Russia-Ukraine War: Ukraine agrees to hold talks with Russia in Belarus
Ukraine has finally agreed to hold peace talks with Russia in Belarus, reported Russian state media.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had rejected the Kremlin's offer of talks in Belarus on Sunday, saying the country was a staging ground for the Russian invasion.
Zelenskiy, on the other hand, had left the possibility of negotiations in other locations open. Notably, Russia had offered to hold peace talks with Ukrainian officials in the Belarusian city of Gomel.
Meanwhile, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko had called on Kyiv to sit down and hold talks with Russia so that Ukraine does not lose its statehood, according to Russia's RIA news agency.
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"At the moment, we're saying no to Minsk. Other cities can be a place to meet. Of course, we want peace, we want to meet, we want for the war to end. Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku, we have suggested all that to Russia. And any other city will do... in a country, from whose territory the rockets are not flying. This is the only way that the talks can be honest and can really put an end to the war," Zelenskyy had asserted in a video message shared on his Telegram channel.
Russia's offensive against Ukraine entered its fourth day on Sunday as the Russian troops were ordered to broaden the advance.
On Sunday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov announced that Moscow's armed troops had blocked Kherson and Berdyansk and taken control of Henichesk and the Chernobaevka airfield in Kherson over the previous day.
"Over the past day, the cities of Kherson and Berdyansk were completely blocked by the Russian armed forces. The city of Henichesk and the Chernobaevka airfield near Kherson were also taken under control," Konashenkov was quoted saying by Sputnik News Agency.
Since the start of the offensive, Russian armed troops have destroyed 975 objects of Ukrainian military infrastructure, as per Sputnik.
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-PTC News
