(Photo: Shatterstock)
On the way to relaxation? Concurrent with the continued fighting in Ukraine, the Russian government announced this morning (Sunday) that a Russian delegation had arrived in Belarus for negotiations with the Ukrainians. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was ready to begin negotiations now in the city of Gomel.
According to the Kremlin, “The Russian delegation includes representatives from the defense and foreign ministries, as well as representatives from the presidency. They are ready for talks, and now we are waiting for the Ukrainians.” At the same time, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is calling on Ukraine to “accept my invitation for talks with Russia – otherwise Ukraine could lose its status as a country.”
Despite the conciliatory tone, at this stage it seems that this is a Russian exercise designed to bring down on Ukraine the blame for the continued fighting in the country. Ukraine has already announced its refusal to hold talks in Belarus due to being an ally of Russia, with the Ukrainian government offering instead to hold a summit in Israel, Berlin or Warsaw.
Zalansky in response: “Ready for talks in cities that do not launch missiles at Ukraine”
Minutes after the Russian announcement, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zalansky said in response that “talks could have taken place if Russia had not attacked Ukraine from Belarus. I hope that Belarus will return to being a friendly and safe country.”
In his remarks, Zalansky made it clear that he was “ready for talks only in a location that does not send forces attacking Ukraine. Warsaw, Istanbul, Baku, Bratislava, Budapest – all offered to help negotiate with Russia, and there are many other cities that do not launch missiles at Ukraine.” And we made it clear to the Russians: the talks could be somewhere else – not Minsk. “
As you may recall, last Friday Zalansky called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to sit down with him for negotiations. “I hereby turn once again to the President of Russia: the fighting is taking place all over Ukraine,” Zlansky said in Ukrainian and Russian. “Let’s sit at the negotiating table and talk, because we need to stop the killing and put an end to the war.”
Last night, Knesset Speaker Miki Levy spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, who asked him to promote the initiative of a Russian-Ukrainian summit in Israel. Minister Ayelet Shaked also confirmed that such a request had been made.
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