Ukraine proposed adopting neutral status and a 15-year consultation period on the future of Russian-occupied Crimea as long as a complete ceasefire with Russian forces is agreed, negotiators said at the conclusion of peace talks in Istanbul on Tuesday. Despite Russian vows to "radically" reduce military operations near Kyiv and Chernigiv, Western officials urged caution. Read about the day's events as they unfolded on our live blog. All times indicated are Paris time [GMT+1].
06:14 am: Trump asks Putin to help dish dirt on Hunter Biden
Donald Trump has called on Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched an invasion of Ukraine last month, to reveal any compromising information he might have on US President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.
The former Republican president returned to accusations he had repeated many times during his unsuccessful campaign against Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
In an interview excerpt broadcast Tuesday by Real America’s Voice “Just the News” show, Trump claimed that the wife of the mayor of Moscow gave $3.5 million to Hunter Biden.
“That’s a lot of money,” he said. “She gave him $3.5 million so now I would think Putin would know the answer to that. I think he should release it.”
Trump has long claimed, without providing evidence, that the younger Biden received the funds from Elena Baturina, wife of the late Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, in a bid to curry favor with Joe Biden.
04:55 am: US State Department warns that Moscow may ‘detain’ Americans in Russia
The US State Department issued a travel advisory on Tuesday warning that Moscow “may single out and detain US citizens in Russia” and repeating earlier warnings for Americans not to travel to the country.
The warning was “due to the unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces” as well as the potential for harassment of US citizens by Russian authorities, the travel advisory said, repeating calls for Americans travelling or living in Russia to leave “immediately”.
03:57 am: Death toll in Mykolaiv strike rises to 12
At least 12 people were killed and 33 wounded on Tuesday when a Russian missile hit a regional government building in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, emergency officials said.
“The bodies of 12 people have been recovered from the site of the destruction and 33 people have been injured,” Ukraine’s emergencies agency said in a statement on Telegram.
Photos posted by the agency showed rescue workers clearing the rubble and a female medical worker in a red suit helping an injured man lying on a stretcher, his face bloodied.
Earlier in the day officials spoke of nine people being killed and 28 injured in the strike, which hit the nine-storey building shortly before 9 am local time, destroying the entire central part of the structure.
After a lull in the fighting that lasted several days, the attack on Tuesday morning surprised this city, which is home to half a million people in peacetime. Mykolaiv stands on the road to Odesa, Ukraine’s largest port in the south.
The front line in the region has recently shifted southeast to Mykolaiv, which is located near Kherson, the only major Ukrainian city that Russia claims to have taken under full control since the war started over a month ago.
03:06 am: With Ukraine farmers on frontlines, UN food chief warns of ‘devastation’
The UN food chief warned on Tuesday that the war in Ukraine was threatening to devastate the World Food Programme’s efforts to feed some 125 million people globally because Ukraine had gone “from the breadbasket of the world to breadlines.”
“It’s not just decimating dynamically Ukraine and the region, but it will have global context impact beyond anything we’ve seen since World War Two,” WFP Executive Director David Beasley told the 15-member United Nations Security Council.
Beasley said 50 percent of the grain bought by the WFP, the food-assistance branch of the United Nations, comes from Ukraine, “so you can only assume the devastation that this is going to have on our operations alone.”
“The farmers are on the frontlines,” he said.
Beasley added that the crisis was compounded by a lack of fertilizer products coming from Belarus and Russia.
“If you don’t put fertilizer on the crops, your yield will be at least 50% diminished. So we’re looking at what could be a catastrophe on top of a catastrophe in the months ahead,” he told the council.
02:48 am: Ukrainian military remains wary of Russian promises
The general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said Tuesday evening that Russia’s promise to curtail military operations in some areas was “probably a rotation of individual units and aims to mislead.”
01:14 am: Thousands of civilians may have died in Mariupol in past month, UN says
Thousands of civilians may have died in the besieged port city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine since bombing began four weeks ago, the head of the UN human rights mission told Reuters on Tuesday, providing its first estimate.
Nearly 5,000 people, including about 210 children, have been killed in Mariupol since Russian forces laid siege to it a month ago, a spokesperson for Mayor Vadym Boichenko said on Monday.
His office said 90% of Mariupol’s buildings had been damaged and 40% destroyed, including hospitals, schools, kindergartens and factories.
“We do think that there could be thousands of deaths, of civilian casualties, in Mariupol,” Matilda Bogner, head of the UN human rights mission in Ukraine which deploys some 60 monitors, said in a virtual interview.
She said the mission did not have a precise estimate but was working to gather more information.
Local officials, citing witness accounts, last week estimated that 300 people were killed in the March 16 bombing of a Mariupol theatre where people were sheltering.
As of Tuesday, the UN human rights office had confirmed 1,179 civilians killed and 1,860 injured across Ukraine in the five-week old conflict, amid reporting delays due to the hostilities, a statement said.
March 30, 00:36 am: Western diplomats accuse Russia of fuelling global food crisis
Western diplomats accused Russia before the UN Security Council on Tuesday of having caused a “global food crisis” and putting people at risk of “famine” by starting the war in Ukraine, which serves as a breadbasket for Europe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “started this war. Vladimir Putin created this global food crisis. And he is the one who can stop it,” US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said during a Security Council meeting devoted to the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.
France’s ambassador to the UN, Nicolas de Riviere, furthered that “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is increasing the risk of famine around the world” and that populations in developing countries would be the first to be affected.
“Russia will no doubt try to make us believe that it is the sanctions adopted against it that are creating an imbalance in the world security situation for food,” de Riviere added.
Moscow’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia indeed countered that potential turbulence in the global food market was in fact caused by “the unbridled sanctions hysteria that the West has unleashed against Russia.”
Sherman and the director of the World Food Program (WFP), David Beasley, reported that Ukraine and Russia, which are both major cereal producers, represent 30 percent of world wheat exports, 20 percent for corn and 75 percent for sunflower oil.
10:06 pm: Ukraine's Zelensky calls Russia talks 'positive' but wants to see results
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there were "positive" signals from peace talks with Russia on Tuesday but that there could be no talk of lifting sanctions until the war ends.
"We can say that the signals we hear from the negotiations are positive, but those signals do not drown out the explosions or Russian shells," Zelensky said in a video address late Tuesday.
Zelensky also expressed skepticism about Moscow's stated plan of a military de-escalation, saying: "We will not decrease our defense efforts". He added that there could be no talk of lifting Russia sanctions until the war ends.
10:01 pm: At least nine dead in airstrike in Ukraine's Mykolaiv
At least nine people were killed and 28 injured in a Russian missile strike on a regional government building in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, prosecutors said Tuesday.
"Russia's defence forces carried out a missile strike on the building of Mykolaiv state administration," the prosecutor general's office said on messaging app Telegram, citing investigators.
"According to information currently available, nine people have been killed and 28 have been injured," the prosecutor's office said. FRANCE 24's Gulliver Cragg reports from Kyiv.
9:25 pm: Russia 'repositioning' forces near Kyiv, not withdrawing, says Pentagon
Russia is "repositioning" a small number of its forces near Kyiv but is not withdrawing and the Ukrainian capital remains under threat, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
"We're seeing a small number now that appears to be moving away from Kyiv, this on the same day that the Russians say they're withdrawing," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
"But we're not prepared to call this a retreat or even a withdrawal," he said. "We think that what they probably have in mind is a repositioning to prioritize elsewhere."
"We all should be prepared to watch for a major offensive against other areas of Ukraine," Kirby said. "It does not mean that the threat to Kyiv is over.
"Russia has failed in its objective of capturing Kiev," the Pentagon spokesman said, but "they can still inflict massive brutality on the country including on Kyiv".
7:37 pm: Biden, European allies agree to 'continue raising costs on Russia' over Ukraine
US President Joe Biden and key Western European allies agreed Tuesday in a phone call to keep punishing Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, the White House said.
"The leaders affirmed their determination to continue raising costs on Russia for its brutal attacks in Ukraine, as well as to continue supplying Ukraine with security assistance to defend itself," according to a White House statement issued after Biden spoke with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
"They also discussed the importance of supporting stable energy markets in light of current disruptions due to sanctions," the statement said.
7:11 pm: Macron says no Mariupol humanitarian mission possible 'at this stage'
The conditions for carrying out a humanitarian operation sought by France to help citizens in the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol jave not been met "at this stage", President Emmanuel Macron's office said after the French leader spoke by telephone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Macron outlined the mission sought alongside Turkey and Greece to Putin, who responded that "he was going to think about it" before responding, an Élysée Palace official said.
