BEIJING, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments regarding the conflict between Russia and Ukraine:
Both the Russian and Ukrainian militaries said more than 100 people were evacuated from the besieged city of Mariupol in Ukraine but differ on the exact number and other details.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry on Monday, 126 persons were evacuated from the Azovstal plant and adjacent houses in Mariupol over the past weekend.
However, Ukraine's military police said on Monday that more than 100 people evacuated from Mariupol arrived in the Ukrainian-controlled southern city of Zaporizhzhia.
- - - -
The head of the Ukrainian President's Office Andriy Yermak said that the end of the conflict and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory are Kiev's objectives at the peace talks with Russia, the presidential press service reported.
"For us, the fundamental things we are not ready to compromise on are our independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity," Yermak was quoted as saying in an interview with CNN.
- - - -
Paying Russia for gas in roubles would breach the EU sanctions, the bloc's Energy Commissioner said on Monday.
Addressing a press conference following an extraordinary meeting of EU energy ministers in Brussels, Kadri Simson said she told ministers that "paying in roubles through the conversion mechanism managed by the Russian public authorities and a second dedicated account in Gazprombank is a violation of the sanctions and cannot be accepted."
The meeting was held following a decision by Gazprom to suspend the gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, with Simson saying this "marks another turning point in the current crisis."
- - - -
The Hungarian government does not support the oil and gas embargo against Russia, a senior official said on Monday.
"The Hungarian position on the oil and gas embargo has not changed: we do not support it!" Zoltan Kovacs, secretary of state for international communications and relations wrote on his Facebook page. ■