Kiev announced its agreement to hold a meeting with a Russian delegation in the Ukrainian-Belarus border area, to hold the first talks between the two sides since the start of the Russian forces' invasion of Ukraine, while Western efforts to impose painful sanctions against Moscow and its economy continue.
The Ukrainian presidency said on Sunday afternoon that a meeting between two delegations from Russia and Ukraine would be held in the Ukraine-Belarus border area "without preconditions."
She added that the meeting with the Russian delegation will be held near the Pripyat River, noting that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pledged to preserve the safety of the Ukrainian delegation.
The Kremlin announced earlier on Sunday that a Russian delegation comprising officials of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense and the Presidential Administration has arrived in Belarus, and that it is ready to negotiate with Ukraine in the Belarusian city of Gomel.
Russia gave Ukraine until 3:00 p.m. local time on Sunday to determine its position on participating in the Gomel talks.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed today - on Ukrainian television - that he is open to dialogue in other places that do not show hostility towards Ukraine, and suggested negotiating with Russia in Istanbul, Warsaw, Baku or Budapest, instead of Belarus, before the presidency announced the arrangement of the meeting near From the Pripyat River in the border area.
On Saturday, Kiev rejected what it said were conditions set by Moscow to negotiate with it, foremost of which is the surrender of Ukrainian forces, describing them as unenforceable, as Western leaders described these conditions as unacceptable.
Western format
On the other hand, the G7 leaders announced that the Western allies had decided to separate certain Russian banks from the global banking system "SWIFT", and that they would coordinate sanctions against Moscow in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
In a joint declaration published by the French presidency on Sunday, the leaders said that a working group of European countries and the United States would soon be formed to coordinate the sanctions.
Earlier, the European Union's foreign and security policy chief Josep Borrell said that tougher sanctions will be imposed on Russia at the meeting of European Union foreign ministers scheduled for Sunday.
Today, European foreign ministers will discuss the consolidation of the decision to exclude Russian banks from the "SWIFT" system.
The United States, the European Commission, Britain and Canada announced - in a joint statement - their intention to impose new sanctions on Russia, including the separation of some Russian banks from the international financial transfer system (SWIFT), and measures to paralyze the activities of the Russian Central Bank.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed that her organization will paralyze the ability of Russian President Vladimir Putin to finance his war machine, explaining that the assets of the Russian Central Bank will be frozen, with the aim of preventing it from accessing its foreign currency reserves, which amount to 630 billion dollars, making it impossible He liquidated his balances and used them to fund the war on Ukraine.