Washington [US], April 21 (ANI/Sputnik): The United States will not be present on the ground or in the air to assist with the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol, a senior Defense Department official said on Thursday.

"There's not going to be US presence on the ground to help with the evacuation," the official said. "There's not going to be a US aircraft in the air to do that, nor has there been throughout this conflict."

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On Wednesday, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said there was some hope that Russia might allow safe passage for civilians and wounded soldiers from Mariupol and that NATO allies will be involved if it happens.

Nuland also said it is up to Russia to allow such a passage since the evacuation arrangement has fallen apart a number of times before.

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On February 24, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk requested help to defend them from intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops. Russia said that the aim of its special operation is to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine.

On April 16, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Mariupol was under control of the Russian forces and the remaining Ukrainian forces there were completely surrounded at the Azovstal metallurgical plant. The Russian military has asked them to lay down their arms, with the most recent "silence regime" introduced from 2:00 p.m. Moscow time (11:00 GMT) on Tuesday but nobody used the regime and humanitarian corridors to leave the plant. (ANI/Sputnik)

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