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Agreement on international security guarantees for Ukraine being discussed in talks-PHOTO

29 March 2022 15:03 (UTC +04:00)

Talks resume between Russia and Ukraine and the issues being discussed are security guarantees and organising a ceasefire to resolve humanitarian problems, APA reports citing The Week.

"Intensive consultations are underway right now on some important issues, the most important of which is agreement on international security guarantees for Ukraine, because with this agreement we will be able to end the war as Ukraine needs," said political adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters."The second issue is a ceasefire to solve all the humanitarian problems that have accumulated," he said. He said another problem was the "escalation of the war" including what he said, without giving details, was the "violation of the rules of war".

Earlier talks between the sides, failed to make progress on ending the month-long war that has killed thousands and driven more than 10 million Ukrainians from their homes including almost 4 million from their country.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a cease-fire as the Russian and Ukrainian delegations resumed their talks in Istanbul.

In a speech he delivered at the start of Tuesday, Erdogan said progress in the talks could pave the way for a meeting between the two countries leaders.

“We believe that there will be no losers in a just peace. Prolonging the conflict is not in anyone's interest,” Erdogan said. “As members of the delegations, you have taken on a historic responsibility. The whole world is awaiting the good news that will come from you.”

The delegations are scheduled to hold two days of talks in a government building adjacent to the 19th-century Ottoman palace, Dolmabahce, on the shores of the Bosporus.

Ahead of the talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his country is prepared to declare its neutrality, as Moscow has demanded, and is open to compromise on the fate of the Donbas, the contested region in the country's east.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in the meantime, called on Russia and Ukraine to come to an agreement so that civilians may evacuate safely from the besieged city of Mariupol as vital supplies run out. According to the Russian news agency TASS, a Russian negotiator said that Russia protested to the Ukrainian delegation over the abuse of Russian prisoners.

Russia's defence ministry has said that the Ukrainian defence capacity has been seriously damaged and that the main task now was to liberate Donbass. Russia's Defence Minister Sergio Shoigu said that there will be serious consequences if NATO supplies planes and air defences to Ukraine. He also added that Ukraine no longer has an Air force adding that about 600 foreign mercenaries were killed in Ukraine in the last two weeks. He also said that Russia will find those responsible for cyber aggression against the country.