KYIV (AFP/REUTERS) – A 3rd spherical of talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine ended Monday (March 7) with Kyiv citing a small quantity of progress on opening humanitarian corridors.
“We have achieved some small positive results concerning the logistics of humanitarian corridors,” Kyiv’s presidential advisor Mikhailo Podolyak tweeted after the talks resulted in Belarus.
He stated “intensive” consultations had continued on the primary problems with securing a ceasefire in combating in Ukraine.
But Russia’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky stated in televised remarks that “our expectations from negotiations were not fulfilled”.
“We hope that next time we will be able to take a more significant step forward,” he added.
Medinsky stated that he hoped that civilian escape routes would open Tuesday however confused that it was too early to make sure.
“We hope that starting from tomorrow, these corridors will finally start working. The Ukrainian side has given its assurances,” he stated.
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“But it’s too early to talk about something positive yet.” Another Russian delegate, Leonid Slutsky, the top of the parliament’s overseas affairs committee, stated: “We hope the talks will be swiftly continued.”
“But we won’t comfort ourselves with illusion that the finished result will be reached at the next step.” During the second spherical of talks final week, Ukraine and Russia agreed to create humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians.
But earlier Monday Ukraine rejected Moscow’s supply of humanitarian corridors from 4 Ukrainian cities that will result in Russia and Belarus.
The Russian military stated it was opening humanitarian corridors from the cities of Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mariupol and Sumy to permit civilians to flee.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk stated Russia’s proposal was “not an acceptable option”.
Ukrainian civilians “aren’t going to go to Belarus and then take a plane to Russia,” she stated.
