BREAKING: Ukraine confirms peace talks with Russia today

Ukraine on Sunday confirmed to hold peace talks with Russia amid invasion.

Kyiv “confirmed” the planned talks in Gomel Region, which is close to the borders of both Russia and Ukraine, Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky told reporters.

During a phone call with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River.

Medinsky, an aide to President Vladimir Putin and former Culture Minister, added that the parties are now deciding on the logistics and the exact location of the summit, with “maximum security” for the Ukrainians, RT reported.

“We guarantee that the travel route will be 100 per cent safe. We will be waiting for the Ukrainian delegation,” the Russian chief negotiator said.

The Russian team arrived in Gomel on Sunday, where it said talks were planned with the Ukrainians.

Kyiv later said it wanted to negotiate on “neutral ground”, arguing that Russian troops were using Belarusian territory to stage attacks on Ukraine. Minsk, however, denied that its forces were participating in the Russian operation, RT reported.

The Russians initially said their team would stay in Belarus until 3 p.m. local time. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko over the phone, asking to move the deadline, according to Lukashenko’s spokeswoman, Natalia Eismont, the report said.

She said the Belarusian leader then spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who agreed to move the planned negotiations to a later time.

Zelensky confirmed the call with Lukashenko on social media, but has not commented on the talks.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejected the Kremlin’s offer of talks in Belarus on Sunday, saying the country was a staging ground for the Russian invasion, reported agencies. Zelenskiy, however, left the door to negotiations open in other locations. Russia had offered to hold talks with Ukrainian officials in the Belarusian city of Gomel. Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, meanwhile, called on Kyiv to sit down and hold talks with Russia so that Ukraine does not lose its statehood, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.