KIEV, March 28. /TASS/. Ukraine’s priorities at talks with Russia remain the same, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said on Monday. According to him, they involve Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and security guarantees.
"A new round of negotiations is ahead, because we are looking for peace. Our priorities in the negotiations are known. Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity are beyond doubt. Effective security guarantees for our state are mandatory. Our goal is obvious - peace and the restoration of normal life in our native state as soon as possible," he said in a video address published on his office’s Telegram channel.
Earlier, Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky who leads the Russian delegation said on his Telegram channel that the delegations of the two countries decided to hold the next round of face-to-face talks on March 29-30. Later, the office of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reported that the Turkish leader and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had agreed to hold the meeting of the delegations in Istanbul.
The first round of talks which lasted five hours was held in Belarus on February 28. It was followed by two face-to-face meetings as well as sessions in an online format.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.