Russia and Ukraine failed to achieve significant results during the third round of peace talks between them in Belarus on Monday. The meeting lasted nearly three hours at the Belovezhskaya Pushcha on the Belarus-Poland border. According to Mykhailo Podolyak, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, there was small progress in improving the logistics of humanitarian corridors in Ukraine. Podolyak, who is also an advisor in the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the talks were focused on the main political block of the settlement along with a ceasefire and security guarantees.
Podolyak said in a tweet, “The third round of negotiations has ended. There are small positive subductions in improving the logistics of humanitarian corridors… Intensive consultations have continued on the basic political block of the regulations, along with a ceasefire and security guarantees.”
Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, also the head of the Russian delegation, said, “The discussions continued on political and military aspects. However, it remains difficult. It is too early to talk about something positive.” Expressing Russia’s discontent with the talks, Medinsky said, “To be honest, our expectations from the talks were not met. But we hope that next time we will be able to take a more significant step forward.”
Both sides addressed the issue of civilian evacuation, and the Ukrainian side assured Russia that the humanitarian corridors will start working on Tuesday.
During the second round of talks between the two countries, Moscow had demanded Kyiv’s recognition of the Luhansk and Donetsk people’s republics within the borders of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, as well as the ‘denazification’ of Ukraine.
