Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba avoided confirming that the second round of negotiations with Russia will be held on Wednesday, as previously suggested by Moscow.
“At the moment it is not known when new negotiations will take place,” Kuleba said in a video message posted on Facebook.
The Kremlin said hours earlier that the second round of negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations on a possible ceasefire in Ukraine could be held on Wednesday, without revealing the venue of the meeting.
“We are prepared for negotiations, we are open for diplomacy, but in no way are we prepared to accept Russian ultimatums,” Kuleba said.
Russian Presidency spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that “in the second half of the day, in the afternoon, our delegation will be at the venue (of the meeting), waiting for the Ukrainian negotiators.”
The Kremlin representative could not confirm whether the Ukrainian side had given its approval to today’s negotiations, but said Russia expects “them to come.”
“Our (delegates) will be ready to sit at the table today,” he insisted.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday in an interview with CNN that the first thing “is to stop fighting” because, otherwise, he will be “wasting his time.”
After the first meeting between the parties, which took place on Monday, Zelensky regretted that Russian attacks in Ukraine did not cease even during the negotiations, which lasted for five hours.
At the same time, the two sides admitted “certain advances” after the first meeting without detailing what these consisted of. (I)
