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Moscow, Kiev to hold talks in Brest Region — Russian chief negotiator

The first round of Russian-Ukrainian talks was held in Belarus on February 28

BELOVEZHSKAYA PUSHCHA /Belarus/, March 3. /TASS/. The talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations will be held in the Brest Region in Belarus according to plan, the head of Russia’s delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said ahead of the second round of talks with Ukraine.

"The talks will take place <…> at the same place where they were scheduled: on the territory of the Brest Region in Belarus," Medinsky said in a video aired by the BelTA news agency.

Medinsky denied reports about moving the talks to another place or time. "There has been information since this morning that the negotiations are being moved to another place or day. This information does not correspond to reality," he said.

The head of the Russian delegation clarified that the supposed start time of the meeting was 15:00 Moscow time. "From the very beginning, due to the complexity of the logistics of the Ukrainian delegation, which gathers in Poland and then moves to the Brest region of Belarus, the time of 15:00 was announced. Then they clarified that they would try to be early in the morning. But, apparently, it does not work out. So we will calmly wait for 15:00. I think the negotiations will start at 15:00," Medinsky added.

The block of proposals of the Russian delegation consists of humanitarian, political, and military-technical aspects. "The Russian delegation is working now at our block of proposals, which consists of three parts. They concern the military-technical aspect, humanitarian-international and political. We are now bringing the positions together," the chief negotiator said.

The first round of Russian-Ukrainian talks was held in the Gomel region of Belarus on February 28. Russia’s delegation was led by Medinsky. He said earlier that the Russian delegation was prepared to hold talks with Ukraine until agreements were reached. 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.