also said Ukraine cannot give up its territorial integrity under any conditions.

I will leave you with an interesting article about how the war, and the sanctions have been imposed on Russia, spell doom for globalisation. Click here to read.

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