Desk Report
Publish: 27 Feb 2022, 06:47 pm
Russian Delegation Head Vladimir Medinsky (left) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Right).
Russia has given Ukrainian
officials a deadline of 3:00 pm local time (Bangladesh time 7:00 pm) on Sunday
to decide whether to meet for talks in the Belarusian city of Gomel.
Vladimir Medinsky, the head of
the Russian delegation and aide to President Vladimir Putin, told state news
agency RIA Novosti they would stay until the allocated time and wait for a
response.
“As soon as we receive this
confirmation, we shall immediately set off to meet our counterparts in the
negotiations,” Medinsky said. “We stand for peace.”
However, Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he would be willing to hold talks with Russia
but rejected their proposal for a meeting to be held in Belarus.
Belarus is an ally of Russia and
played a key role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops invaded
through the Belarus border with support from Belarus' government, according to
Ukrainian officials. The Biden administration subsequently sanctioned nine
Belarusian defense firms for their support of the invasion.
Zelensky directly addressed
Belarus in an address on Sunday, saying “aggressive actions” from Belarusian
territory meant it was not possible to hold talks in the country. Ukraine said
it had intercepted a cruise missile launched toward Kyiv from Belarusian
territory.
The US State Department on
Thursday said Zelensky remained “a prime target for Russian aggression,” while
Zelensky himself said, “the enemy marked me as target No. 1.”
“If the talks are rejected, the
Ukrainian side shall bear all responsibility for bloodshed,” Medinsky said.
“But we remain here until 15:00 waiting for a response from the Ukrainian
side.”
Belarusian President Alexander
Lukashenko said Sunday he was “waiting” for Ukraine to come to the country for
negotiations with Russia, to be hosted by Belarus.
“We are waiting. Everyone is in
Gomel waiting. If they come then there will be negotiations,” Lukashenko told
reporters after voting in the constitutional referendum in Minsk on Sunday,
according to Belarusian state news agency Belta.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry
Peskov told reporters a Russian delegation has already arrived in Belarus for
notional talks with the Ukrainian representatives, RIA Novosti reported Sunday.
_AlJazeera
Subscribe Shampratik Deshkal Youtube Channel
© 2024 Shampratik Deshkal All Rights Reserved. Design & Developed By Root Soft Bangladesh