MOSCOW – Talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations launched in Gomel region in Belarus Monday despite the continuation of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, Sputnik news agency reported.
Russia and Ukraine kicked off talks on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, Belarusian state television reported, several days after the start of Russia’s ongoing invasion of its neighbour.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office said it will seek an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine at the talks, the Moscow Times said.
The Kremlin declined to share the Russian delegation’s negotiating position Monday, saying “the negotiators should talk in silence.”
Zelenskiy’s office said the Ukrainian delegation consists of Ukraine’s defense minister, deputy foreign minister, as well as four senior lawmakers and presidential office staffers.
Russia’s team comprises Moscow’s ambassador to Minsk, its deputy defense minister, a senior lawmaker and President Vladimir Putin’s aide Vladimir Medinsky.
“We definitely have an interest in reaching some agreements as soon as possible,” Medinsky, who traveled to Belarus for the talks, said in televised remarks.
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