a ah ah, this is dw news live from berlin, ukraine and russia prepared to hold their 1st direct talks in over 2 weeks. negotiators for the 2 sides arrive for discussions in turkey, but ukraine says it holds out little hope for a breakthrough. also coming up on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe, the mayor of the besieged port city of mario paul warns of disaster if residents are not allowed to evacuate. he accuses russia of trying to wipe his city off the face of the earth. we also take

a look at the situation on the streets of keith. people have prepared themselves for a possible russian assault. but as the russians are stored in front of the city, confidence is returning to the capitol. ah, next by sir, welcome to the program. peace talks between ukrainian and russian negotiators are expected to begin in turkey. later today, negotiators have arrived and is stand bull for the 1st face to face cease fire discussions in more than 2 weeks. delegations from ukraine and russia previously met 3 times in the border region of belarus. talks then shifted on line, but there's little sign the sides have found terms for a compromise. and we have this assessment from d. w correspondent amune s. if the 1st thing needs to be said is that russia is

already making concessions, it seems, it looks like the original intent of the invasion was to occupy ukraine to take over the government in kia. and that clearly is not happening at this point. at least russia has been frustrated militarily. but what the lens he has said in terms of ukraine's concessions, is that he put in the most clear terms to date that he's willing to make ukraine a neutral country. that means not joining nato, not having nuclear weapons on its territory. he's hinted at that before, but he's never come out and say it said it. what he did also say was that he'd have to put this question up to the people of ukraine to put it up to a referendum. and at this point, just talking to ukraine in here on the ground, it doesn't seem clear that they would vote for anything that appeared to give russia concessions. now the don bath is another question in eastern ukraine. a lot of people speak russian. there are pro russian people, they're living there,

and that area has been contested since 2014. so what the lensky said was that will make that a separate question. those negotiations will happen after a ceasefire in the rest of ukraine is agreed to, and that is a confession in itself to say that we will put off those negotiations until we can resolve a ceasefire here. and the rest of ukraine, ukrainian forces have recaptured a key key suburbs, pushing out russia from the town of airplane. but over in the port city of mary paul and southern ukraine, the situation is very different. is mayor said, nearly 5000 people have been killed, including over 200 children and warned that his city is on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe. russia has bombarded mariel, paul, relentlessly enriques weeks. those who have been able to flee have described bodies lying in the streets because it's too dangerous to bury them. a place of

calm after the trauma she experienced in a home city of rusty here. yeah, it is google drive and we saw small ukrainian flag. i know what, when you no one could heard us any more. the horror was behind us and we were home v kind. her cat's new home is surprising. 300 kilometers away from mario, pull many harrowing escapes and here in a parking lot. this supermarket has been turned into a shelter for those who manage to escape. here they get food and medical help and share their stories. my her deal is we were hiding in the theater mario pole when it was bombed. we were in the basement. we went down there the day before and that's how we survived. was salinas wortham wooden video show scenes of total destruction, the murray pull, nearly $5000.00 people have died there. the mayor says,

$160000.00 civilians are believed to still be trapped in the city. no electricity, no running water heating or gas. there is no food for children, and the russian bombardment is relentless. hello, neil. quickly let's hide. i thought it's coming from there. we can recognize it now, it goes from that to their, their tanks. authorities hoping for more humanitarian corridors to get all of the remaining civilians out to safety. and for more on the situation we're joined from the ukrainian capital, keep by the w correspond mathias billing mathias with mary paul officials looking to evacuate. all remaining civilians is that assigned. the city is close to falling into russian hands. it's definitely

a sign that the humanitarian situation in mar, hugo is very critical. it has been very bad for weeks. and you can imagine that it's only getting worse how called diet must be. and all the accounts that we see from our you paul, are really really hurrying, and that's the main reason i think for a pledging to get the people out how long the defense force is inside the city will be able to withstand the russian assault is of course a big question. they have been and circled. they have not been getting supplies, they might have been presumably decimated. i have no information on that. it's not, it's not public and we don't have any. i'm any reports on that, but it might be a sign, but i would not. i would not make a bet on that. and what about the situation in the capital, keith, where you are? what's the latest on the ground?

