New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin, hours after speaking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday.Modi, according to the Press Information Bureau, suggested that a direct conversation between Putin and Zelenskyy may greatly assist ongoing peace efforts.“The two leaders discussed the evolving situation in Ukraine. President Putin briefed Prime Minister Modi on the status of negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian teams. Prime Minister Modi welcomed the ongoing negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and expressed hope that they would lead to cessation of the conflict,” PIB noted.Modi’s talk with Zelenskyy comes amid India’s all out efforts to evacuate its nationals, mostly students, from the country facing attack from Russia.According to the Press Information Bureau, “Zelenskyy briefed the Prime Minister in detail about the conflict situation and the ongoing negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Prime Minister expressed deep concern about the ongoing conflict and resultant humanitarian crisis. Prime Minister reiterated his call for immediate cessation of violence and noted that India has always stood for peaceful resolution of issues and direct dialogue between the two parties.”Modi reportedly thanked the Ukrainian prime minister for his help with the evacuation of more than 20,000 Indians from Ukraine. He also “expressed deep concern for safety and security of Indian students still remaining in Ukraine and emphasized the need for their quick and safe evacuation”.This is the second time Modi will spoke to Zelenskyy since the war began. The prime minister has also spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin after he launched an attack on Ukraine.Ceasefire announcement, Sumy students told to be readyRussia’s military will hold fire and open humanitarian corridors in several Ukrainian cities on Monday, the Defence Ministry said, after fighting halted weekend evacuation efforts and civilian casualties from Russia’s invasion mounted.The corridors will opened at 10 am Moscow time (700 GMT) from the capital Kyiv as well as the cities of Kharkiv and Sumy and are being set up at the personal request of French President Emmanuel Macron, the ministry said.On Sunday evening in Ukraine, the Indian embassy there said that a team was stationed in the city of Poltava to help Indians stranded in Sumy reach the country’s Western borders. Students in Sumy have been told to be “ready to leave on short notice”.Team from Embassy of India is stationed in Poltava City to coordinate the safe passage of Indian students stranded in Sumy to Western borders via Poltava.Confirmed time & date will be issued soon. 🇮🇳n students advised to be ready to leave on short notice.@MEAIndia @opganga— India in Ukraine (@IndiainUkraine) March 6, 2022On Sunday, the Indian government said it was launching the “last leg” of Operation Ganga – its evacuation mission for Indians stranded in Ukraine. The embassy had asked students who are staying in their own accommodations to reach the Hungaria City Center in the Hungarian capital Budapest between 10 am and noon.In an earlier tweet, the embassy had requested its nationals who are still stranded in conflict-stricken Ukraine to fill up a form mentioning basic details. The embassy’s official Twitter account posted a Google form asking for basic details like name, passport number and current location.Meanwhile, about 200,000 people remained trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol on Monday after fighting stopped evacuation efforts over the weekend, with no sign that massive international sanctions were deterring Moscow from its invasion of Ukraine.Most people trapped in the port city of Mariupol are sleeping underground to escape more than six days of shelling by Russian forces that has cut off food, water, power and heating supplies, according to the Ukrainian authorities.About half of the 400,000 people in the city were due to be evacuated on Sunday but that effort was aborted for a second day when a ceasefire plan collapsed.Moscow has repeatedly denied attacking civilian areas and says it has no plans to occupy Ukraine.The civilian death toll from hostilities across Ukraine since Moscow launched its invasion on February 24 stood at 364, including more than 20 children, the United Nations said on Sunday, adding that hundreds more were injured.The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said Russian forces were “beginning to accumulate resources for the storming of Kyiv”, after days of slow progress in their main advance on the capital south from Belarus.Zelenskyy has appealed to the West to strengthen sanctions. In a video statement Sunday evening, Zelenskyy heaped criticism on Western leaders for not responding to the Russian defence ministry’s announcement that it would strike Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, while telling employees of these defence plants not to go to work.“I didn’t hear even a single world leader react to this,” Zelenskyy said. “The audacity of the aggressor is a clear signal to the West that the sanctions imposed on Russia are not sufficient.”The Russian defence ministry announced on Sunday that its forces intend to strike Ukraine’s military-industrial complex with what it said were precision weapons.“We urge all personnel of Ukrainian defence industry plants… to leave the territory of their enterprises,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement carried by the state news agency Tass.(With agency inputs)
