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As the Russia-Ukraine war entered its twentieth day and Russian troops advanced towards Ukraine's capital Kyiv, the fourth round of talks between Russia and Ukraine resumed.
"Consultations on the main negotiation platform renewed. General regulation matters, ceasefire, withdrawal of troops from the territory of the country," Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's aide tweeted. Moreover, Russia has imposed sanctions against US President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other US officials. Russia is also imposing sanctions against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and over 300 lawmakers. Moscow also imposed sanctions against Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Defense Minister Anita Anand. Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs shared the details of the losses that the Russian Armed Forces have incurred noting that more than 13,500 Russian troops have been killed with 404 Russian tanks being destroyed since Russia began its war on Ukraine. According to Ukraine's MFA data, 1,279 armoured vehicles of different types, 81 aircraft, 95 helicopters, 150 artillery pieces, and 64 MLRs were hit during the combat. As Russian troops advance towards Kyiv, the city has imposed a new curfew from 8 pm (Local Time) on March 15 until 7 am on March 17. Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said that the residents are only allowed to go outside to head to the bomb shelters. A veteran war photojournalist of Fox News, Pierre Zakrzewski was killed while reporting in war-torn Ukraine. Fox News chief executive Suzanne Scott wrote to employees, "It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we share the news this morning regarding our beloved cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski," adding "Pierre was killed in Horenka, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while virtually addressing Canada's parliament once again appealed for a no-fly zone over Ukraine and expressed gratitude to Ottawa for support at this time of crisis. Zelenskyy said that it is time to admit that Ukraine will not become a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member. A Russian UN Security Council resolution has called for a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine to enable the safe evacuation of civilians. Highlighting the need for the parties concerned to agree on "humanitarian pauses", the resolution calls for a "negotiated ceasefire for enabling the rapid, safe, voluntary and unhindered evacuation of all civilians". Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that both Russia and Iran support a fast resumption of the full implementation of the Iran nuclear deal. This comes after Lavrov and his Irani counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held a bilateral meeting in Moscow. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that evacuation of Indian students from Sumy in Ukraine was extremely complex and needed a credible ceasefire which finally materialised due to the personal intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the presidents of Ukraine and Russia. Making a statement on 'Situation in Ukraine' in both Houses of Parliament, Jaishankar said the Prime Minister took up the "issue of safe evacuation of Indians, especially from Kharkiv and Sumy". (ANI)
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