Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv rejects negotiation offer over location tussle, says Moscow

Russia's presidential office on Saturday, February 26, said that all prospects for potential peace talks between Moscow and Ukraine have stalled as Kyiv had declined to negotiate, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier announced via the Kremlin that Russia is ready to send a delegation to Minsk for a dialogue with Ukraine. However, it was reported that the talks had appeared uncertain due to apparent differences over the venue in Belarus, a Moscow ally that poses threat to the Ukrainian delegation's security. The prospects of talks developed as the Russian military encircled Kyiv during the third day of the assault. 

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said that he was ready to discuss NATO’s ambitions and Ukraine’s “neutrality” with Russia. The Kremlin said that it took note of Zelenskyy’s offer and had later announced that it is ready to dispatch a delegation to Belarus. Meanwhile, China’s foreign ministry said at a conference that Russian leader Putin had told the Chinese leader Xi Jinping in a telephonic conversation that “Russia is ready for high-level talks with Ukraine.”

Ukraine expresses reluctance on meeting in Belarus, suggests NATO nation Poland 

“Vladimir Putin is ready to send a Russian delegation to Minsk in response to Zelenskyy’s proposal,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said. The Defense Ministry, Foreign Ministry, and Presidential Administration officials will be among the delegation, Russia’s Interfax had quoted him as saying. Russian President Vladimir Putin had also briefly ordered the Russian troops to halt their advancement on Friday, the Kremlin stated.

Ukrainian officials had expressed reluctance about a meeting in Belarus and had instead suggested that it would like to meet in Poland, a NATO member where the United States has ordered the heavy deployment of troops. However, pushing Kyiv to attend a meeting in Minsk, Peskov had said that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close Russian ally, has welcomed the opportunity to host the Russia-Ukraine talks. Russia also reminded that Minsk was previously the key location of negotiations for the eastern Ukraine ceasefire in 2014 and 2015 when the two sides signed the Minsk Agreement. “This, in fact, is an integral component of [Ukraine’s] neutral status,” Peskov told reporters at a press conference.