March 5 – Russia and Ukraine will hold a third round of ceasefire talks on Monday, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said in a Facebook post on Saturday, without giving details.
The Russian side was less categorical, saying only that negotiations could start on Monday.
Delegations from Ukraine and Russia have held two rounds of talks since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the neighboring country on February 24.
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On Thursday, the parties agreed to open humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave some war zones, although there have been delays in their implementation.
Ukraine said on Saturday that the talks had not produced results but would continue talks.
“The third round of talks will take place on Monday,” wrote Arakhamia, who is also the leader of the parliamentary faction of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party.
Russian news agency Interfax later quoted Russian negotiator Leonid Slutsky as saying that “the third round could indeed take place in the coming days, possibly on Monday.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that Zelenskiy’s attempt to secure direct NATO assistance in the conflict between their countries is not helping talks between the two sides, but Moscow is ready for a third round. More
Fearing of being embroiled in Moscow’s war with its neighbor, NATO on Friday rejected Zelenskiy’s call for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, prompting the Ukrainian president to say the alliance had given Russia the green light to continue bombing.
Earlier Saturday, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he was ready for talks with Lavrov, but only if they were “meaningful.”
The Kremlin said on Friday that progress in the talks would depend on Kyiv’s reaction to Moscow’s position on ending the war, which was brought to Ukraine on Thursday.
Russian news agency TASS quoted Slutsky as saying that the Ukrainian side showed some openness in the second round to reach an agreement.
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Additional Reporting by David Junggren Editing by Kevin Liffey and Paul Simao
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