In an interview on Sunday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said situation in Mariupol may be a “red line” in negotiations.
This comes as soldiers of Ukraine in Mariupol have resisted an ultimatum of Russian forces to lay down arms on Sunday. Moscow has also said that its forces have almost seized the city completely, as per the media reports.
In spite of a Russian demand to surrender by dawn, the troops were still fighting in Mariupol, said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
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The fighting in the pulverised port city of Mariupol seems to have become decisive in the course of the war. As the city could be the biggest prize for Russia in the nearly two-month war, both sides are leaving no stone unturned.
“Mariupol may be a red line”, Kuleba said in the interview with CBS News.
In the coming weeks, the “intensification of heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine” could be expected, the foreign minister said.
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“We didn’t really have any contacts with Russian diplomats in recent weeks at the level of foreign ministries,” Kuleba added.
“The only level of contact is the negotiating team that consists of the representatives of various institutions and members of parliament. They continue their consultations at the expert level but no high-level talks are taking place,” Kuleba further said.
(With inputs from agencies)
