April 5, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has cast doubt on the possibility of meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin after he accused Russia of genocide.

"It might happen that there will be no negotiations," Zelensky said on Ukrainian state TV on Tuesday. 

Zelensky said it would be understandable to not speak to Putin after accusing Russian troops of carrying out war crimes in Ukraine. "It would be easy to say I’m not going to talk to you -- and it would be understandable, after what you have done, that’s why."

A meeting could happen if Russia were to "bear all the punishments" of committing genocide, he said.

Zelensky paid a visit to the Kyiv suburb of Bucha on Monday, an area where shocking images of civilian bodies strewn on the streets emerged over the weekend. During the visit he said that it was "very difficult to negotiate" with Russia "when you see what they have done here."

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, long an advocate of Western rapprochement with Russia, expressed regret for his earlier stance, saying his years of support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline had been a clear mistake.

Steinmeier, a Social Democrat who served as Foreign Minister under Chancellor Angela Merkel before being elevated to the presidency, said Russia's invasion of Ukraine meant he and others had to reckon honestly with what they had got wrong.

Steinmeier was a prominent member of a wing of his Social Democratic Party, led by former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, that argued close economic ties to Russia were a way of anchoring it within a Western-oriented global system.

The now-canceled Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which critics said would have weakened Ukraine by cutting it out of the energy transit business, was a centerpiece of that strategy.

When Steinmeier arranged a "solidarity concert" for Ukraine, Melnyk tweeted sarcastically that the only soloists appeared to be Russian. "An affront," he wrote. "Sorry, I'm not coming."

Germany's president is meant to be a unifying figure who stands above the cut and thrust of daily politics, one who enjoys the moral authority to exhort people to better behavior.

Top European Union diplomats will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv this week, according to the chief spokesperson of the European Commission.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the EU’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, will meet Zelensky "prior to the pledging event ‘Stand Up For Ukraine’ on Saturday in Warsaw," spokesman Eric Mamer said.

Last week, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, traveled to meet with Zelensky and addressed a special session of the Ukrainian parliament.

Her visit was welcomed by the Ukrainian leader who, in a speech posted to social media, called it an "important moment" for the country. 

Last month, the Prime Ministers of Poland, Czech Republic and Slovenia journeyed to Kyiv.

The Russian military has claimed it carried out long-range strikes with sea-launched missiles on what it described as a training center for Ukrainian special operations forces in southern Ukraine.

CNN could not immediately verify that claim. The Russian military describes foreigners who have volunteered to fight for Ukraine as "mercenaries."

Konashenkov added that Russian forces air-launched precision missiles targeting fuel storage facilities in four locations: In Kremenets, Cherkasy, Zaporizhzhia and Novomoskovsk.

Russian forces have targeted fuel supply and storage facilities around Ukraine since the invasion.

Ukraine needs "serious players who are ready to go all the way" when it comes to security guarantees, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Speaking to journalists on Ukrainian state TV Tuesday, Zelensky said Ukraine has not yet received "a specific list of these countries that are prepared to 100% stand up for us."

He said Ukraine is currently discussing security guarantees with countries including France, US, Germany, Turkey, Britain and Poland.

These countries need to be states "who have real influence over the sanctions policy" and who are prepared to mobilize "as soon as we hear any threats from the Russian Federation," he added.

On the topic of NATO membership, Zelensky said that even if Russia "sets it as a condition" that Ukraine does not join the alliance, the country has "given away too many lives not to be frank."

South Korea’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has expressed concern over the alleged massacre of civilians in Ukraine.

The discovery of civilian bodies strewn across streets as well as a mass grave in Bucha, outside Kyiv, has stirred international outrage.

The ministry also said it supports UN Secretary General António Guterres’ earlier statement which called for an independent investigation on the killing of civilians in Bucha.

Aid workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were detained in Russian-held territory while attempting to evacuate desperate residents of Mariupol, a spokesperson told CNN Tuesday.

An evacuation convoy of seven buses accompanied by the ICRC was held up Monday in Manhush, a Russian-held town to the west of Mariupol, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. 

Vereshchuk announced the ICRC team's release in a statement posted to Telegram earlier on Tuesday, remarking that "despite the promises of their leadership, the [Russian] occupying forces do not allow anyone to go to Mariupol."

"The occupiers blocked representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Manhush. They were released last night after negotiations and sent to Zaporizhzhia," Vereshchuk added.

The ICRC said it remains "focused" on efforts to evacuate people in the besieged city of Mariupol.

The ICRC delegation set off on its journey from Zaporizhzhia to Mariupol last Saturday, an ICRC press officer told CNN.

Vereshchuk said a total of seven humanitarian corridors are planned for Tuesday around Ukraine, and that a convoy of seven buses was on its way from Manhush to nearby Berdiansk, accompanied by the ICRC.

Some context: Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said Monday his city was "on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe," with more than 100,000 people still requiring evacuation.

Boichenko said no evacuation buses had yet reached Mariupol, despite agreements between Russia and Ukraine to open humanitarian corridors. Some residents, he said, had managed to reach the nearby Russian-held city of Berdiansk in private cars, but added that the route was "very difficult and intermittent.

The situation in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine is "difficult" amidst heavy Russian bombardment, according to Serhii Haidai, chair of the Luhansk regional military administration.

Some context: The Russian military has said it is focusing its efforts on the eastern Donbas region following a withdrawal of forces from around Kyiv and northern Ukraine.

Haidai said last week attempts had been underway to evacuate civilians from small towns in his region, even without such agreements with the Russian side.

The Japanese government will provide an additional $100 million of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and neighboring countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday.

The funds will be used to support medical and food assistance efforts, the ministry said in a statement, as well as for those displaced and in other countries such as Poland, Moldova and Romania.

This will bring the total amount of aid provided to $200 million since the first package was announced on March 11, the ministry said.

Some of the nine international and Japanese organizations that have received funds include the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), according to the ministry.