A man holds a child as he flees the city of Irpin, west of Kiev, on March 7, 2022. (ARIS MESSINIS / AFP)
MOSCOW / MINSK / ANKARA / KIEV – The third round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations has started in neighboring Belarus, Russia's TASS news agency reported Monday.
The talks began as Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine will meet in Turkey's southern province of Antalya on Thursday.
The talks started as said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine will meet in Turkey's southern province of Antalya on Thursday
During a press conference, the diplomat noted that the meeting would be held in a tripartite format, as part of Turkey's "intense effort" to bring both sides together.
"Russian Foreign Minister (Sergei) Lavrov said that he was ready to attend the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. Ukrainian Foreign Minister (Dmytro) Kuleba also announced that he will attend," Cavusoglu said, hoping that the meeting "will be a turning point."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Monday confirmed that Lavrov and Kuleba are planning "a contact" in Antalya, and the meeting was agreed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their recent phone conversation.
Erdogan was quoted in a statement by the Turkish presidency as saying that Turkey is ready to contribute to resolving the Ukraine crisis by peaceful means as soon as possible.
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Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said that Kiev is exploring the possibility of such a meeting in Turkey, according to the Ukrainian UNIAN news agency.
Scholars, politicians and representatives of international organizations are expected to join in this year's diplomatic forum from Friday to Sunday, ahead of which Turkey will also host the 8th Istanbul Mediation Conference in Antalya on Thursday.
A factory and a store burn after having been bombarded in Irpin, in the outskirts of Kiev, Ukraine, March 6, 2022. (EMILIO MORENATTI / AP)
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Council President Charles Michel discussed humanitarian issues in Ukraine during a phone conversation on Monday, the Kremlin said in a statement.
Putin stressed in the phone conversation that the Russian military is taking all possible measures to save the lives of civilians, and the main threat comes from Ukraine's nationalists, who "use the tactics of terrorists, hiding behind civilians," the statement said.
Putin said that while Russian forces have declared a ceasefire several times to facilitate the evacuation of civilians along humanitarian corridors, Ukraine's nationalists used violence to prevent civilians from leaving, according to the statement.
He called on the European Union to "make a real contribution to saving people's lives, and to put pressure on the Kiev authorities and force them to respect humanitarian law," the statement added.
NATO
NATO countries are not ready to discuss having Ukraine in the organization and Kiev is ready to discuss "some non-NATO models," Fox News reported on Sunday.
The development came as Sputnik reported that Russia's armed forces announced a ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors in four Ukrainian cities starting 10 am Moscow time (0700 GMT) on Monday, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Taking into account the "catastrophic humanitarian situation and its sharp aggravation in Kiev, Kharkov, Sumy and Mariupol," the decision was made at the personal request of French President Emmanuel Macron to Putin, the ministry said in a statement.
We are ready to discuss some non-NATO models…We are open to discuss such things in a broader circle, not only in bilateral discussions with Russia, but also with other partners.
David Arakhamia, member of the Ukrainian delegation
Talking to Fox News on the "non-NATO" discussion, David Arakhamia, member of the Ukrainian delegation for talks with Russia, said: "The response that we are getting from the NATO countries is that they are not ready to even discuss having us in NATO, not for the closest period of five or 10 years. We would not fight for the NATO applications, we would fight for the result, but not for the process."
"We are ready to discuss some non-NATO models…We are open to discuss such things in a broader circle, not only in bilateral discussions with Russia, but also with other partners," Arakhamia was quoted as saying.
Ceasefire
Russia has published evacuation routes from the four Ukrainian cities, and reported the information to the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to the ministry.
Refugees wait in a crowd for transportation after fleeing from Ukraine and arriving at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, March 7, 2022. (MARKUS SCHREIBER /AP)
Moscow demands that the Ukrainian side establish all the conditions for the creation of humanitarian corridors and ensure an organized withdrawal of civilians and foreign citizens, it said.
READ MORE: Moscow, Kyiv ready for new round of talks
Since Russia announced a special military operation against Ukraine 12 days ago, the two sides have had two rounds of negotiations in neighboring Belarus in search of a solution to the crisis, with no clear breakthrough in the first one and an agreement to open a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians during the second one on Thursday.