what we've been hearing is that ukrainian forces have taken back the suburb of european that would be important. it was one of the most thought about places here in this region am. and it's the one of these, among these suburbs in the north west is the one that's closest to the city. so there would be an important gain. of course, all of this is to be confirmed and the situation may still be volatile. fighting is going on. we can hear that from the city center. otherwise the city has been so bad, shelly, or attacks in the past few days, although explosions were heard. this is how most street thank you. have looked like these days before the war key of was one of europe's party destinations. this street was full of young people, spending the evenings and not far from here. you were to hear the constant drum of the bass from technol clubs. now the only drum you hear is from artillery from the

outskirts saving statues from war. the fighting has left its mark on the city. even though downtown keith has so far been spared heavy shelley. it's mostly the elderly, was still in the capitol. it was not a village i was born here. my mother was born here and my grandmother. my great grandmother, lived here. and i was here yesterday and i'm here today. i am out and about quick quick for me as i have memories of every corner here, boy and i pray to god that i and all other residents of keith will be all right. sampled the doping stillness. yes. and we have everything there is heating. there's water, there's electricity, it would be a sin to complain. of course, there are restrictions. the very fact that there is a war is terrible psychologically. but physically we are managing, with the coding to official estimates,

half of the population has left on the ground. it feels like more than that, those that remain have been anxiously following the fighting. so far, the outer defenses have held monkey of central my non square things or cough for weeks. key of has been fortified. people have prepared themselves for a possible rush, assault. but as the russians are stored in front of the city, confidence as returning to the capital, people are slowly returning to the streets. their feeling more comfortable being outside. businesses are now reopening some lever, closed. their doors like this coffee shop in the trendy padilla neighbourhood. on the very 1st day of the war, the owner decided he had to stay in bristol, they can come today, a proposal it called amazon hollywood at 8 a. m people came in and asked whether they could get a coffee. some of them usually we open at 12, but they looked at me in a way that i couldn't say no. then even more people came and that's when i understood many are leaving. but there are those who want to stay just and they

need something to look for, which is great, but didn't look like it was melinda, on the new, the other. since then, the cafe has remained open. the staff have been donating meals to those in shelters . and to the military in the city where so many civilians have left those in uniform. i know among the most regular clients and mathias talks between russia and ukraine are taking place in turkey to day. the people that you're talking to ordinary ukrainians, do they still have any hope for a solution to this conflict? weak response on the ground get asked this question every time that such talks are taking place and the answer is always no. for most people here, it seems unlikely that a country that just invaded your country,

a full force would offer any meaningful compromise on earth that these, these negotiations are, of course important because they can see it so of day to day issues like the humanitarian corridors that have worked with mixed success, but something has been established and there may be all so important for both sides to feel the mood of the other side. but the guess here is that the any, any, any results, any shape of an agreement would be decided on the battlefield and it will reflect the situation on the battlefield. and it doesn't look like that. there is any decision yet, and there's no desire for by most ukrainians to freeze the conflict in this state. it is now with all of these russian troops inside the country. what the ukrainian side has sad and that's backed by the population, is that russian troops would need to leave 1st, at least back to the places where they have been before february 24th. that means

back into the separatist republics on to crimea. okay, the w correspondent mathias burning a reporting for us from key. let's turn now to some of the other stories we're following for you this. our trains president vladimir zalinski has once again pleaded for the west to provide fighter jets and tanks to help defend his country from russian attacks. cholenski accused western countries of cowardice and warned that russia's aggression would not stop in ukraine predicting that russia would move against the baltic states and poland. that amnesty international has accused russia of committing war crimes in ukraine. likening the situation to his actions in the syrian war. human rights organisation denounced russia's deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure in the country. amnesty also accused russia moscow rather of turning humanitarian quarters into what it called. death traps. g

7 energy ministers have rejected demands by russian president vladimir putin to pay for russian gas with rubles german economy and climate protection minister. robert havoc said that the demand is unacceptable and called on companies not to comply with it. e u. interior ministers have been meeting in brussels to address the arrival of millions of refugees from ukraine. they discussed a range of issues such as the distribution of refugees across member states as well as financial support. poland alone has already taken in more than 2000000 people. actor will smith has apologized to comedian chris rock for slapping him on stage during sunday nights academy awards ceremony in an instagram post. smith said violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. my behavior at last night's academy awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. earlier the u. s. film

academy condemned smith's behavior and announced an investigation into the incident . will smith hit chris rock after the comedian made a joke about smith's wife? return to sports now the group stage draw for the world cup finals and cutter takes place this coming friday. and peru is among the nations still buying for a spot at the tournament. fans in lima are going the extra mile. and on monday, a group of shamans did their bit for the cause casting spells that they believe will bring their team good fortune through faith paraguay on tuesday in their last qualifier. and only a victory work will guarantee them a chance to book their ticket. the cutter in a final playoff round to be held in june. your, of course watching d. w. news live from berlin. here's a recap of our main story. ukrainian and russian negotiators have arrived in turkey for their 1st direct talks in over 2 weeks. but ukraine holds out

a little hope for a breakthrough. it comes as the mayor of mario paul says, rushes siege has left nearly 5000 people dead in the city. he's accused moscow of committing what he calls 8 genocide. you're watching d. w. news live from berlin. i'm the spicer extra watching with i think everything jenny fairs are big. i'm listening so much different culture between here and there. so challenge for everything ah, in december i think it was worth it for.