NICOSIA, Cyprus — Invading Russian forces closed in on Ukraine’s capital Friday, in an apparent encircling movement after a barrage of airstrikes on cities and military bases around the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told somber European Union leaders in a video link-up from his bunker late Thursday that it may be the last time they see him alive.
Pre-dawn explosions rocked Kyiv, and gunfire was reported in parts of the city, while Ukraine’s military said a group of Russian spies and saboteurs was seen on the capital’s outskirts. Police told people not to exit a central subway station because of gunfire.
The assault, anticipated for weeks by the West, amounts to Europe’s largest ground conflict since World War II. It could also portend the emergence of a new “Iron Curtain” between the West and Russia, with global repercussions.
Here are the things to know about the conflict and the security crisis in former Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe:
Hopes for a negotiated end to the war dimmed on Friday after a tentative deal to discuss Zelenskyy’s offer to designate Ukraine a non-aligned country appeared to break down over the proposed venue for the talks.
The Kremlin had said President Vladimir Putin was ready to send a delegation to Belarus for talks to discuss the proposal that suggests Zelenskyy would be willing to negotiate dropping his country’s bid to join NATO.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukrainian officials reversed course and said they were unwilling to travel to Minsk for talks, proposing Warsaw as a venue instead. He said they then cut off communication.
Before the invasion, the West had rejected Russia’s demand to keep Ukraine out of NATO. Putin used the refusal to justify the invasion, claiming that the West left him no other choice.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Zelenskyy of “simply lying” about the non-alignment offer, saying the president “missed the opportunity” to discuss Ukraine’s neutral status when Putin initially proposed it.
Waking to the second day of Russia’s invasion, horrified civilians found themselves at risk as artillery shells rained down on some residential buildings on Kyiv’s outskirts.