7:00 pm: Ukrainian forces are not only holding Russian troops at bay but actively pushing them back
Ukrainian troops say they are slowing pushing back Russian forces from the city of Kharkiv. FRANCE 24’s Catherine Norris Trent reports from Ukraine's second-largest city.
6:58 pm: US, Europe urge West not to drop guard against Russia
The leaders of the United States, UK, France, Germany and Italy on Tuesday urged the West not to drop its guard against Russia after Moscow signalled it would scale down fighting around two Ukrainian cities.
"They agreed there could be no relaxation of Western resolve until the horror inflicted on Ukraine is over," they said, according to a read-out from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Downing Street office.
The reduction in military activity would take place around the capital, Kyiv, and the city of Chernigiv, the Kremlin said.
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said it remains to be seen whether Russia follows through with any actions to scale down its military operations in Ukraine, saying Washington and its allies will continue with strong sanctions and aid for Ukraine.
"We'll see if they follow through with what they're suggesting" as Moscow-Kyiv negotiations continue, he told reporters at the White House following his meeting with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore.
"We're going to continue to keep a close eye on what's going on."
6:50 pm: Russia-backed Donetsk Republic will consider joining Russia, says separatist leader
The Russia-backed self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine may consider joining Russia once it controls all of Ukraine's Donetsk region. "The main task is to reach the constitutional borders of the republic. Then we will determine that," the Donetsk News Agency quoted Denis Pushilin as saying.
6:49 pm: Blinken says no sign Russia is 'serious' on Ukraine peace efforts
Washington has not seen "signs of real seriousness" from Russia in pursuing peace after its invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday, even as talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Turkey sparked hopes of progress toward ending the war.
Blinken said it was up to Ukraine to characterize whether there was real progress in the talks, but added the United States was focused on Russia's actions, not its words.
"What Russia is doing is the continued brutalization of Ukraine and its people, and that continues as we speak," Blinken told reporters during a visit to Morocco, calling on Moscow to end its aggression now and pull its forces back.
6:47 pm: Putin tells Macron 'nationalists' in Mariupol must lay down arms, says Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday Ukrainian "nationalists" in the embattled city of Mariupol must lay down their arms as he discussed the conflict with French leader Emmanuel Macron, the Kremlin said.
"It was stressed that in order to resolve the difficult humanitarian situation in this city (Mariupol), Ukrainian nationalist militants must stop resisting and lay down their arms," the Kremlin said in a statement.
6:19 pm: US official warns any Russian troop movement around Kyiv 'not a withdrawal'
Any movement of Russian forces from around Kyiv would constitute a “redeployment, not a withdrawal”, a US official said on Tuesday after Russia promised to scale down military operations near the Ukrainian capital.
“We believe any movement of Russian forces from around Kyiv is a redeployment, not a withdrawal. And the world should be prepared for continued major offensives against other areas of Ukraine,” the official said, adding: “They are shifting gears ... No one should mistake that for Russia ending the conflict.”
5:12 pm: Russia has repeatedly fired hypersonic missiles at Ukraine targets, says US general
Russia has repeatedly fired hypersonic missiles at Ukrainian military targets, the top US military commander in Europe, Air Force General Tod Wolters, told a Senate hearing on Tuesday.
"Most of those strikes have been designated at specific military targets," Wolters said.
Russia announced on March 19 that it used hypersonic Kinzhal (Dagger) missiles to destroy a large weapons depot in Ukraine's western Ivano-Frankivsk region.
4:50 pm: Ukraine's negotiation positions
Ukraine made a series of proposals at talks held Tuesday in Turkey with Russia on resolving the month-long conflict.
Here is a summary of the major proposals:
1) Security guarantees
Ukraine wants legally binding security guarantees from Western countries, which it says will be equivalent to or better than NATO's collective security guarantee.
"We want an international mechanism of security guarantees where guarantor countries will act in a similar way to NATO's article number five -- and even more firmly," David Arakhamia, a Ukrainian negotiator, told reporters after talks with the Russian delegation.
2) Neutrality not NATO
With such security guarantees Ukraine could become neutral, which in effect means it would drop its aspirations to join NATO.
