Ukraine foreign minister to meet Russian counterpart amid soaring tensions

Amid the escalating Ukraine-Russia conflict, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has confirmed his plans to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on March 10.

Kuleba said if Lavrov is ready for a serious substantive conversation, then he is ready as well. Kuleba also said that he would talk to anyone so that peace could be established between the two countries, according to American broadcaster CNN.

This statement comes amid the failure of the third round of peace talks between the two countries held in Belarus on Monday.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a member of the Ukraine delegation, said that there was small progress in the logistics of humanitarian corridors in Ukraine. He also said that the intensive consultation continued on the main political block of the settlement along with a ceasefire and security guarantees.

 

Meanwhile, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation said, "The discussion continued on political and military aspects. However, it remains difficult. It is too to talk about something positive."

Russian negotiators have bought large documents including specific agreements but Ukrainian negotiators opt to take the document back at home to study instead of signing them on spot.

"To be honest, our expectations from the talks were not met. But we hope that next time we will be able to take a more significant step forward," Medinsky said after the meeting. In this meeting, both sides addressed the issues of civilian evacuation and the Ukrainian side assured Russia that the humanitarian corridor will start working from Tuesday.