Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: Ukrainian negotiator says not to exchange territories for peace with Russia

BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine:

Ukraine will not exchange its territories for a peace deal with Russia, the government-run Ukrinform news agency reported on Tuesday, citing Mykhailo Podolyak, a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the peace talks with Russia.

"It is ideologically unacceptable for us to give something to the Russian Federation and pretend that it was some kind of easy war," Podolyak said, noting that many Ukrainian civilians were either killed or assaulted in the conflict, making it impossible for Ukraine to make concessions to Russia.

Ukraine will not agree on a ceasefire with Russia without troop withdrawal as Russia will control part of Ukrainian territory, he added.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday held separate phone talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.

In his conversation with Scholz, Zelensky discussed the situation on the frontline, prospects for peace and further sanctions on Russia over the conflict with Ukraine, the Ukrainian president tweeted.

In the talks with Macron, Zelensky informed the French leader about the course of hostilities in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the operation to rescue the military from Azovstal and the vision of the prospects of the negotiation process with Russia.

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The evacuation of Ukrainian troops from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol was the only possible formula for their rescue, Ukraine's government-run Ukrinform news agency reported Tuesday, citing Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar.

"Unfortunately, military unblocking is impossible in this situation. There can be no other formula of salvation than the one currently in use. It was the only way out," Malyar said.

Ukrainian military forces have fully fulfilled their combat mission in Mariupol, Malyar said, adding that the rescue operation from Azovstal will continue until Ukrainian soldiers return home from the uncontrolled territory.

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MOSCOW/KIEV -- Russian and Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday that negotiations on a solution to the current crisis have been suspended as the process is mired in stalemate.

"The talks are not going on. Ukraine has actually withdrawn from the negotiation process," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko told reporters, adding that Russia has received no response from Ukraine to its draft treaty.

"Today the negotiation process was suspended. It was suspended because there are no significant changes or upheavals after the Istanbul communique," Mykhailo Podolyak, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, was quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency as saying.