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Ukraine agrees to peace talks with Russia

28 Feb 2022

Ukrainian and Russian officials will meet for talks at a venue on the Belarusian border with Ukraine, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The talks, the first since Russia unleashed a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last week, would be held without preconditions and are the result of a phone call between Zelenskyy and the Belarusian President, the Ukrainian leader said. “We agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River,” he said in a statement. Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari, reporting from Moscow, said there was “some confusion” about where the Ukraine-Russia talks will take place. “The Ukrainians are saying these talks will be held near the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, but according to the Russians, they believe, still, that the talks will take place in the Southeastern city of Gomel in Belarus,” she said. “There seems to be some confusion about where the location for these talks will be.” Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons, reporting from Lviv in the west of Ukraine, said the reportedly agreed talks was a positive sign but far from a break-through. “The Ukrainians seem to be very weary about the talks agreed on. They say they will get along to listen to Russia on what it has to offer,” he said. He added that the Kyiv Government would not want to hear anything related to surrendering if Moscow is only prepared to make such an offer. Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Ukraine will “not give up a single inch of…territory” after agreeing to talks with Russia. “We go there (to the talks) to listen to what Russia wants to say, we are going without any…preliminary agreement on what the outcome of these talks can be. We are going there to listen and to say what we think of this war and Russia’s actions,” Kuleba said in a televised address. “Between now and the moment that the talks are wrapped up, (Belarusian President Alexander) Lukashenko assured President Zelenskyy that no Belarusian military force will be used against Ukraine,” he added. “We can only hope that Lukashenko will stick to his word. And between now and the moment when these talks are wrapped up, we will continue to fiercely defend our country, to defeat Russian forces if they try to continue their offensive operations.” Zelenskyy previously rejected Belarus, an ally of Moscow which used it as a staging ground for its multi-pronged invasion, as a location for potential talks. Speaking in Russian in a video message yesterday (27), Zelenskyy listed the cities of Warsaw, Bratislava, Istanbul, Budapest, or Baku as possible alternative venues. (Al Jazeera)


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