MINSK, March 2. /TASS/. The Russian delegation has departed for a meeting with Ukrainian representatives, BelTA news agency said without disclosing any details.

According to previous reports, the second round of talks is taking place near Belovezhskaya Pushcha (Forest) in Belarus’ Brest region.

Earlier, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that he had had a difficult telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and finally managed to persuade him to send a delegation to the talks with Russia. On February 28, the first round of Russian-Ukrainian talks took place in the Gomel region. It lasted five hours.

The Russian delegation was led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who said earlier that the Russian delegation was ready to speak with the Ukrainian side as long as it may take to reach agreements. Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei expressed hope that the next round of the talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations would be held in a couple of days at the Belarusian-Polish border.