"Ukraine would accept neutral status if the security guarantees work," said Arakhamia.
3) No foreign military bases
With foreign security guarantees in place, Ukraine "won't host on its territory any foreign military base", said Okesandr Chaly, another Ukrainian negotiator at the talks.
4) EU membership
Kyiv insisted that the international accord on the country's security not block Ukraine's possible membership in the EU.
5) Territorial integrity
Ukraine proposes to sidestep the question of Crimea and the breakaway territories in the eastern Donbas region.
In order for the security guarantees to quickly come into force the accord would "temporarily exclude" these areas, said Arakhamia.
4:00 pm: ‘The destruction is massive in Kharkiv’
“In the city centre, government and official buildings are devastated and people are literally picking up the pieces of this town,” says FRANCE 24's Catherine Norris Trent. She describes a city pounded by Russian artillery, where the explosions continue.
3:33 pm: Turkey hails Istanbul talks as 'most significant progress’ since war began
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said talks Tuesday between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul marked the "most significant progress" since war broke out between the two countries.
Speaking after three hours of talks between delegations from both Moscow and Kyiv, Cavusoglu said the discussions represented "the most significant progress since negotiations began" following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Talks would not resume on Wednesday, he added. FRANCE 24's Jasper Mortimer reports.
3:28 pm: Russia to 'radically' reduce military activity around Kyiv
Russia will "radically" reduce its military activity in northern Ukraine, including near the capital Kyiv, after "meaningful" talks in Istanbul, Moscow's negotiators said Tuesday.
"Given that the talks on the preparation of an agreement on the neutrality and non-nuclear status of Ukraine have moved into a practical field... a decision has been made to radically... reduce the military activity in the areas of Kyiv and Chernigiv," said Russia's Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin.
Chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said there had been a "meaningful discussion" at the talks and that Ukrainian proposals would be put to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"After today's meaningful discussion we have agreed on and proposed a solution, according to which the meeting of the heads of state is possible simultaneously with the foreign ministers initialling the treaty," Medinsky added.
"On the condition of quick work on the agreement and finding the required compromise, the possibility to make peace will become much closer," he said.
3:08 pm: Ukraine proposes Moscow drop any opposition to it joining EU, Russian official says
Russian lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on Tuesday that Kyiv's proposals to Moscow at talks in Istanbul included one that Russia would not oppose Ukraine joining the European Union.
He made the comment in footage broadcast on state television after talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul.
3:00 pm: Ruble surges 10% on Ukraine-Russia talks progress
The ruble, which fell sharply following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, surged by more than 10 percent against the dollar on Tuesday following progress in talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
The Russian currency stood at 85.42 rubles to the dollar at around 12:45 PM GMT. It had plunged to an unprecedented level of 150 to the greenback in recent weeks.
1:57 pm: Ukraine proposes adopting neutral status in exchange for security guarantees
Ukraine proposed adopting neutral status in exchange for security guarantees at the latest round of talks with Russia, meaning it would not join military alliances or host military bases, Ukrainian negotiators said on Tuesday.
The proposals would also include a 15-year consultation period on the status of annexed Crimea and could come into force only in the event of a complete ceasefire, the negotiators told reporters in Istanbul.
1:47 pm: Russian negotiator says Putin-Zelensky meeting possible
A Russian spokesman in Istanbul said that a future meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is possible.
1:43 pm: Ukraine negotiator says Kyiv will not compromise on 'international borders'
Kyiv will not recognise any compromise over 'the international borders of Ukraine', a Ukrainian negotiator said after peace talks with a Russia in Istanbul on Tuesday.
1:36 pm: French sportswear retailer Decathlon suspends activities in Russia
Decathlon, the sportswear arm of a French retail empire facing criticism for staying in Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, said on Tuesday it was now suspending activities in the country due to supply difficulties.
Decathlon is owned by the Mulliez family, which is also behind DIY retailer Leroy Merlin and food retailer Auchan, both of which continue to operate in Russia.
"In strict compliance with international sanctions, Decathlon notes that the supply conditions are no longer met to continue its activity in Russia. Decathlon has to suspend the operation of its stores," it said in a statement.
12:24 pm: Macron to speak with Putin later today
French President Emmanuel Macron is due to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin later this Tuesday, according to the French presidential palace.
