Talks between Ukraine and Russia has ended, according to reports on Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office has demanded the withdrawal of all Russian troops, including from Crimea and Donbass, at peace talks in Belarus according to a report by Russian state media Sputnik.
The two countries are now planning a second round of talks.“Talks with the Ukrainian side which lasted about five hours have just wrapped up. We discussed in detail all the items on the agenda and found some common points on which we predict common positions can be found,” Russian state-owned news agency Sputnik reported.
Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, confirmed that the second round of talks was discussed. “The two sides identified several priority topics on which certain decisions have been outlined. For them to have an opportunity to be implemented…the parties are leaving for consultations in their respective capitals,” Podolyak said.
The talks were held at Ukraine’s border with Belarus — near the Chernobyl exclusion zone — after a call between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko. Ukraine had earlier refused to talk in Belarus, where Russian troops were earlier stationed.
Meanwhile, Belarus is preparing to send paratroopers into Ukraine to fight alongside Russian forces, according to multiple reports.Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, has allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory as a staging ground for the invasion of Ukraine, but has not directly taken part in the conflict. That could change as soon as Monday, a senior U.S. intelligence official with knowledge of current assessments said.
