Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will continue in the coming days.
On February 28, Russian-Ukrainian talks aimed at resolving the situation in Kyiv took place in the Gomel province of Belarus. Both sides assessed that some points had been reached, paving the way for a second round of talks in the coming days.
The Russia-Ukraine talks lasted nearly five hours. According to an assistant to the Russian President, Vladimir Medinsky, the participants reviewed the entire agenda in detail.
"We have found points where we can anticipate common ground. And most importantly, we agree to continue the negotiation process. The next meeting will take place in the coming days at the Polish-Belarusian border," said the Russian President's assistant.
Mr. Medinsky emphasized that, up to that point, the leaders of each delegation would consult with all negotiating positions with the country's leaders.
Another Russian representative at the talks, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky, emphasized that "the parties listened to each other" and "found some important points on which progress can be made."
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| Russia-Ukraine negotiations. Photo: rianovosti |
For his part, Mikhail Podolyak, advisor to the Chief of Staff of the Ukrainian President, said that for Ukraine, the main purpose of the meeting was to discuss a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops. The parties identified priority topics from which to draw up concrete solutions. He added that these topics would be further developed in the second round of negotiations.
The Ukrainian delegation, in addition to Mr. Podolyak, included Defense Minister Aeksey Reznikov, the head of the "Servant of the People" party David Arakhamia, Deputy Foreign Minister Nikolai Tochitsky, Member of Parliament Rustem Umerov, and the First Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group, Andrei Kostin.
On the Russian side were the Russian President's assistant V. Medinsky, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko, Deputy Defense Minister Aleksander Phomin, and the Russian ambassador to Belarus Boris Gryzlov.
Previously, on February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin, responding to a call from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, signed a decree recognizing them, and on February 24, he announced the start of a special military operation aimed at demilitarizing Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Defense emphasized that they were not attacking civilian targets.