Ukraine etc.,

This post will likely be updated throughout the day.

• Turkeys abstains from voting on Russia’s suspension from Council of Europe – source

Unsourced but likely accurate-

ANKARA, February 26. /TASS/. Turkey abstained from voting on Russia’s suspension from the Council of Europe on Friday as it calls for dialogue under any circumstances, a source familiar with the situation told TASS on Saturday.

“We don’t want dialogue to stop. Turkey abstained from voting on the decision. No matter what happens, we call for dialogue under any circumstances,” the source pointed out.

• Ukraine’s Zelensky claims Turkey will stop warships from entering Black Sea- This is unverified. And most probably war time propaganda

President Zelensky is saying publicly that Turkey has agreed to shut down transit to the Black Sea for Russian warships.

Apparently Zelensky and Erdoğan spoke by phone today. So far as I can tell, Erdoğan has not confirmed this potentially important news.

“Turkey hasn’t made a decision to close the straits to Russian ships yet,” a senior Turkish official tells me

So guess Zelensky was making a request with that tweet

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) February 26, 2022

I’d suspected this was going to become an issue in this situation which is why the subject was broached in yesterday’s post:

Russia Vetoed UN Security Council Resolution

• Skynews reporting:Ukraine: Russian flag raised in Ukraine town amid fighting

Video available at above link. Sky news is reporting they have verified the validity/accuracy of the report.

12:30 EST– updates begin

• Ukraine rejected offer to negotiate with Kremlin

Russia said Ukraine rejected calls to negotiate an end to hostilities, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Saturday.

Peskov claimed President Vladimir Putin ordered a temporary pause in Russia’s advance in Ukraine on Friday, but ordered them to continue the invasion — which the Kremlin is calling a “special operation” — on Saturday after Kyiv rejected the calls to negotiate.

Did Kiev reject the offer to negotiate? Is this accurate? It appears to be!

• Link –11:00 EST Update:

Ukraine Rejects Talks With Russia

On Saturday, Kiev has rejected to hold talks with Moscow in Minsk, Belarus, the designated neutral grounds where it was agreed negotiations would take place. Kiev’s refusal to hold talks is connected to the conditions proposed by the Russian side described as being “unacceptable”.

Ukrainian presidential advisor Mikhail Podolyak said, “Any war ends with a negotiation process, but I think that the positions in this negotiations process will be different. These will be positions that Ukraine will dictate. It will set the conditions for what will happen next, including in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.”

As a result, Russia has called off the ceasefire to hold talks, causing Russian forces to resume operations in Ukraine. “The Ukrainian side has refused to negotiate. This afternoon Russian forces have resumed their advance in accordance with the plan of the operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

I’m having difficulty believing the Ukrainian leadership is acting in the best interests of the people.

• Lukashenko urges Kyiv to agree to negotiations with Moscow ‘before it’s too late’

“And it seems to me, again, that there are forces who keep instigating that [Ukrainian] regime: go ahead, don’t give up, there are thugs from Afghanistan coming in, and we’ll send some from the Middle East, too. And they have enough of their own PMCs. Those are professional gunmen, professional killers. Therefore, this is even more dangerous to Russia, not to mention us, and we don’t need that,” he said.