Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, 3 March, asserted that a direct meeting between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin was the "only way to stop this war."
“Sit down with me to negotiate, just not at 30 metres," Zelenskyy said at a press conference, alluding to a previous meeting between Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron wherein the leaders were seen sitting at far ends of a long table. He said that direct negotiations were "the only way to stop this war," news agency AFP reported.
“I don’t bite. What are you afraid of?” he was quoted as saying by news agency AP.
The statement comes on a day when Russia and Ukraine concluded a second round of peace talks in Belarus.
Russia-Ukraine Agree To Create Safe Corridors After 2nd Round of Ceasefire Talks
Adviser to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy Mykhailo Podolyak, who was a member of Ukraine’s delegation for the second round of ceasefire negotiations on Thursday, said that the parties have reached a tentative agreement to organise safe corridors for civilians to evacuate and for humanitarian supplies to be delivered.
He said that cease-fires will be observed in areas where the safe corridors are established.
Expressing disappointment with the results of the dialogue, Podolyak said in a tweet, "The second round of negotiations is over. Unfortunately, the results Ukraine needs are not yet achieved. There is a solution only for the organisation of humanitarian corridors..."
On the other hand, Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky claimed the negotiations had yielded "substantial progress."
Medinsky said, "The main issue we decided on today was the issue of saving people, civilians, who are in the zone of military clashes... Russia calls on civilians who find themselves in this situation, if military actions continue, to use these humanitarian corridors," DW reported.
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