The round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, held this Monday (28), in Gomel, Belarus, ended with the expected result: no clear progress. Representatives of the two countries agreed to return to their capitals to discuss points of the conversation and are expected to arrange a second round of meetings, Russian state agency RIA reported, citing a Ukrainian government official.
Representatives of the two countries landed in the Belarusian city, close to the Ukrainian border, in the early afternoon at local time, morning in Brazil, with clear objectives on one side, but without an announced agenda on the other. Kiev was seeking a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops, while Moscow limited itself to saying that it hoped to reach an agreement, without giving further details.
The Kremlin has in mind that Ukraine should not join NATO, the Western military alliance, and, by extension, the European Union — Ukraine’s neutrality is at the heart of Putin’s demands.
Before the negotiations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky again asked for immediate access to the European bloc under a special procedure, which the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, guaranteed would be discussed, despite differences between the 27 members of the bloc. about the subject.
This first round of conversation in Belarus took place under some resistance. Zelensky had initially rejected the Kremlin’s invitation to negotiate, which could be seen as a surrender, as Vladimir Putin is speculated to want to overthrow the Ukrainian leader and dismember part of the country.
In a speech, Zelensky said that it would have been possible to talk if the Russians had not used the Allied dictatorship as a base for attacks — precisely against Kiev, 200 km from the southern Belarusian border.
This Sunday (27), however, the Ukrainian president gave in and agreed to participate in this first round – for the Russians, who were already in Gomel, the conversation would have taken place on Sunday itself. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmitro Kuleba, even tried to show strength by saying that Moscow had accepted the meeting without preconditions, which would be the result of the resistance imposed by the country to the invaders.
Ukrainian soldiers even said on Monday that the Russian offensive had slowed down, but the dawn was marked by more explosions in different parts of the country. In Kharkiv, the fighting continues after a Sunday of disputes between the countries. According to the British Ministry of Defense, the country’s second largest city remains under Ukrainian control.
There were also explosions in Kiev, but the Ukrainian government says the capital has been in a calm situation for a few hours, a different scenario from that seen in recent days, when the Russian offensive surrounded the city. Still, the UK says Moscow’s forces remain 30km to the north and are held back by the Ukrainian military defending Hostomel.
Fighting continues in Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine, where a residential building was hit by a missile, causing a fire. In the region, Jitomir airport was also targeted overnight, according to Kiev forces. The launch would have been made from Belarus, as the Ukrainians pointed out, despite the dictatorship saying earlier that it would not allow attacks from its territory.
The Russian Defense Ministry said, in turn, it had seized the towns of Berdianski and Enerhodar, as well as the Zaporijchia nuclear plant, according to the Interfax news agency. Ukrainian local authorities also reported fighting in Mariupol, but Kiev denies having lost control of the nuclear plant.
In addition to the dialogue between Russians and Ukrainians, another conversation expected for this Monday is that of US President Joe Biden with US allies to “coordinate a united response”, according to the White House released on Sunday night. The Democratic government did not give details on who would participate in the dialogue, scheduled for 11:15 am in Washington (1:15 pm in Brasilia), the same time as the UN General Assembly is debating a resolution to condemn the Russian invasion.
Such a measure has already been vetoed by Moscow in the Security Council. Thus, in practice, the resolution served only for countries to show their displeasure with the initiative of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, without generating immediate action. The West has taken a number of measures to react to Moscow, with sanctions that include banning the use of airspace by the country’s aircraft and disconnecting Russian banks from the international financial transfer system.
This Sunday, the G7 threatened Russia with new measures, and the United Kingdom has already announced sanctions against the Russian Central Bank. Criticism mounted after Putin put his nuclear forces on alert — the British government, however, saw no major changes in Russian nuclear posture. This Monday, the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borell, said that the bloc would not engage in an escalation due to the attitude of the Russian president.
