Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Kiev and Moscow were discussing where and when to hold bilateral talks for a ceasefire, three days after Russia launched a massive military attack on Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that his country will not negotiate with Ukraine until its army surrenders, while the UN Security Council failed to pass a US draft resolution condemning the Russian attack on Ukraine.

The press secretary on behalf of the Ukrainian president said that his country "was and is still ready for talks in order to achieve a ceasefire and achieve peace." The same spokesman denied statements about Kiev's refusal to negotiate.

The Ukrainian official stressed that Kiev agreed to Russia's proposal for negotiations, adding that "the earlier negotiations begin, the greater the chances of resuming normal life."

A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier on Friday that Kiev had retreated from its previous willingness to conduct negotiations with Russia to end the ongoing war.

Russian terms

And the Russian Foreign Minister said - yesterday, Friday, after a meeting with representatives of the Ukrainian separatist regions - that Moscow will not hold talks with the government in Kiev until the Ukrainian army surrenders. On the Kremlin's tough attitude towards the government in Kiev.

Lavrov: Russia will not hold talks with the government of Ukraine until its (European) army surrenders

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was ready to send a delegation to Minsk, the Belarusian capital, for talks with Ukraine, a day after Moscow launched a large-scale invasion of its southern neighbor.

Peskov told Russian news agencies that Russia is ready to send a delegation that includes officials from the ministries of foreign affairs and defense, adding that disarmament should be an essential part of this.

The Kremlin explained that Ukraine had proposed holding talks in Warsaw instead of Minsk, and then cut off contact.

The director of Al Jazeera's office in Moscow, Zaur Chug, said that Russia has 3 conditions to stop its military attack on Ukraine, namely: signing an international agreement that guarantees Ukraine's neutrality, that it will not join any alliance and that it will not receive any weapons that threaten Russian security, that Ukraine remain without offensive weapons, and that the Ukrainian authorities guarantee rights Russians in Ukraine.

In a related context, a spokesman for the Hungarian Prime Minister said - today, Saturday - that his country offers to host Russian-Ukrainian peace negotiations.

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the Ukrainian army to seize power and negotiate peace with Moscow.

"I once again appeal to the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: do not allow neo-Nazis and radical Ukrainian nationalists to use your children, wives and elders as human shields. Take control, it will be easier for us to reach an agreement," Putin said at a meeting of the Russian Security Council.

punish Putin

On the other hand, the White House said - yesterday, Friday - that Washington is joining its European allies by imposing sanctions on President Putin and his Foreign Minister Lavrov, in response to his attack on Ukrainian territory.

The White House added that sanctions on Putin and Lavrov will prevent them from traveling to the United States, and the White House spokeswoman added that the option of separating Russia from the global banking system Swift is still on the table.

The Russian Foreign Ministry responded to the new US sanctions by saying that the sanctions on Putin and Lavrov are "proof of the absolute impotence of the West in foreign policy and international relations." until the point of no return begins.


The new US sanctions came after European Union envoys approved yesterday freezing of assets in Europe for Putin and his foreign minister, and the Financial Times reported that Putin and Lavrov would not be subject to a travel ban, indicating the European Union's willingness to keep the door of diplomacy open.

In a related context, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and International Development said it had decided to cancel Russia's membership procedures and close the organization's office in Moscow, and the British Foreign Office said it voted today to suspend Russia's membership in the Council of Europe.

And British Transport Minister Grant Shapps announced yesterday evening that his country prevented private Russian planes from flying in its airspace or landing at its airports, in a decision that entered into force immediately in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Security Council

The UN Security Council failed a while ago to adopt a draft resolution distributed by the United States rejecting the Russian military attack on Ukraine, after Moscow used its veto to thwart ratification of the draft. The draft received the support of 11 member states of the Council, while 3 countries abstained.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in New York said that the draft resolution was amended so that the tone towards Russia was softened, and the correspondent added that the amended American draft resolution was no longer under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, which allows the Council to use force, and was removed from the introductory paragraph of the draft condemning President Putin and replaced Condemning Russia, the draft resolution also expressed regret rather than condemnation of the Russian attack on Ukraine.

Al-Jazeera correspondent added that the United States modified the original formula of the project, with the aim of attracting the votes of the largest number of member states of the Security Council.