Russian Negotiation Team Arrives in Belarus... Ukraine Says "Negotiations Elsewhere" (Comprehensive Report 2)

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[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] On the 27th (local time), Russia dispatched a negotiation team to Belarus and proposed negotiations to Ukraine. Ukraine rejected the proposal, citing that the negotiation location was not neutral.

According to Reuters and Russian RIA Novosti, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, stated that day, "The Russian delegation has arrived in Homel, southeastern Belarus, to negotiate with Ukraine and is ready to start negotiations," adding, "We are waiting for Ukraine." The negotiation team included government officials from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense, and the Kremlin.

However, President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed refusal. In a video statement posted on his Telegram channel, President Zelensky said, "We are willing to negotiate peace with Russia, but for now, we reject Belarus," adding, "Belarus has been a bridgehead for the invasion." He continued, "We have proposed various cities to Russia, including Warsaw (Poland), Bratislava (Slovakia), Budapest (Hungary), Istanbul (Turkey), and Baku (Azerbaijan). Any city in another country where rocket fire does not reach is acceptable." President Zelensky also emphasized, "Negotiations must be held in such cities to be trustworthy and to end the war," and added, "Of course, we want peace. We want to meet and hope the war ends."

Belarus, bordering Ukraine to the north, is a country closely aligned with Russia. Russia stationed troops in the border area under the pretext of joint exercises with Belarus and used these forces to invade Ukraine. Russia also proposed talks the previous day but stated, "Since Ukraine rejected negotiations, President Vladimir Putin ordered the resumption of the military advance, which had been temporarily halted on the 25th, on the 26th." Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government blamed Russia for the breakdown of negotiations, saying, "The conditions set by Russia were unacceptable."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.