INTERNATIONAL: Ukraine is ready to negotiate to end the war started by Russia more than two weeks ago, but would not surrender or accept any ultimatums, the country's foreign affairs minister Dmytro Kuleba has announced on Saturday,March 12.

Speaking at a virtual event organized by the non-partisan, nonprofit organization Renew Democracy Initiative, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Kuleba has said civilian lives would be saved if Ukraine had fighter jets and more attack planes to destroy large military columns.

He has added that he believed the war would likely end if Russian President Vladimir Putin were removed from power.

Kuleba has said; "If we had more planes, we would have been able to save many more human lives. Mainly civilian lives. Because the main striking force of Russia is in the air. And they, indiscriminately, choose to attack civilian infrastructure and kill our civilians."

He has added that the removal of President Putin will be enough to stop the war. But the restoration of peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic space will also require not only the removal of Putin but the de-Putinization of Russia. Putin is not just a person. It's a system. And Russia must be de-Putinized.

Kuleba's comments came as fighting raged near Kyiv and heavy shelling in other areas threatened new attempts to evacuate trapped civilians. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke with Putin by phone, urging an immediate ceasefire. However, a French presidency official has said: "We did not detect a willingness on Putin's part to end the war".