World News | Zelenskyy, Erdogan Discuss Evacuation

Kyiv, Apr 24 (AP) Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has discussed the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol in a call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Zelenskyy said on Twitter that he “stressed the need for immediate evacuation of civilians from Mariupol, including Azovstal, and immediate exchange of blocked troops” in Sunday's call with Erdogan. He noted that the call came before Erdogan's planned conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Ukraine has urged Russia to allow the evacuation of civilians holed up at the giant Azovstal steel plant, the last remaining Ukrainian pocket of resistance in the strategic Sea of Azov port. It also has pushed Russia to conduct talks on a safe exit for the Ukrainian defenders of the plant, but Moscow has stonewalled the demands.

Zelenskyy said he and Erdogan also discussed the course of the negotiation process and possible security guarantees for Ukraine from Turkey and other nations.

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Erdogan's office said he told Zelenskyy in their call that Turkey is ready to mediate and assist in talks between Ukraine and Russia.

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Vatican City: Pope Francis has renewed his call for an Easter truce as Orthodox Christians celebrated Easter Sunday, when the faithful mark the resurrection of Jesus.

Without naming countries, Francis urged aggressors to “stop the attack to help the suffering of the exhausted people.”

Francis told a crowd gathered in St Peter's Square that two months had passed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and said that “instead of stopping, the war got worse. It is sad that in these days that are the holiest and most solemn for all Christians, the deadly clamour of arms is louder than the sound of bells announcing the Resurrection.”

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Berlin: Switzerland has rejected two requests by Germany to export Swiss ammunition to Ukraine, citing the Alpine nation's strict neutrality.

The decision was first reported Sunday by Swiss weekly Sonntagszeitung.

Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs confirmed that “both requests from Germany, whether the ammunition received from Switzerland can be passed on to Ukraine, were answered negatively with a reference to Swiss neutrality.”

Germany needs Switzerland's consent for the arms delivery as part of the original sale contract. The Swiss office declined to specify what type of ammunition Germany had sought to export to Ukraine.

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Moscow: The Russian military says it has struck a Ukrainian explosives factory, several artillery depots and hundreds of other targets.

Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov said Sunday that the Russian military used precision-guided missiles to destroy a factory making powder and explosives near Pavlohrad in the Dnipro region in central Ukraine.

Konashenkov said Russian forces also struck several depots with artillery munitions and rockets in Barvinkove, Nova Dmytrivka, Ivanivka, Husarivka and Velyka Komyshuvakha in the Kharkiv region.

He added that the Russian artillery hit 423 Ukrainian targets overnight, including fortified positions and troops concentrations, while Russian warplanes destroyed 26 Ukrainian military targets.

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Istanbul: The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians has called for the opening of humanitarian corridors in Ukraine, saying a “human tragedy” was unfolding in the country.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I spoke Saturday night in Istanbul during midnight mass marking the resurrection of Jesus Christ ahead of Orthodox Easter Sunday.

“Let us ask the Risen Redeemer that this year, (Easter) will be the impetus to open humanitarian corridors, safe passages to truly safe areas for the thousands of people surrounded in Mariupol, civilians, among them the wounded, the elderly, women and many children,” Bartholomew said. “The same applies to all other regions of Ukraine, where an indescribable human tragedy is unfolding.”

Istanbul-based Bartholomew is considered first among equals among Eastern Orthodox patriarchs, which gives him prominence but not the power of a Catholic pope. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)