The Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said that there was no progress with regard to the ceasefire during his discussions with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, news agency AFP reported. The news agency also reported that Sergey Lavrov raised concerns that dangerous arms and ammunition were being provided to Ukraine.
According to Turkey-based news agency, Anadolu Agency, Lavrov said that Russia does not want to attack any countries and Ukraine created security risks for Russia. Lavrov also said that the meeting was a ‘show’ for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky not a measure to decrease hostilities. He, however, said that Russia wants to hold negotiations with Ukraine.
The Ukrainian foreign minister said that Russia is seeking complete surrender from Ukraine and says that Russia is in no position to establish a ceasefire, according to Anadolu. “We also talked about the ceasefire, a 24-hour ceasefire, but no progress was accomplished on that. It seems that there are other decision-makers for this matter in Russia,” Kuleba was quoted as saying by news agency AFP. “Ukraine has not surrendered, does not surrender, and will not surrender,” he further added.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov also spoke on the Mariupol children’s hospital bombing incident and said that it was a base from where Ukrainian nationalists were operating, news agency AFP reported. Russian government officials earlier said that it will gather information from the military regarding the bombing of the children’s hospital in the coastal city of Mariupol.
At least 17 people were injured when a hospital was bombed by the Russian army in the coastal city of Mariupol. Three people, one children among them, died in the bombing. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that bombing of the hospital was a ‘war crime’.
The two ministers met for the first time after Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a ‘military operation’ in Ukraine on February 24. Earlier three rounds of meetings were held by delegations from both sides but they could only agree upon humanitarian corridors from Ukrainian cities to evacuate civilians.
The talks were hosted on the sidelines of the Anatalya Diplomatic Forum with Turkey acting as a mediator. Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was also present in the meeting.
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