Ukraine says to meet Russia for talks at Belarus border

[KYIV] Ukraine on Sunday (Feb 27) said it would hold talks with Russia at its border with Belarus - near the Chernobyl exclusion zone - after a phone call between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

"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 in a statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that a Russian delegation was currently in the Belarusian city of Gomel.

Zelensky has previously said he will not hold talks with Russia on the territory of Belarus, where some Russian troops were stationed before invading on Ukraine's northern border. But Kyiv said Lukashenko assured Zelensky that "all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarus territory will remain on the ground during the travel, negotiations and return of the Ukrainian delegation".

Moscow has wanted to hold the talks in Kremlin-aligned Belarus. Zelensky, refusing to travel to Minsk, said Kyiv had proposed "Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku" as options to Russia.

Russia dropped its preconditions for talks after suffering military setbacks, Ukraine's foreign minister said on Sunday, adding that Ukraine would attend the talks to listen to what Russia had to say. Dmytro Kuleba also told a briefing that Putin's move to put nuclear forces on high alert was timed to put pressure on Ukraine during the negotiations. AFP, REUTERS