Red Cross: Besieged Mariupol needs cease-fire

The Red Cross is warning of a "worst-case scenario" for hundreds of thousands of civilians in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol unless the parties agree to ensure their safety and access to humanitarian aid.

The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, said in a statement said Sunday that residents of Mariupol "have endured a weeks-long life-and-death nightmare." The Geneva-based humanitarian agency said hundreds of thousands of people in the city are "facing extreme or total shortages of basic necessities like food, water and medicine." ''Dead bodies, of civilians and combatants, remain trapped under the rubble or lying in the open where they fell," the ICRC added. "Life-changing injuries and chronic, debilitating conditions cannot be treated. The human suffering is simply immense." The Red Cross called on the parties to agree on the terms of a cease-fire, routes for safe passage, and to ensure the deal is respected. It offered to act as a neutral intermediary in negotiations.