Status: 02/27/2022 3:54 p.m
Ukraine has agreed to peace talks with Russia. The delegations are to meet at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. There are no conditions, according to the office of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.
Ukraine has agreed to negotiate with Russia. A Russian and a Ukrainian delegation will meet at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. There are no conditions. A time was not initially mentioned.
The planned meeting on the Prypiat river near Chernobyl is said to have come about through the mediation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, with whom Zelenskyi spoke on the phone. According to the Ukrainian Presidential Office, he assumed responsibility for ensuring that all aircraft, helicopters and missiles stationed in Belarus remained on the ground during the Ukrainian delegation’s arrival.
Tug-of-war over the place of negotiation
The commitment to negotiations was preceded by days of tug-of-war over the venue. So far, the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy had agreed in principle to talks with Moscow, but not in Belarus, which the Kremlin insisted on. The neighboring country is not neutral, said Selenskyj as justification. Russian troops had invaded Ukraine from Belarus, among other places. Lukashenko is also a close ally of Putin.
Moscow had suggested the Belarusian capital Minsk as a place for talks. Zelenskyy replied that “any other city” could be considered for talks with Moscow. “Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku. We suggested them all.” Russian President Vladimir Putin then accused the government in Kiev of rejecting the Russian offer of talks. Kiev has “not yet taken the opportunity,” Putin said, according to the Kremlin.
Russian delegation in Gomel
A Russian delegation later traveled to Gomel, Belarus, for talks with Kiev. The Russian delegation said they were ready. “The Russian side and the Russian delegation on the ground are fully prepared for the negotiations,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, made a similar statement.
Moscow initially gave Kiev an ultimatum until 3:00 p.m. (1:00 p.m. CET) – and announced that it would leave again after that. As the Belarusian state agency Belta reported, Lukashenko then suggested to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone call that the Russian delegation should wait longer in Gomel for the Ukrainians than originally planned.