People rest in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb 24, 2022. (EMILIO MORENATTI / AP)
KYIV/MOSCOW – Ukraine established nine humanitarian corridors on Wednesday, enabling civilians to leave the conflict-torn areas and the delivery of humanitarian aid, the presidential press service reported, citing Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
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Humanitarian corridors were set up to evacuate civilians from three towns in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and four villages in the central Kyiv region, Vereshchuk said at a media briefing.
Besides, people will be evacuated through the humanitarian routes from Mariupol city in the southeast and Rubizhne town in the east, Vereshchuk said.
Lavrov: US dislikes quick success in Russia-Ukraine peace talks
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the United States would not like to see a rapid completion of the Moscow-Kyiv peace talks but hopes that Russia is mired in prolonged hostilities.
Lavrov expressed concern over the delivery of MiG fighter jets and US Stinger man-portable air defense systems to Ukraine, which will pose "an enormous threat, because they will surely spread all over Europe"
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"It is unprofitable for Americans that this (negotiation) process will be completed quickly. They want to continue to send weapons to Ukraine," Lavrov said during a meeting with students and teachers of Russia's MGIMO University.
"Apparently, they (Americans) want to keep us in a state of hostilities for as long as possible," he said.
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Lavrov expressed concern over the delivery of MiG fighter jets and US Stinger man-portable air defense systems to Ukraine, which will pose "an enormous threat, because they will surely spread all over Europe."
The foreign minister stressed that the United States has used sanctions on Russia as an instrument to maintain its dominance in the world.
"These sanctions are aimed at removing Russia as an obstacle on the way to building a unipolar world … This is not about Ukraine. This is about the world order in which the United States wants to be the sole sovereign," he said.
