Il Financial Times revealed a hypothetical agreement between Russia and Ukraine, a 15-point plan that provides for the neutrality of Ukraine and the renunciation of joining NATO, in exchange for guarantees on its safety by the United States, Great Britain and Turkey. Ukraine would continue to have its own army but with the obligation to remain outside military alliances and not to host foreign bases.
A trusted advisor to Ukrainian President Zelensky revealed some details of the draft agreement to the FT. The agreement provides for Russia to return the Ukrainian territories conquered starting from the invasion of February 24, i.e. the southern regions along the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea and the northern areas around Kiev, Ukraine would recognize, in return , the annexation of Crimea to Russia and the independence of the two republics of Donbass.
Neutrality, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov could be like that of Austria or Sweden. A Ukrainian adviser replied to Peskov saying he preferred a Ukrainian model instead.
Speaking to the American Congress, President Zelensky evoked the birth of a new international alliance that could be called U24, a union for peace made up of friendly countries that have the strength and the conscience to intervene and stop a conflict immediately, within 24 hours of its beginning.
Biden yesterday called Putin a war criminal, while the Russian flag was lowered in front of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told Russian Security Council Secretary Níkolaï Patrushev that "if Russia is serious about diplomacy, show it by stopping attacking Ukrainian cities".
Meanwhile Western countries have asked for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council. Although the International Court of Justice in The Hague has ordered Putin to immediately suspend military operations, the Kremlin leader seems determined to move forward by emphasizing on TV that theoperation is carried out successfully, according to the established plans. Putin also spoke of the need to purify Russian society of the enemy's fifth column, phrases that suggest the determination to use war to reunite the home front.
Mariupol's Drama Theater razed to the ground
The bombing of the Mariupol Drama Theater could have led to the deaths of 500 people. The estimate is from Human Rights Watch, while the mayor of the town Vadym Boychenko claims that a thousand people had found refuge in the theater. And the US satellite company Maxar Technologies has distributed satellite images showing how in the courtyard of the Mariupol theater, bombed today by Russian forces, the words "children" had been painted. According to the city authorities of Mariupol, the theater was hit by a bomb dropped by a Russian fighter. In the air raid conducted by the Russians on Mariupol, a building housing the “Neptune” swimming pool was also hit. This is what emerges from a video posted on social media by a municipality official, the authenticity of which has been confirmed by CNN.
The satellite photos unequivocally show that on the ground next to the theater there were two large inscriptions in Russian which meant "children". Belkis Wille, Human Rights Watch referent, said that “until we know more, we cannot rule out the possibility of a Ukrainian military target in the theater area, but we know that the theater housed at least 500 civilians. There are serious concerns - she added - about what the goal was in a city under siege for days and in which telecommunications, electricity, water and heating have been almost completely interrupted ». HRW states that "it was unable to contact anyone in Mariupol by telephone on March 16 to determine if the civilians had left the theater immediately before the attack."
