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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

Zelenskiy Says Russia’s Actions Bear Signs of Genocide, Rejects Talks in Belarus

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy - AFP

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the world on Sunday to scrap Russia's voting power at the UN Security Council and said Russian actions verged on "genocide."

"This is terror. They are going to bomb our Ukrainian cities even more, they are going to kill our children even more subtly. This is the evil that has come to our land and must be destroyed," Zelenskiy said on a short video message.

"Russia's criminal actions against Ukraine bear signs of genocide," he added, Reuters reported.

Also, an adviser to Zelenskiy told Reuters on Sunday that Ukraine wants only "real" negotiations with Russia over its military offensive, without ultimatums, calling Moscow's decision to send a delegation to Belarus for talks "propaganda".

Earlier the Kremlin said a Russian delegation had arrived in Gomel in neighboring Belarus and was waiting for the

Ukrainians.

Zelenskiy rejected talks in Belarus, accusing it of allowing Russian troops through its territory to invade. However, he left the door open for negotiations elsewhere.

"They arrived in Gomel knowing that it was pointless. And now they say - 'we are waiting,'" adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters.

"Zelenskiy's position remains unchanged: only real negotiations, no ultimatums."

For his part, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko called on Kyiv on Sunday to sit down and hold talks with Russia so that Ukraine does not lose its statehood, Russia's RIA news agency reported.

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