Ukrainian and Russian officials will meet for peace talks “without preconditions” near Ukraine’s border with Belarus, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Sunday.
There was no information on when the reported talks might take place, but they would be the first since Russia began a full-scale invasion of its western neighbor Wednesday.
The discussions were prompted by a phone call between Zelensky and Belarusian President and Kremlin ally Alexander Lukashenko, according to the Ukrainian president.
“We agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River,” Zelensky said in a statement.
“Alexander Lukashenko has taken responsibility for ensuring that all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarusian territory remain on the ground during the Ukrainian delegation’s travel, talks and return,” Ukraine’s leader said.
Zelensky had previously denied Russia’s offer to meet in Minsk.
The peace talks come as Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday ordered Russian nuclear forces to be put on high alert because of what he claimed was “aggressive statements” by NATO leaders, as the Kremlin’s attacks on Ukraine continued.
Zelensky described his discussion with Lukashenko as ‘very substantive’, adding that he had made it clear he did not want troops to move from Belarus to Ukraine and Lukashenko ‘assured him of this’.
In a televised address, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the talks were called after Belarus prepared its forces to join the Russian invasion.
“Today, we were as close as ever to the entry of Belarus armed forces into the war. This is why Presiden Zelensky and President Lukashenko spoke today,” he said in his address.
“We have to defend our northern flank and we have to minimise the threats coming from there. So we agreed to send a delegation to the location on the Ukranian-Belarus border and we go to there to listen to what Russia has to say.”
“We are going there without preliminary agreement on what the outcome of these talks can be. We are going there to say what we think of this war and Russia’s actions.”
Mr Kuleba said Belarus had assured Ukraine that no Belarusian military force will be use against Kyiv while the talks take place, but he insisted Ukraine’s military military would continue to ‘fiercely defend’ the country against Russia attacks in the meantime.
“I think the fact Russia wants to talk without any pre-conditions or any ultimatums, without any demands addressed to Ukraine, is already a victory for Ukraine,” he added.
Iskander missiles were launched from Belarus to Ukraine around 5pm (3pm GMT), an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister said.
It came as Putin declared, in his own televised address, that he had ordered troops operating the nuclear deterrent onto a ‘special regime of duty’ in light of ‘aggressive statements’ from NATO leaders and ‘unfriendly economic actions’. Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg responded: ‘This is dangerous rhetoric’.
Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Russia at the Hague, with Mr Zelensky requesting that the UN International Court of Justice orders Russia to stop its attack against Ukraine and starts trials soon.
Meanwhile, the EU unveiled a new package of sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s regime, closing off its airspace to all Russian planes and banning Kremlin propaganda outlets Russia Today and Sputnik.
Elsewhere, oil giant BP announced on Sunday it is ditching its controversial 20 per cent stake in the Russian energy group Rosneft ‘with immediate effect’.
Chief executive Bernard Looney revealed the move today, saying he was ‘saddened’ and ‘shocked’ by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It comes after he was summoned to a meeting with Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday amid growing unease about the BP’s Russian dealings.
Earlier today, in a speech to mark Russia’s special forces day, Putin thanked soldiers for ‘heroically fulfilling their military duty’ in Ukraine, before parroting his propaganda line that his armies are providing assistance to the ‘people’s republics of Donbas’ referring to two rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine that Russia recognized as independent states ahead of its invasion.
“I want to thank the command, the personnel of the special operations forces, veterans of the special forces units for their loyalty to the oath, for their impeccable service in the name of the people of Russia and our great motherland,” he said.
