Russia Ukraine Negotiations

Negotiations ended for now- second meeting to commence in short order- see updates

Some briefs:

5:00 EST:

Highlights of morning report from the Russian Ministry of Defence:

��Russian aviation has gained air supremacy over the entire territory of Ukraine;

If accurate Zelensky will have little ability to negotiate

��The Russian Ministry of Defence issued an appeal to the residents of Kiev: All civilians in the city can freely leave the capital of Ukraine along the Kiev – Vasylkiv highway. This direction is open and safe;

��Russian forces have taken control of Berdyansk and Enerhodar, protecting and completely controlling the area around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant;

��Armed bands of looters, who received weapons from the authorities, are rampaging through Kiev;

This comes as no surprise. It seemed a highly probable outcome of handing out arms willy nilly. Along with exposing civilians to extreme danger.

��In total, since the beginning of the operation, the armed forces of the Russian Federation have destroyed 1,114 objects of Ukraine’s military infrastructure;

��The LPR troops established control over the settlements of Khvorostyanka, Sukhanovka, Artem;

��DPR troops advanced another 19 km, the new Aidar was taken under control and Volnovakha was blockaded.

• Update 1:15 pm EST

The Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said that the new meeting would take place “soon” on the border between Poland and Belarus.

On Monday, Russia and Ukrainia began negotiations in Pripyat on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. The Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei conveyed President Alexandr Lukashenko’s wish that the negotiations allow finding ways to resolve “the problems”. Below are the main developments in the Ukraine-Russia conflict as they happen.

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators return to their countries. After holding a first round of talks on Monday, the representatives of the governments of Russia and Ukraine returned to their countries to hold “respective consultations” with their authorities.

“The parties established a series of priorities and issues that require certain decisions,” said Mikhailo Podoiak, a Ukrainian negotiator, suggesting that there would be a second round of talks. This possibility was confirmed by the Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, who said that the new meeting would take place “soon” on the border between Poland and Belarus.

“The meeting is over after five hours of talks,” the chairman of the Russian Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee, Leonid Slutsky said, mentioning that negotiators had identified several points on which they could move forward.

“The main result is that the negotiations took place, the parties listened to each other. We found a number of important points where progress is possible,” he stressed, adding that the Russians will contact the Ukrainians in the next 24 hours to inform them of the exact date and time for the next round of negotiations.

• Russia takes control of all administrative buildings in Berdyansk

This is a port city on the south east coast of Ukraine (Black Sea)