The third round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia ended on Monday evening. The two sides met in the Belarusian city of Brest. Negotiations focused primarily on the opening and implementation of "humanitarian corridors" for the evacuation and supply of civilians from Ukrainian cities that have been exposed to rocket and shelling by Russian forces for days. Kiev accused Moscow of violating the ceasefire, and Moscow denied the accusations and claimed that Ukrainian forces on the ground were not obeying orders from Kiev. The establishment of a corridor for the evacuation of civilians was also discussed on March 3.
One of the Ukrainian negotiators announced that there was "minor progress" on the issue of humanitarian corridors, but that "there is no significant improvement". The representative of the Russian delegation assessed that the expectations of the Ukrainians from the third round were not justified. The Russians expressed hope that the concept of humanitarian corridors will start working on Tuesday.
For Ukrainians, the Russian concept of "humanitarian corridors" is unacceptable, because according to this plan, civilians would move towards the Russian and Belarusian borders. According to the maps published by the Russian side, the corridor from Kiev would lead to Belarus or Russia, while civilians from Kharkiv would have to go to Russia. The Ukrainians assessed it as "inhumane", and that the Kremlin would use it as propaganda that, well, Russia is helping people to take shelter until the "special military operation" is over.
Ahead of the negotiations, the Russian side announced that it would declare a "temporary" ceasefire in Kiev and hard-hit cities such as Kharkiv, in order to allow the evacuation of civilians.
The military government of Ukraine claims that Russia has twice prevented the evacuation of civilians by bombing the route of the humanitarian corridors. Ukrainian media reported over the weekend that the Ukrainians had proposed alternative routes as Moscow continued shelling of Irpin, west of central Kiev, and the southern Ukrainian town of Mykolaiv.
The Russian and Ukrainian sides came to the negotiations with different demands. Moscow demands that Ukraine insert an annex into the constitution guaranteeing that the country will not join any Western alliance, to recognize Crimea as part of Russian territory and the independence of Lugaska and the Donetsk People's Republic.
Kiev refuses to discuss anything other than the evacuation of civilians before Russia withdraws all military forces from Ukrainian territory, including Crimea and Donbass. Compromise on these issues would also mean defeat for Russia, and capitulation for Ukraine.
A meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba was announced for Thursday in Antalya.
According to UNHCR data, 1,7 million Ukrainians have fled the country so far. This is the fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II. The European Union expects that the number of refugees from Ukraine could rise to 5 million.
On the thirteenth day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the end of the war is not in sight.
SP
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