Russia-Ukraine updates: US to ban Russian carriers from its airspace

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied a Kremlin suggestion his government will hold talks with Russia in Belarus.

Zelenskyy in a televised address on Sunday said Ukraine was ready to hold talks to end the fighting but not in Belarus, which is directly involved in assisting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“If from your territory there wasn’t aggressive action, we could talk in Minsk. Now we will talk, but not in Minsk. The platform can be other cities for a meeting,” he said. 

Zelenskyy said Ukraine had proposed meeting in Warsaw, Budapest, Istanbul and Bratislava, Slovakia’s capital -- but it appeared Russia had still insisted on Belarus. 

“Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku -- all these we proposed to the Russian side. And yes any other city in a country from where rockets aren’t flying. Only that way can talks be fair. And can really end the war,” he said. 

Russia launched its offensive on Kyiv from Belarus, which is ruled by the Kremlin’s client, authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko. Thousands of Russian troops have moved south over the border there, and aircraft and missiles are taking off from Belarus.

The Kremlin on Sunday said a Russian delegation would go to Belarus and wait in the southern city of Gomel, close to Ukraine’s border, “ready to start negotiations.”

Russia has been demanding in effect that Ukraine come to negotiate its surrender and concede to Moscow’s demands to declare “neutral status.” 

-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell

The Kremlin has said a Russian delegation has travelled to Belarus to hold talks with Ukraine. 

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday that an agreement had been reached on holding talks and that the Russian delegation would go to the southern city of Gomel, close to Ukraine, where it would “be ready to start” negotiations.  

But Ukrainian officials have not confirmed they are ready to join the negotiations.  

“In accordance with an agreement that has been reached, a Russian delegation, consisting of representatives of the foreign ministry, ministry of defense and other bodies, including the presidential administration, has arrived in Belarus for negotiations with the Ukrainians. We are ready to start these negotiations in Gomel,” Peskov told reporters.  

On Friday, the Kremlin proposed talks in Belarus, saying Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was ready to discuss his country’s “neutral status,” which would potentially mean abandoning its NATO ambitions. Zelenskyy has not confirmed that.   

Zelenskyy's office said yesterday that Ukraine is ready to hold talks at anytime to stop the fighting, but has not spoken of concessions. His office has said it has been discussing a possible place and time to hold talks, stressing that those talks would not be between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell

At least 64 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia began its invasion on Thursday, the United Nations said, warning the “figures could rise in the coming days.”

Another 176 civilians were injured in ground and aerial attacks, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report published Saturday.

More than 150,000 people have fled Ukraine, with about half crossing into Poland, Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, said on Twitter on Saturday.

“While the scale and scope of displacement will only likely become apparent in the coming days and weeks, Ukrainian authorities estimate that as many as 5 million people could flee the country, triggering a refugee crisis that will test response capacities in neighbouring countries,” OCHA said in its report.

Displacement within Ukraine is also growing, Grandi said, “but the military situation makes it difficult to estimate numbers and provide aid.”

-ABC News’ Kirit Radia

Protests were held across the United States on Saturday as demonstrators called for Russian to cease its invasion of Ukraine.

Times Square in New York City was clogged with light blue and yellow, while Ukrainian supporters also rallied in Washington, Los Angeles and several other major cities Saturday.

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