A Ukrainian delegation will meet with Russian officials without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near Pripyat River, Ukraine's Presidential Office confirmed Sunday.
In phone call with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko promised that during negotiations and the return of the Ukrainian delegation, all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarusian territory will remain on the ground.
Zelenskyy office said on the Telegram messaging app that the two sides would meet at an unspecified location on the Belarusian border and did not give a precise time for the meeting.
"The politicians agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet the Russian one without preconditions at the Ukraine-Belarus border, near the Pripyat River," Zelensky's office said.
Earlier, Zelenskyy said his country is ready for peace talks with Russia but not in Belarus, which was a staging ground for Moscow’s invasion. Speaking in a video message, Zelenskyy named Warsaw, Bratislava, Istanbul, Budapest and Baku as alternative venues. He said other locations are also possible but made clear that Ukraine doesn’t accept Russia’s selection of Belarus.
"Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku. We proposed all of them," Zelensky said in an address posted online.
The Kremlin said Sunday that a Russian delegation had arrived in the Belarusian city of Gomel for talks with Ukrainian officials. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the delegation includes military officials and diplomats.
"The Russian delegation is ready for talks, and we are now waiting for the Ukrainians,” Peskov said.
He also said that Ukrainian side has chosen Belarusian city of Gomel as place for peace talks, adding that Moscow has warned Kyiv that military operations will not be halted while talks are ongoing.
Ukraine wants only "real" negotiations with Russia over its military offensive, without ultimatums, an adviser to Zelenskyy told Reuters on Sunday, calling Moscow's decision to send a delegation to Belarus for talks "propaganda."
"There will be no representatives of Ukraine in Belarus' Gomel," Sergii Nykyforov wrote on Facebook, citing fact that while format was really discussed, at the last moment, Russian negotiators demanded that the Ukrainian army lay down their arms first.
