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15 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 30 MARCH 2022 NEWS UKRAINE CONFLICT UKRAINIAN and Russian nego- tiators held face-to-face talks in Istanbul on Tuesday as Ukraine resumed evacuations from terri- tory occupied by Russian forces and clung on in the besieged city of Mariupol. The talks were taking place with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in attendance and under the shadow of shock allegations that delegates were poisoned at a previous round of negotiations. Erdogan called on the dele- gations to "put an end to this tragedy," saying both Russia and Ukraine both have "legitimate concerns" ahead of the meeting at the Dolmabahce Palace. It is now more than a month since Russian President Vladimir Putin's tanks rolled into Ukraine, hoping to cripple or oust the democratic government in Kyiv. The fighting has already forced more than 10 million from their homes and according to Ukrain- ian President Volodymyr Zelen- sky has killed an estimated 20,000 people. The prospects of a peaceful end to the war -- or an imminent vic- tory for either side -- appear faint. On the edge of the suburban town of Irpin to the northwest of Kyiv, AFP reporters on Tuesday heard the sound of sporadic shell fire, a day after Ukrainian forc- es said they had recaptured the town. "In my opinion, maybe some 70-80 percent (of the town) is free, while the outskirts are tak- en" by Russians, said Irpin resi- dent Roman Kovalevskyi, 48, who was cycling out of the town to get supplies from Kyiv. Negotiators poisoned? Ukraine also announced that evacuations from several are- as under Russian control in the south of the country were being resumed on Tuesday, a day after Ukrainian officials suspended them saying they feared Russian "provocations" along the human- itarian corridors. The talks in Istanbul come after a report in the Wall Street Jour- nal said Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian ne- gotiators were poisoned earlier this month after talks in Kyiv. Abramovich -- a billionaire businessman under Western sanctions -- and the negotiators reportedly developed symptoms including red eyes and peeling skin, though they later recov- ered. Zelensky has said his govern- ment received an offer of sup- port from Abramovich, who has long-standing links to Putin. Ukraine played down the al- legations and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the Istan- bul talks would focus on easing the humanitarian situation, and sounded a note of skepticism about the hopes for success. "If we see that the mood has changed and they are ready for a serious, substantive conversa- tion and balanced arrangements, then things will move forward," he said. "If it is a repetition of their propaganda," he said, talks will again fail. Abramovich was present at the talks in Istanbul on Tuesday, ac- cording to a photograph released by the Turkish presidency. Putin has demanded the "de- militarization and denazification of Ukraine", as well as the impo- sition of neutral status and recog- nition of the Donbas and Crimea as no longer part of Ukraine. 'Catastrophic' situation Kuleba indicated there was lit- tle room for agreement there: "We do not trade people, land and sovereignty. Our position is concrete." On the battlefield, both sides appear determined to press where they can. Ukrainian officials still believe that Russia wants to take the capital Kyiv, dismissing sugges- tions the Kremlin is focused on the eastern Donbas region. Capturing "Kyiv is essentially a captured Ukraine, and this is their goal," said deputy defense minister Ganna Malyar, insisting Russia was still "trying to break through the corridor around Ky- iv and block transport routes." On Monday Russian attacks near Kyiv cut power to more than 80,000 homes, officials said, underscoring the continued per- il facing the capital. While Ukraine's forces are counterattacking in the north, they are struggling to retain con- trol of the southern port city of Mariupol. Russian forces have encircled the city and have embarked on a steady and indiscriminate bom- bardment, trapping an estimated 160,000 people with little food, water or medicine. At least 5,000 people have al- ready died, according to one senior Ukrainian official who es- timated the real toll may be clos- er to 10,000 when all the bodies are collected. "The burials stopped 10 days ago because of continued shell- ing," Tetyana Lomakina, a pres- idential adviser now in charge of humanitarian corridors, told AFP by phone Monday. Mariupol evacuations Local lawmaker Kateryna Suk- homlynova told AFP that un- buried bodies line streets and residents cowering in basement shelters have been forced to eat snow to stay hydrated. Ukraine's foreign ministry called the situation "catastroph- ic," saying Russia's assault from land, sea and air had turned a city once home to 450,000 peo- ple "into dust". France, Greece and Turkey are hoping to launch a mass evacu- ation of civilians from Mariupol within days, according to French President Emmanuel Macron, who is seeking agreement from Putin. In Mykolaiv, another key city in the south, the local governor said that a Russian strike hit the regional administrative building and eight civilians and three sol- diers were missing. As Russian casualties have mounted, Moscow appears to have turned to ever-more brutal tactics. Western powers say they have seen evidence of war crimes, which are already being investi- gated by the International Crim- inal Court. On Monday, Ukraine's pros- ecutor general, Iryna Venedik- tova, said there was proof that Russian forces have used banned cluster bombs in the southern Odessa and Kherson areas. US President Joe Biden has ex- pressed his "moral outrage" at the conduct of the war, and ruf- fled feathers over the weekend by suggesting Putin "cannot re- main in power". He has since denied seeking regime change and swatted away concern that his remarks would ratchet up tensions with Putin. "I don't care what he thinks," Biden said on Monday as he proposed $6.9 billion in funding to Ukraine and NATO, and an- other $1 billion to help counter Moscow's influence. Ukraine, Russia begin talks as evacuations resume Talks between Ukraine and Russia took place with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in attendance