Preliminary Talks Between Russia and Ukraine Yield No Decision

KYIV, Ukraine — Preliminary talks between Russia and Ukraine concluded with out outcome on Monday night, with each delegations coming back from the positioning of the negotiations in Belarus to their capitals for consultations.

Kyiv is looking for a cease-fire in Ukraine and an finish to hostilities, in response to Mihailo Podolyak, a member of the Ukrainian delegation.

“The events recognized a variety of precedence matters during which sure options had been outlined,” he stated after the discussions ended. “With a view to get some alternatives for implementation and logistical options, the events are returning to their capitals for consultations.”

The Kremlin desires its safety calls for taken under consideration “unconditionally,” President Vladimir V. Putin informed the French president, Emmanuel Macron, as talks had been underway. These embody the popularity of Russian sovereignty over Crimea, and “demilitarizing and denazifying the Ukrainian state and guaranteeing its impartial standing,” that means that it provides up a proper to hitch the NATO alliance.

Vladimir Medinsky, a former tradition minister who led the Russian delegation, stated that the events had “discovered sure factors the place we will predict frequent positions.”

He stated the subsequent assembly would happen as soon as extra alongside the Ukraine-Belarus border within the “coming days.”

After the assembly ended, Mr. Podoloyak criticized his opponents in a tweet, saying “Sadly, the Russian aspect continues to be extraordinarily biased relating to the damaging processes it launched.”

On Monday, dozens of individuals had been killed and plenty of extra wounded in an assault by Russian rockets on Ukraine’s second-biggest metropolis, Kharkiv. As information broke that the negotiations had concluded for the day, explosions had been additionally heard in Kyiv.

Whereas the talks had been ongoing, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine signed an utility for membership within the European Union.

“Fairly certain that is actual,” he wrote on his Instagram web page, the place he shared a photograph of the signing ceremony.

Earlier within the day, in an impassioned speech, he urged the 27-member bloc to pave a swift path to accession.

“We enchantment to the European Union for Ukraine’s fast accession underneath a brand new particular process,” Mr. Zelensky stated in a video broadcast from the capital, Kyiv. “Our objective is to face alongside all Europeans and, most significantly, to face on their stage.”