Shells target officials in Ukraine and the president asks for a timetable to join NATO

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Saturday for a "clear" time frame for his country's entry into NATO, amid growing fears of a possible invasion of his country by Russia, which strongly rejects Kiev's joining the Western military alliance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Saturday for a "clear" time frame for his country's entry into NATO, amid growing fears of a possible invasion of his country by Russia, which strongly rejects Kiev's joining the Western military alliance.

He said during the Munich Security Conference: "What can we do? We can strongly support Ukraine and its defense capabilities" by "providing clear and practical timetables for its inclusion in the alliance."

He stressed that Ukraine is Europe's "shield" against the Russian army and therefore deserves greater international support.

"For eight years, Ukraine was a shield. For eight years, Ukraine was repelling an army that is among the largest in the world," he asserted, referring to the conflict between Kiev and Moscow-backed separatists in the east.

Moscow is demanding written guarantees that Ukraine will not be allowed to join NATO and that the Washington-led alliance withdraw its forces deployed in Eastern Europe to the locations where it was located decades ago.

#watch | Video clips inside a shelter on the border of the Donbas region in #Ukraine , following the bombing of military officials who were on a tour of the conflict front pic.twitter.com/y05rNXRvel

— TRT Arabic (@TRTArabi) February 19, 2022

In addition, a number of mortar shells fell hundreds of meters from the whereabouts of Ukraine's Interior Minister Denis Monastirsky, while he met, on Saturday, with journalists during his tour of the battle front against the Russian-backed rebels.

The minister was forced into hiding when the shells exploded, shortly after he made statements to international media, AFP correspondents reported.

No casualties were recorded as a result of the shells that exploded while the minister left the front, where he made statements at the line separating government forces and the rebels.

Journalists and officials left after a short time.

The government and separatist forces have accused each other of escalating the conflict in recent days, and Ukraine announced the killing of two soldiers on Friday and Saturday.

Moscow-backed rebels who control parts of the Lugansk and Donetsk regions on the Russian border have accused the government of planning an operation to drive them out of the region.

However, Kiev denies the matter and in turn accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin of raising the level of tension to cause an incident that justifies an invasion.

"Human smuggling" Italy arrests an Egyptian after the death of 7 migrants from the cold

The suspect is accused of organizing a trip that took 287 people from Libya, most of whom were suffering from cold when the coast guard rescued them on January 25, while the suffering of the ship's passengers ended with the death of 7 Bangladeshis due to hypothermia, due to the inhumane conditions of the voyage.

Italian police announced on Saturday the arrest of an Egyptian suspected of smuggling migrants across the Mediterranean on a journey that left seven people dead due to hypothermia.

The suspect is accused of organizing a dangerous journey on board a boat carrying 287 people from Libya. Most of them were suffering from cold when the Coast Guard rescued them on January 25.

The Sicilian city police of Agrigento said in a statement that the suffering on board the overcrowded 16-meter boat had ended "with the death of seven Bangladeshis as a result of hypothermia, due to the inhumane conditions of the voyage."

And the 38-year-old arrested, who was recognized by survivor eyewitnesses, had previously been sentenced for the crime of human smuggling in 2011, according to what the police announced, without further details.

Winter weather did not constitute an obstacle to migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean this year, despite the icy temperatures and bad sea conditions.

Since the beginning of the year, about 10,570 migrants have managed to reach Europe by sea, out of a total of 11,986 migrants, according to the International Organization for Migration. And 229 died or went missing while trying to reach the Old Continent.

To reduce escalation, Erdogan continues to make efforts to bring together Putin and Zelensky

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin pointed out that the Turkish president's proposal to bring together the leaders of Russia and Ukraine is, in fact, the most important and realistic proposal to overcome this crisis.

Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin stressed the continuation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's efforts to bring together his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, Volodymyr Zelensky, with the aim of finding a solution to the crisis between the two countries.

In a press statement in Istanbul on Saturday, Kalin pointed out the important role that Turkey plays in de-escalation between Russia and Ukraine.

He noted President Erdogan's continued efforts to resolve the crisis between Moscow and Kiev, adding, "President Erdogan's proposal to bring together the leaders of Russia and Ukraine is in fact the most important and realistic proposal to overcome this crisis."

He confirmed that Erdogan proposed to meet with Zelensky during his recent visit to Ukraine, and presented the same proposal to Putin during a telephone conversation between them.

Kalin added that Erdogan will call Putin in the next few days, and the proposal will be presented to him again.

He said that preparations are continuing for Putin's visit to Turkey, adding, "We are in constant contact with our Russian counterparts."

"Dialogue and diplomacy should be prioritized in order to resolve the Ukraine issue, and reciprocal steps should be taken to reduce tension," he added.

The Turkish presidential spokesman stressed that the crisis in Ukraine will negatively affect everyone.

Relations between Kiev and Moscow were strained against the backdrop of Russia's illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea and its support for separatists loyal to it in the Donbass.

Recently, Western countries have accused Russia of amassing its forces near the Ukrainian border, while Washington has threatened to impose sanctions on Moscow if it launches an attack on Kiev.