Ukraine war: No progress on ceasefire in tense and ‘difficult’ talks with Russia
- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in meeting with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov said no progress was made towards a 24-hour ceasefire
- He described the meeting as ‘difficult’, accusing his counterpart of bringing ‘traditional narratives’ about Ukraine to the table
The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine held their first face-to-face talks Thursday after two weeks of war, amid international outrage over Moscow’s bombing of a children’s hospital that Kyiv says killed three people, including a young girl.
But Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba said they had made “no progress” on a ceasefire, 14 days after Russia invaded its pro-Western neighbour, triggering a conflict that has caused 2.2 million refugees to flee across Ukraine’s borders.
He described the meeting as “difficult”, accusing his counterpart of bringing “traditional narratives” about Ukraine to the table.
However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow wanted to continue negotiations with Ukraine.
“I want to repeat that Ukraine has not surrendered, does not surrender, and will not surrender,” Kuleba told reporters after meeting Lavrov on the sidelines of a diplomatic forum in the southern Turkish resort of Antalya.
Previous lower-level talks in Belarus had produced several attempts to get civilians out of cities, many of which have failed after so-called humanitarian corridors came under attack.