QUICK READ April 27: Putin meets with the UN Secretary-General over a 6-meter-long table

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) during a meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Moscow, Russia on April 26 – Photo: REUTERS/SPUTNIK

* According to AFP news agency, during a meeting in Moscow on April 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin told United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that he still hopes for talks to end the conflict in Ukraine.

“Despite the ongoing military operation, we still hope to be able to reach agreements on the diplomatic route. We are negotiating (with Ukraine) and we are not refusing to negotiate.” Mr. Putin told Mr. Guterres.

President Putin told the head of the United Nations that “well knows your concerns about Russia’s military operation” in Ukraine and is ready to discuss the issue. Guterres also called on Russia and Ukraine to work with the United Nations to establish aid and evacuation corridors for civilians in Ukraine.

According to the United Nations about the meeting, President Putin “in principle” agreed to allow the evacuation of civilians in the Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. This was done in cooperation with the United Nations, the International Red Cross, the Russian Defense Ministry and Ukrainian officials.

* According to VNA, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he had a warm and constructive discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, stressing that US allies can do more to help Ukraine become self-sufficient. guard.

Austin noted that the US and its allies will provide assistance to Ukraine with record progress, and stated: “We can do much more to support Ukraine’s continued self-defence.” “It’s important to make sure that the United States and its allies do everything they can to make sure Ukraine succeeds, and that’s the best way to deal with the risk of the war spreading,” Austin said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (right) and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres prepare for a press conference after their meeting in Moscow on April 26 – Photo: REUTERS

* According to Reuters news agency, on April 26, Andriy Yermak – Chief of Staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – accused Russia “starts blackmailing Europe” by cutting off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria when the war in Ukraine has no way out.

* Interfax news agency reported on April 26, The Russian Defense Ministry announced that its military forces have liberated the entire Kherson region in the south of Ukraine. Elsewhere in southern Ukraine, Russian troops have also occupied the Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv regions as well as part of the Kharkov region in eastern Ukraine, the news agency quoted a senior official as saying.

* The US Department of State announced members of the US diplomatic mission in Ukraine – people who had to move to Poland due to the war in Ukraine – arrived in the city of Lviv in western Ukraine on April 26. This is the first step in Washington’s efforts to secure the return of its diplomats to Ukraine.

This photo taken on April 26 shows people placing flowers on a memorial in Chernobyl in memory of the firefighters who died in the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster. April 26, Heavy Agency The United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that Russia’s temporary control of the Chernobyl site at the beginning of the military operation was “very dangerous” and increased radiation, but now the situation at the plant has returned to normal – Photo: AFP

* Russian energy giant Gazprom told Polish oil and gas company PGNiG that it will stop supplying gas along the Yamal pipeline from the morning of April 27. However, the Polish government says it has enough reserves.

* According to Reuters news agency, on April 26, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry accuses Russia of trying to entice Moldova’s breakaway Transdniestria (supposedly pro-Russian) region into the Russian-Ukrainian war, after authorities in Transdniestria said they had recorded several explosions locally and blamed Ukraine for the incident. Earlier, the Russian side announced that Russian forces planned to occupy all of southern Ukraine and establish a land corridor to the Transdniestrian region of Moldova.

* Speaking at a press conference in Kiev after visiting the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said he had agreed with Ukraine to help repair the plant. after it was controlled by the Russian army in the early days of the war.