Some coverage of the war in Ukraine follow from the Spanish newspaper El Pais, beginning at 2:15 or so p.m. EST. — MCM

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Russia and Ukraine agree to humanitarian corridor with possible ceasefire during evacuations. Negotiators plan third meeting

By Javier G. Cuesta in Moscow and María R. Sahuquillo in Dnipró (Ukraine) | El País

In the eighth day of the Russian offensive against Ukraine, delegations from Kiyv and Moscow returned Thursday to talks aimed at bringing an end to the conflict. A ceasefire was not achieved, but a third meeting is envisioned for the beginning of next week.

“We have agreed on the creation of humanitarian corridors for departures of civilians,” said Mijailo Podoliak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodímir Zelenskyy, although a truce for these is not certain. “There could be a ceasefire in the evacuation areas,” he added, according to Interfax.

“The key question we resolved today,” said Vladimir Medinsky, chief of the Russian delegation, “has been the protection of the civilian population. He would only say a ceasefire was “possible” for the civilian evacuations.

Talks took place in the Belarusian region of Gómel, with that country’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, acting as mediator.

Pollak said the two sides agreed to continue talks “as soon as possible,” noting he was not happy with the meeting. “Unfortunately, we did not achieve the results we had hoped for.” READ MORE in Spanish . . .

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Russia attacks intensify in south  and east. ‘We are being destroyed,’ Mariupol mayor says

By María R. Sahuquillo | El País

Putin’s army is sharpening its offensive to take control of the whole Ukrainian coast. The Russian forces’ advance toward the capital city of Kyiv remained stalled, according to U.S. and British reports.

Russia is attacks continued on Ukraine’s east and south. The military forces sent by Vladimir Putin have intensified bombing in costal zones and in the east, completing a week of the Kremlin-launched invasion. The Russian army has besieged the city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov and entered the port city of Jersón, a strategic point on the mouth of the Dnipro River near the Black Sea. It is also advancing toward Zaporiya, an enclave closer to the country’s interior and near a major central nuclear plant. READ MORE in Spanish . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED