Russia and Ukraine reach an understanding on the establishment of humanitarian channels in the second round of negotiations
2022-03-04 09:33:20Source: Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency, Moscow, March 3 (Reporter Yellow River) The second round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine ended on the 3rd in the Belovezh Forest in Belarus. The two sides reached an understanding on the establishment of humanitarian access and agreed to hold the third round of negotiations as soon as possible.
Negotiations that day lasted about three hours. Before the negotiations began, Podoljak, an adviser to the Ukrainian President’s Office, listed three key topics for the negotiations on social media, namely, an immediate ceasefire, an armistice agreement and the establishment of humanitarian channels. After the negotiation, he wrote on social media for the first time: “Ukraine did not get the results it needed. Only reached a solution on arranging humanitarian access.” According to Ukrainian media reports, Podoljak also said that the two sides agreed to as soon as possible. Hold the third round of negotiations.
According to the TASS news agency, the head of the Russian delegation and presidential assistant Mekinsky said after the negotiation that the two sides discussed three topics in detail during the negotiation, involving military, international humanitarian and political settlement of the conflict. The main issue to be resolved in this round of negotiations concerns the safety of civilians in conflict areas. The two sides “reached an agreement on the establishment of humanitarian passages to evacuate civilians and a temporary ceasefire in areas related to humanitarian passages during the evacuation of civilians.” Mekinsky sees this as “substantial progress.”
TASS also reported that Russian negotiator Slutsky, chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament), said that the third round of negotiations with Ukraine will be held in the next few days. He also said that the possibility that the Russian-Ukrainian delegation will need to hold several more rounds of negotiations cannot be ruled out.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in the Donbas region on February 24. On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Russia. The Russian and Ukrainian delegations held the first round of negotiations in Gomel Oblast, Belarus on February 28. (Participating reporters: Li Dongxu, Li Ming)