Peace Talk Begins: Ukraine Raises Key Points For Negotiation With Russia
As peace talks in Belarus get underway, President Zelensky’s office said that the main goal of the discussions for Kiev is to establish a quick ceasefire and the departure of Russian soldiers from Ukrainian territory. On Monday, a delegation from Kiev arrived at the Ukraine-Belarus border to begin talks with the Russian group.
According to the Russian news source Ria Novosti, the Ukrainian team arrived in two helicopters. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry released a snapshot of the discussion chamber on Monday morning, confirming that the venue had been set.
Ukraine delegation has arrived for peace talks with Russia at Belarus – Negotiations expected to start in 30 mins#UkraineRussiaWar #Ukraine #UkraineUnderAttack #UkraineWar #UkraineRussia #RussianArmy #Russia #RussiaUkraineWar #Zelensky #Belarus #ukrainepeace pic.twitter.com/gN9Y3bMatp
— TIMES READ (@times_read) February 28, 2022
Points of Discussion:
On Saturday, a Russian team led by Vladimir Medinsky, a former cultural minister and counsellor to President Vladimir Putin, arrived in Gomel, Belarus. Initially, Ukrainian officials declined to send a team to Belarus, claiming that holding discussions in the nation would be improper because Russian forces were staging attacks there. Minsk has denied that its soldiers are involved in Russia’s operation.
Kiev consented to the discussions after Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus spoke over the phone on Saturday. However, due to logistical challenges, the Ukrainian team’s arrival was further delayed.
High-level teams from Russia and Ukraine have begun talks in Belarus with the goal of easing tensions between the two nations. Last week, Moscow initiated a full-scale military operation, and its forces are stationed on the outskirts of Kiev, Ukraine’s capital.
On Monday, CCTV appeared to show two Ukrainian helicopters landing near the border in the Gomel area.
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, Kiev’s delegation includes Alexey Reznikov, the Minister of Defense, David Arakhamia, the chairman of the governing Servant of the People group, and deputy Foreign Minister Nikolay Tochitskiy, among others.
Kiev’s major aim in the crucial discussions with Moscow, according to the statement, is an early ceasefire and the departure of Russian soldiers from the nation.
Moscow did not publish its position ahead of talks with Kiev’s delegates, according to Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, since the negotiations “should go on in silence.”
He also expressed disappointment that the high-stakes discussions did not begin a day sooner, emphasising that there was a chance.
After originally declining to send a team of officials due to differences over location and basic parameters, the Ukrainian side decided to meet with their Russian counterparts on Sunday.
Kiev maintained that holding crisis talks in Belarus was unacceptable, arguing that Moscow’s armed forces were exploiting the country to launch strikes. Minsk, on the other hand, has said emphatically that its forces are not assisting in the military action.
Following demands from the leaders of the newly established Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics to resist what they claimed was a rapid increase in “Ukrainian aggression,” Russian President Vladimir Putin began an offensive against Ukraine last week. The operation’s goal, according to Putin, was to “demilitarise” and “de-nazify” the country.
A series of explosions targeted facilities across the Eastern European nation, including military installations and airfields, shortly after the broadcast message. “Putin has just begun a full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” Dmitry Kuleba, Kiev’s senior diplomat, stated, adding that “innocent Ukrainian cities are under strike.” This is an aggressive war.”