Kyiv (Ukraine): The second round of talks with the Russians has begun over the war in Ukraine, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office said on Thursday. The key issues on the agenda according to the Ukraine president's office are an immediate ceasefire, armistice, and humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from destroyed or constantly shelled villages and cities.
A video released by Zelenskyy’s office Thursday showed the informally dressed Ukrainian delegation walking into the meeting room where they shook hands with Russian delegates in suits and ties. The talks are happening in Belarus on the Ukrainian border. The talks are aimed at stopping the fighting that has sent more than 1 million people fleeing over Ukraine’s borders, but the two sides appeared to have little common ground.
The talks happen on the day Russian forces have seized a strategic Ukrainian seaport and besieged another as part of efforts to cut the country off from its coastline. Going on for eight days now, the war has sent more than 1 million people fleeing over Ukraine's borders.
Earlier today, Russia’s foreign minister says that Moscow was ready for talks to end the fighting in Ukraine but will continue to press its effort to destroy Ukraine’s military infrastructure. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian delegation submitted its demands to Ukrainian negotiators earlier this week.
Lavrov said that the West has continuously armed Ukraine, trained its troops and built up bases there to turn Ukraine into a bulwark against Russia. Russia says that made Ukraine a threat to its security, forcing it to act. The U.S. and its allies have insisted that NATO is a defensive alliance that doesn't pose a threat to Russia. Lavrov strongly rejected that, saying that the West has turned Ukraine into a “bridgehead for undermining everything that is Russian.”Lavrov also said that Russia will insist on provisions that Ukraine will never again represent a military threat to Russia. He said it will be up to Ukrainians to choose what government they should have.
He voiced regret for civilian casualties during the Russian action in Ukraine, which started last week, and insisted that the Russian military is using only precision weapons against military targets.
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