Mariupol residents forced to evacuate to Russia; Turkey says Putin not willing to meet Zelensky

Authorities in Mariupol have claimed that Russian forces were forcing civilians of the besieged Ukrainian city to evacuate to Russia, while some were also being asked to move to remote areas.

In a statement on Saturday, the Mariupol City Council said the Russian forces took residents of the Left Bank district, as well as citizens, mostly women and children, who were hiding in a shelter under the building of a sports club, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

Units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine withdrew from the sports club and nearby residential buildings in an effort to stop the Russians from attacking these areas of concentrated population.

"Russian troops took advantage of this and captured the residents," the City Council added.

The Council further claimed that the citizens were forcibly deported to Russia but were first placed in filtration camps.

After checking documents and mobile phones, some were sent to remote Russian regions, it added.

"What the occupiers are doing today is familiar to the older generation, who saw the horrific events of World War II, when the Nazis forcibly captured people. It is hard to imagine people being forcibly deported in the 21st century," said Mayor Vadym Boychenko.

"Not only are Russian troops destroying our peaceful Mariupol, but they have also gone even further and started deporting Mariupol residents. All Russian war crimes must be severely punished."

Street fighting and aerial attacks are continuing in the centre of the strategic southern port of Mariupol, as Russian forces are trying to seize control of the city.

The Mariupol City Council has said that the Russians drop 50 to 100 bombs on the city every day. Eighty-ninety per cent of the buildings have been destroyed as a result, with irreparable damages.

The situation is desperate, with as many as 300,000 civilians unable to evacuate.

Mariupol has seen some of the fiercest battles since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

The location of the port city, on the Sea of Azov, is strategic for Russia, as it would help it create a land corridor between the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, controlled by Russian-backed separatists, and Crimea, the peninsula it invaded and annexed in 2014, the BBC reported.

The authorities in Mariupol have said that at least 2,500 people have been killed in the city so far.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Ted Budd, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives, has submitted a bill to Congress that suggests the possibility of imposing additional duties on certain goods from China over Beijing's backing of Russia amid the Ukraine war.

The politician put forward such a proposal due to the fact that Beijing "provides financial support" to Moscow against the backdrop of the situation in Ukraine, RT reported.

According to the US Congressman, Beijing's support for Moscow consists, among other things, in China increasing the volume of purchases of agricultural products from Russia against the backdrop of a special operation in Ukraine.

In this regard, Budd proposed a number of measures to counter China.

Whie China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday said "time will prove that China's position is on the right side of history" over the ongoing Ukraine war, CNN reported.

"China will continue to make independent judgments based on the merits of the matter and in an objective and fair attitude. We will never accept any external coercion and pressure, and we also oppose any groundless accusations and suspicions against China," a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry in Beijing quoted Wang as saying.

The Minister said "the long-term solution is to abandon the Cold War mentality, refrain from engaging in group confrontation, and truly form a balanced, effective and sustainable regional security architecture", CNN reported.

"Only in this way can long-term stability on the European continent be achieved," he added.

While China has not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine outright, it has also not offered explicit support.

Experts believe Beijing is navigating a complex position as the crisis in Ukraine intensifies, attempting to balance its strategic partnership with Moscow while maintaining economic ties with the West.

The US has watched warily as Chinese President Xi Jinping cultivates a close partnership with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, believing the alliance of authoritarian leaders is positioning itself to oppose Washington militarily and economically, said the CNN report.

During high-profile talks in Beijing last month, Xi and Putin sealed their affiliation, declaring in a lengthy statement the relationship was limitless, it added.

On the other hand, Turkey, which is trying hard to bring Moscow and Kiev to the negotiating table in an effort to end the ongoing war, has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is still not willing to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

Speaking to local media outlets, Ibrahim Kalin, a government spokesman in Ankara, said that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has proposed a meeting between the leaders of the two warring nations in Turkey in an effort to end the ongoing war, reports Ukrayinska Pravda.

"Zelensky is ready to do this. Putin, by contrast, believes that the parties have not yet reached a common vision sufficient to conduct negotiations at the head-of-state level," Kalin was quoted as saying.

According to the spokesman, in Erdogan's proposed meeting, the main point of focus will be on a possible compromise between Ukraine and Russia, after which detailed negotiations on the agreement will continue.

Kalin said that Putin, during a conversation with Erdogan, put forward six main points, which were Ukraine's neutrality and refusal to join NATO in future; 'demilitarisation' and mutual provision of security guarantees according to the Austrian security model; de-nazification; removal of "obstacles" to the widespread use of the Russian language; status recognition of the "Donetsk People's Republic", "Luhansk People's Republic"; and recognition of Russia's annexation of Crimea.

According to the spokesman, the Ukrainian delegation apparently discussed the first four points with the Russians, but is not prepared even to discuss the fifth and sixth, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

Therefore, Turkey is hoping to organise the meeting between Putin and Zelensky after which further progress can be made in the negotiations.

Kalin further said that neither Ukraine nor the world community is likely to easily agree to the recognition of Russia's occupation of Crimea and the Donbas region, which comprised Luhansk and Donetsk, as "this is a flagrant violation of international law".

He added that Russia was trying to negotiate from a position of strength, but "it should not be forgotten that the continuation of the war will primarily hit the Russian army and economy".

On March 10, under Turkey's initiative, a tripartite meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Moscow, Kiev and Ankara took place in Antalya.

However, no progress was achieved on a truce.

Russian authorities on March 16 announced their readiness to continue negotiations with Ukraine in the tripartite format.

Earlier this month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had assured that Russia was not against personal talks between Zelensky and Putin.

With IANS inputs