Civilians killed in Ukrainian shelling; US hints at Biden-Putin meeting

Pro-Russia fighters in eastern Ukraine have announced the deaths of two more civilians as a result of shelling by Ukrainian troops amid the steadily rising tensions in the region.

The deadly shelling by the Ukrainian military occurred late Sunday, Russia’s RIA news agency quoted representatives of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic further as saying on Monday.

The latest civilian casualty took place a day after the Ukrainian military reported the death of one of its soldiers in heavy shelling by pro-Russia separatists.

Over the past few days, Ukraine's government troops and pro-Russia fighters have accused each other of mounting attacks which have escalated the tense situation created by the West's military buildup and Russia's flexing of muscles in response.

Biden’s tentative nod to meeting Putin

The White House declared late Sunday that US President Joe Biden had accepted “in principle” to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin only if Moscow would not have invaded Ukraine by then.

"We are always ready for diplomacy. We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Sunday night.

The meeting, according to Psaki, would take place after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meet later this week on Thursday per a previous arrangement by the two sides.

A White House official was cited by CNN as saying that Blinken and Larov would discuss a possible summit between Biden and Putin when they meet in Europe but added a note of caution about those talks.

"Blinken and Lavrov will discuss further if the invasion hasn't started by then -- in which case it's all off," he said.

Psaki's confirmation of a potential Biden-Putin summit followed a statement by the Elysee Palace in France, also declaring that the two presidents had "accepted in principle" a virtual meeting brokered by French President Emmanuel Macron, who held separate phone calls with Biden and Putin on Sunday.

ME