The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine express their readiness to continue dialogue on the conflict
Antalya, Turkey, March 10, 2022 (Xinhua) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba agreed to continue negotiations on the conflict, but failed to make progress in declaring a ceasefire during their meeting in Turkey on Thursday.
The trilateral meeting, which was held on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomatic Forum, with the presence of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, was the first high-level meeting between Moscow and Kiev since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine on February 24.
Both sides are ready to continue negotiations
In a press conference following the meeting, Kuleba said that he is ready to meet Lavrov once more in the same pattern with Turkey as a mediator, while Lavrov said that Russia wants to continue talks with Ukraine within the current pattern in Belarus.
“We did not come here to replace the course of negotiations in Belarus. We will not create any parallel path. If there is added value, we are ready to discuss it through different modalities,” Lavrov told reporters.
“Everyone is well aware that President (Vladimir) Putin has never refused contacts. We want to organize these contacts not just to establish contacts, but to establish some specific agreements,” he added.
He stated that discussions with his Ukrainian counterpart mostly focused on “the efforts of our friends in Turkey regarding issues related to the humanitarian field,” referring to Ankara’s mediation efforts.
He also warned that the West is acting dangerously in response to the situation in Ukraine, adding that the Russian military operation there is continuing according to plan.
In a separate press conference, Cavusoglu said Turkey is ready to continue its “diplomatic efforts between Russia and Ukraine” and played the role of “facilitator” during the meeting, adding that the Ukrainian and Russian sides are not once morest holding more meetings in principle.
The Ukrainian and Russian delegations held three rounds of peace talks in Belarus, but the negotiations ended without much progress.
There is no agreement on a ceasefire
Kuleba noted the failure to make progress in declaring a ceasefire.
Cavusoglu said following the meeting that Turkey stressed the need to keep humanitarian corridors in Ukraine open without any obstacles.
Ukraine continued Thursday to evacuate civilians from cities and towns affected by hostilities through seven humanitarian corridors in northern, north-central, eastern and southern Ukraine, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported, citing Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Verychuk.
On Wednesday, more than 40,000 civilians were evacuated from Ukraine in one day.
Meanwhile, the state-run Ukrainian Energy Corporation (Ukrinergo) also called Thursday for a ceasefire to allow repair teams to enter and restore power supplies to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
“Everything is ready we have to repair the lines immediately and resume power supplies to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which has been out of power for more than a day. Just stop the bombing and let the repair teams in,” the company said in a statement on its Facebook page.
Earlier Thursday, Belarus’s national news agency said on Telegram that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had instructed specialists to ensure the supply of Chernobyl power, although the Ukrainian company later stated that Ukraine does not need help from Belarus in repairing station.
