INTERNATIONAL: Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to send a Russian delegation to Minsk for negotiations with Ukraine at the level of representatives of the Defense Ministry, the foreign ministry and the presidential administration, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has announced on Friday.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said Belarus will create necessary conditions for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Friday that Ukraine is not afraid of negotiating with Russia on issues like the guarantee of Ukraine's security and neutral status. Later, Zelensky in a televised address has reiterated his hope for negotiation with Russia.
On Thursday, Putin has authorized "a special military operation" in response to the appeal of the leaders of Lugansk and Donetsk in the Donbass region, three days after he signed two decrees recognizing the two "republics" as "independent and sovereign states", and Ukraine has confirmed that military installations across the country were under attack.
Russian forces have blockaded the Ukrainian capital of Kiev from the west, and they also continue to perform tasks in the areas of other cities, said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
The Russian Defense Ministry has also said on Friday that the Russian Armed Forces have disabled 211 military infrastructure facilities in Ukraine, including 17 command posts, 19 S-300 and Osa anti-aircraft missile systems, and 39 radar stations.
The ministry has said the civilian armed forces in Lugansk and Donetsk advanced 21 kilometers and 25 kilometers on Friday, respectively.
On Friday, air raid sirens have blared in Ukrainian cities like Kiev, Kharkiv, Rivne, Dubno and Sumy as shelling and bombing could be heard.
The intense situation caused panic and chaos in Ukraine, with people rushing to stock up on essentials, taking shelters or driving out of their hometown. Traffic jams have formed in Kiev, Kharkiv and Odessa caused by an exodus of people.
A total of 137 Ukrainian soldiers and another 316 injured on the first day of the Russian invasion of the country, Zelensky has said earlier.
that Russian forces had already seized Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar has said Friday that Russian troops were fast heading toward the center of Kiev. Local media reported that Ukraine forces have blown up a bridge in northwestern Kiev to prevent or stop Russian forces from proceeding toward Kiev.
Multiple parties responded to the tension between Ukraine and Russia.
On Thursday, Zelensky has said in a televised address that he asked the leaders of 27 European countries if Ukraine can join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), but received no reply.
NATO has said it will further beef up its forces on its eastern flank near Ukraine but has no intention of sending troops into Ukraine, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday.
U.S. President Joe Biden has said that U.S. forces are not and will not be engaged in the conflict with Russia in Ukraine. Biden said he has no plans to talk with Putin at the moment.
Biden has also said he had authorized "deployment of ground and air forces stationed in Europe to the eastern flank," as well as "additional U.S. force capabilities to deploy to Germany" as part of the response of NATO.
