Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk said that the Ukrainian army defending Mariupol would not lay down their arms. In this way, she responded to the demands of Russia, which on Sunday demanded that Ukrainian forces lay down their arms.
“There can be no question of any surrender and surrender of weapons,” said the Deputy Prime Minister, whose words are quoted by the Ukrainska Pravda portal. Irina Vereshchuk added that the Russian side has already been informed about this.
On Sunday, Russia demanded that Ukrainian troops in Mariupol lay down their arms and leave the city on Monday morning.
According to Major General of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mizintsev, this was supposed to happen from 10:00 to 12:00 Moscow time.
Russian requirements
Russia proposed a plan according to which Ukrainian troops would leave the city through a specially created corridor “without weapons and ammunition.”
The Russian side demanded an “official written response” to the proposals by Monday morning at 5 Moscow time.
The Russian military sent an eight-page letter to the Ukrainian side explaining the details of the plan. – Instead of wasting time on eight pages of a letter, it is enough to open a corridor (humanitarian – ed.), – said Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk.