After receiving permission from Ukraine and Russia, the Red Cross was on its way to Mariupol to hopefully begin evacuations, spokesperson Ewan Watson said.
NATO’s chief says Russia isn’t scaling back its military operations, while the Red Cross says attempts to evacuate Mariupol residents will resume Thursday.
Tuesday’s peace talks in Istanbul were the most significant to date, Turkey’s foreign ministry said, but Russia talked down the outcome on Wednesday.
With Russian forces bogged down in parts of Ukraine, new hopes emerged for peace at the latest round of in-person talks in Istanbul, Turkey on Tuesday.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said Monday that 160,000 civilians were still trapped in the city without heat and power after weeks of Russian bombardment.
Thousands remained trapped in Mariupol with little food, water or power, and repeated attempts to arrange safe passage out of the city encircled by Russian forces have failed.
NATO’s worries stem from Russian misinformation that the United States is assisting Ukraine in creating biological weapons, a possible pretext to launch its own strike.
NATO allies are standing pat on sending troops into Ukraine, despite multiple requests from its president for increased military support against an invading Russian army.
Russia’s war on Ukraine has shown NATO must reset its deterrence and defence posture for the long term, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.
Videos from the scene showed the crowd in Kherson heading to a city square before running away after stun grenades and shooting were used to break up the protest.
Odesa is in southwestern Ukraine and has largely avoided the fighting so far, though Russia has ships operating off the Black Sea coast.
Ukrainian human rights ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova confirmed the figures in a televised address Friday, but said roughly 1,300 people remain trapped under the rubble in Mariupol.
Omar Alghabra tweeted that Ottawa was targeting the Russian ally in its response to the war in Ukraine, which has been ongoing for three weeks.
Jens Stoltenberg’s comments come as Russia continues to push misleading information that the United States is assisting Ukraine in developing biological weapons.
Before taking aim at Vladimir Putin, Justin Trudeau announced a series of funding commitments, including $117 million to support Ukrainians trying to come to Canada.