The fourth round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine began on Monday, and before the talks, officials from both countries hinted at progress after weekend negotiations.
Hopes of de-escalating the war in Ukraine come after a bloody weekend that saw American journalist Brent Renaud killed by Russian gunfire and more than 30 cruise missiles hit a Ukrainian base near Poland, leaving at least 35 people dead. Overnight shellings also occurred in numerous parts of Ukraine hours before the talks.
“Russia is already beginning to talk constructively,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a member of the peace talk delegation, said in an online video translated by Reuters. “I think that we will achieve some results literally in a matter of days.”
Переговори. 4-й раунд. Про мир, припинення вогню, негайне відведення всіх військ і гарантії безпеки. Важка розмова. РФ хоч і усвідомлює всю безглуздість своїх агресивних дій, проте залишається в ілюзії, що 19-денне насильство над мирними містами ?? – правильний вибір стратегії. pic.twitter.com/0PpXhEWxvJ
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) March 14, 2022
Leonid Slutsky, a member of the State Duma of Russia and a member of the peace talk delegation, echoed Podolyak’s assessment, saying that significant progress has been made and draft agreements could soon be possible, according to reports.
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Before the peace talks, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced that 10 “humanitarian corridors” have been agreed upon and will be open on Monday morning, including from towns near the capital Kyiv and in Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine.
“We will, once again, try to unblock the movement of the humanitarian convoy carrying food and medicine to [Mariupol] from Berdiansk,” she said in a video address, according to Reuters.
Zelensky has said that his delegation has been speaking to Kremlin negotiators daily via video link, and on Saturday, he called for Israel to serve as a mediator and expressed his desire to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Jerusalem.
The last round of peace talks was on March 7 in Belarus and focused on humanitarian issues.
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Monday’s peace talks will occur after a night of shellings across Ukraine.
Zelensky’s office reported Monday that airstrikes hit residential buildings near the southern city of Mykolaiv, the eastern city of Kharkiv, and in the Rivne region in the northwest. Explosions were also reported overnight near the Kherson. Three airstrikes were also reported in the northern city of Chernihiv overnight.
A shell flew into a high-rise building in #Kyiv‘s #Obolon at night.
The nine-story building partially collapsed and there was a fire. According to preliminary data, there were no victims or injuries. pic.twitter.com/NB7l4FoU1F
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 14, 2022
In Kyiv, a nine-story apartment building was also reportedly hit by a Russian shell overnight. That attack left two people dead and three injured, according to a report.
