Ukraine Says Talks With Russia are on Pause, Will Continue Tuesday

The head of Russia's delegation says virtual talks are now being held daily

Ukraine’s leading negotiator said talks with Russia that were held Monday are on pause and will continue on Tuesday as the two sides are now communicating via video conference.

“A technical pause has been taken in the negotiations until tomorrow. For additional work in the working subgroups and clarification of individual definitions. Negotiations continue,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, wrote on Twitter.

Russia’s head negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said the two sides will hold virtual talks every day. “Talks with the Ukrainian delegation continue in the videoconference format every day, seven days a week. This format helps save time and money. We are trying to do our best to implement the tasks set by [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, to ensure Russia’s peaceful future,” Medinsky wrote on Telegram, according to Russia’s Tass news agency.

Since Russia launched its assault in Ukraine, delegations led by Podolyak and Medinsky met in person three times in Belarus. Last week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Turkey.

So far, Ukraine and Russia haven’t shared many details about the negotiations, but the two sides have signaled that progress has been made. On Sunday, Podolyak said he thought a deal to end the fighting could be reached soon. “We will not concede in principle on any positions. Russia now understands this,” he said, according to Reuters. “I think that we will achieve some results literally in a matter of days.”

Also on Sunday, Russia’s RIA news agency quoted Leonid Slutsky, another member of the Russian negotiating team, as saying the negotiations have made good progress. “According to my personal expectations, this progress may grow in the coming days into a joint position of both delegations, into documents for signing,” Slutsky said.

Russia has said it wants Ukraine to declare neutrality, recognize Crimea as Russian, recognize the independence of the Donestk and Luhansk Republics in the Donbas, and downsize its military.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.