HNewsWire-President Zelensky's 14-hour-old ABC News interview (which we documented hours ago below) is now receiving extensive circulation and is being repackaged as a substantial bow to Moscow on what has been Putin's central problem in justifying the war:

In another apparent attempt to appease Moscow, Zelensky said that he is willing to "compromise" on the status of two breakaway pro-Russian areas that President Vladimir Putin acknowledged as autonomous just before to the invasion's launch on February 24.

"I cooled off on this issue a long time ago once we saw that...NATO is not prepared to welcome Ukraine," Zelensky said in an ABC News interview broadcast Monday night.

"The alliance is fearful of contentious issues and confrontation with Russia," he warned.

"I'm referring about security assurances," Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine is now willing to engage on these core Russian security needs in order to bring the conflict to an end.

For anyone who missed the interview when it was aired 14 hours ago, it is available here:

Update(10:51ET): Yesterday, ahead of the third round of Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks, which reportedly failed to make much progress, the Kremlin issued updated demands, stating that it would halt all military operations if Ukraine agreed to the following: recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea; recognize the statehood of Donetsk and Luhansk; and, most importantly, update the Ukrainian constitution to prohibit entry into external military alliances (namely NATO).

President Zelensky intimated in his statements to ABC News that Kiev may be open to compromise on some of these ideas. As he stated:

"I'm referring to security assurances. I'm thinking of materials pertaining to temporarily occupied areas and unrecognized republics that have received no recognition from anybody other than Russia, these phony republics. However, we can negotiate and reach an agreement on how these areas will continue to exist. What matters to me is how the people who wish to be a part of Ukraine will live in those lands."

He did, however, reiterate in the interview that Ukraine is not willing to make concessions based on "ultimatums." Previously, Zelensky said that he would not negotiate with a "gun to his head" – and so far, the negotiations have centered on negotiating small pauses in hostilities to allow for city-wide civilian evacuations. "I am open to negotiation; nonetheless, we are not prepared for surrender," he said.

For the first time since the conflict started on February 24, Zelensky addressed the matter of future NATO membership in a recently released ABC interview:

"Concerning NATO, I cooled off on this issue a long time ago, after it became clear that NATO was not prepared to welcome Ukraine. The alliance is fearful of controversy and conflict with Russia. We have never want to be a nation that is on its knees asking for anything, and we are not going to be that country, and I am not interested in being that president."

Meanwhile, a regional Ukrainian military commander has issued a warning about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the immediate vicinity of Kiev. According to military spokesperson Oleksiy Kuleba, "Today, the primary concern remains humanitarian assistance. Bucha, Irpin, Gostomel, Makariv, Borodyanka, and Vorzel – inhabitants of these communities are forced to spend days without water or food in bomb shelters. The occupants refuse to provide humanitarian corridors or assurances "As Kuleba said.

The following districts are located north and west of the capital: "Russian invaders are continuing to shell residential neighborhoods. They continue to bring in more military vehicles "he continued. "Every day, every hour, and every minute, we demand stillness. We will immediately dispatch assistance and evacuate our citizens "'He said.

According to the United Nations on Tuesday, at least 474 people have been killed since the invasion began – including civilians in the Donbass.

The Kremlin has disputed Kiev's assessment of violated commitments for local ceasefires, according to CNN, quoting the Russian military ministry:

According to the Russian military ministry, 723 people were evacuated from the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Tuesday via an agreed-upon evacuation path.

According to the Russian news outlet RIA Novosti, the ministry was cited. According to the report, those evacuated included Indian, Chinese, Jordanian, and Tunisian nationals.

The first convoy, which departed Tuesday morning, arrived safely in the Ukrainian city of Poltava, authorities said.

Both the Director of National Intelligence and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency chimed in on Tuesday on Russia's intentions and the condition of the situation...

PUTIN IS LIKELY TO REMAIN UNCONVINCED AND MAY INCREASE ASSAULT IN UKRAINE -HAINES PUTIN IS LIKELY TO STILL BELIEVE RUSSIA CAN DEFEAT UKRAINE -HAINES PUTIN IS "DESIRED TO DOMINATE AND CONTROL UKRAINE" -CIA DIRECTOR BURNS
PUTIN IS ANGRY AND FRUSTRATED, AND IS LIKELY TO DOUBLE DOWN ON UKRAINE WITHOUT CONSIDERING CASUALTIES. -BURNS

Additionally, CIA Director William Burns said that US intelligence anticipates a "awful next several weeks" in Ukraine.

Here is a roundup of all Ukraine conflict news that has surfaced in the last several hours, courtesy of Newsquawk.

Discussions/Negotitations:

As of 07:00GMT, Russian soldiers have maintained firing inside Ukraine, according to Reuters, citing Ifx/Defence Ministry; later, a Ukrainian presidential official claims residents are being evacuated from Sumy and Irpin.

Updates on the Energy/Economic Front

According to Bloomberg, the EU is mulling a large joint bond issuance to fund defense and energy; the idea might be disclosed as soon as this week. An announcement that spurred reckless behavior

According to Reuters sources, the EU Commission has prepared a new set of sanctions against Russia and Belarus in response to the invasion of Ukraine; to be discussed today, the sanctions include blacklisting additional oligarchs, providing guidance on monitoring crypto-assets, and prohibiting the export of maritime technology to Russia.

According to the Financial Times, the EU will publish a proposal on Tuesday to cut gas imports from Russia by two-thirds within a year.
US House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer indicated this week that a measure prohibiting Russian oil imports may be submitted.

Shell (SHEL LN) wants to exit the Russian oil and gas sector and will immediately discontinue purchasing Russian oil and gas on the spot market.
Ukrainian authorities are set to submit a letter to the US Congress requesting that the US exclude any firms that pay taxes to Russia's government from the stock market, according to a letter seen by WaPo.

According to Sputnik, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno issued a restriction on shipments of oil refining equipment to Russia, as well as personal penalties against another 20 Russians and 12 Belarusians.
MSCI said that it would withdraw some indices in light of Russia's reclassification.
Fitch has decided to immediately halt commercial activities in Russia, while downgrading Belarus from B to CCC.
According to RTL, German Economic Affairs and Climate Action Minister Habeck does not believe Russia would block Nord Stream 1 supplies.
According to Reuters, Russian gas shipments to Slovakia through Ukraine have fallen significantly, citing Entsog statistics.