Bennett Lands In Berlin After Moscow Trip

Bennett lands in Berlin after Moscow trip to meet with German chancellor

TOI STAFF

The Times of Israel is liveblogging Saturday’s events as they unfold.

Mayor of Mariupol says Russian forces have intensified shelling

By AP

Russian forces have intensified shelling in the port city of Mariupol, including with the use of airplanes, the mayor says.

“The city is in a very, very difficult state of siege,” Vadym Boychenko tells Ukrainian TV. “Relentless shelling of residential blocks is ongoing, airplanes have been dropping bombs on residential areas.”

Boychenko says that thousands of children, women and the elderly came under fire as they arrived in the morning for a possible evacuation through a safe passage corridor. Russia promised to stop the shelling of Mariupol, a port city of 430,000, and Volnovakha, a city in the east, but violated the ceasefire.

Report: Zelensky aide says not yet clear what Bennett-Putin meeting achieved

Ynet cites the Ukrainian president’s spokesman as saying it is not yet clear what, if anything, Naftali Bennett’s meeting with Vladimir Putin has achieved in efforts to negotiate an end to the fighting.

According to the website, Sergey Nikiforov says that in Bennett’s phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky — after the former’s meeting with Putin in Moscow this evening — the Ukrainian leader did not hear anything particularly new.

“We cannot assess the results of Prime Minister Bennett’s mediation until we get a clear indication from Bennett or Putin on an agreement to a meeting [with Zelensky],” he says.

Putin orders government to compile list of countries that sanctioned Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to compile a list of countries that have imposed sanctions on the country, or Russian companies, organizations, and individuals, the state news agency RIA-Novosti reports.

A presidential decree requires the government to compile the list within two days, the report says.

It is not immediately clear what the exact purpose of the list is.

The United States and European allies imposed tough sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Bennett lands in Germany to meet with Chancellor Scholz

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has landed in Berlin ahead of his meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Bennett flew in from Moscow, after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin for three hours earlier this evening.

Bennett and Putin discussed the war in Ukraine. Bennett is expected to brief Scholz on the details of that meeting.

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