11:58 am: Ukraine looking to secure humanitarian relief at Istanbul peace talks
FRANCE 24's Jasper Mortimer reports.
11:35 am: Ukraine-Russia peace talks begin in Istanbul
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators began the first direct peace talks in more than two weeks on Tuesday in Istanbul, amid Moscow's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
In a speech ahead of the talks, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the delegations the time had come for concrete results and that progress would pave the way for a meeting of the countries' two leaders.
"It is up to the sides to stop this tragedy. Achieving a ceasefire and peace as soon as possible is to the benefit of everyone. We think we have now entered a period where concrete results are needed from talks," he said.
"The negotiating process, which you have been carrying out under the orders of your leaders, has raised hopes for peace."
Ukrainian television said the meeting began with "a cold welcome" and no handshake between the delegations.
11:22 am: IAEA chief in Ukraine for talks on ensuring safety of nuclear facilities
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi is in Ukraine for talks with senior government officials about ensuring the safety and security of its nuclear facilities, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday.
"This conflict is already causing unimaginable human suffering and destruction," Grossi said in a statement. "The IAEA's expertise and capabilities are needed to prevent it from also leading to a nuclear accident."
Grossi will also visit one of Ukraine's nuclear power plants this week.
10:58 am: Russian strike hits government building in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv
A Russian strike battered the regional government building in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, a key port under heavy assault for weeks, the regional governor said Tuesday.
"The regional administration building was hit," governor Vitaly Kim wrote on Facebook. He said that most people inside the building had not been injured but several civilians and soldiers were unaccounted for.
"We're clearing the rubble. Half the building was destroyed. My office was hit," Kim said in a video statement.
"Eight civilians are still under the rubble. We hope to be able to get them out," he said.
9:15 am: Kyiv having a ‘breather’ after counterattack by Ukrainian forces in suburb Irpin
The capital is 'having a bit of a breather' after Ukraine's forces successfully counterattacked Russian forces in the northwest suburb of Irpin. FRANCE 24's Gulliver Cragg explains that the advances don't mean fighting will end in Irpin: Makariv, a city about 65 kilometres west of Kyiv, was shelled Monday night after being retaken by Ukraine.
9:07 am: Russia’s Wagner Group has deployed mercenaries to eastern Ukraine, UK says
Russia's Wagner Group has deployed its mercenaries to eastern Ukraine, the UK's ministry of defence said Monday, adding that over 1,000 would likely take part in fighting following Russian military setbacks.
"They are expected to deploy more than 1,000 mercenaries, including senior leaders of the organisation, to undertake combat operations," the ministry said.
8:56 am: Ukraine wants to open three evacuation corridors, including from Mariupol
Ukraine hopes to open three humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from besieged towns and cities on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. She said this would include trying to establish a safe corridor for people to leave the encircled southern port city of Mariupol in private vehicles.
A total of 1,099 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities through humanitarian corridors on Monday, a senior official said.
8:29 am: Turkey has played role of mediator in Ukraine war – and also supplied Kyiv with military drones
Turkey "is by no means neutral" amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, having supplied Kyiv with military drones and having said that the invasion contravenes international law. But Ankara has also played the role of mediator. FRANCE 24's Jasper Mortimer reports.
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8:08 am: Russian forces still pose threat to Kyiv despite Ukraine’s counterattacks, UK says
Russia poses a significant threat to Kyiv through its forces’ strike capability even though Ukrainian forces continue localised counterattacks to the northwest of the city, British military intelligence said on Tuesday.
Russian forces have maintained their offensive on Mariupol with continuous heavy shelling of the city, the UK’s ministry of defence said in a statement. "However the centre of the city remains under Ukrainian control."
Elsewhere, Russian forces are maintaining blocking positions while attempting to reorganise and reset their forces, it added.
7:21 am: Ukrainian and Russian delegations prepare for talks in Istanbul
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said peace talks in Istanbul would focus on easing the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, with securing a ceasefire the top objective.
"The minimum programme will be humanitarian questions, and the maximum programme is reaching an agreement on a ceasefire," Kuleba said Tuesday.
Ahead of the talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country is prepared to declare its neutrality, as Moscow has demanded, and is open to compromise on the fate of the Donbas, the contested region in the country’s east.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)
