The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has agreed to hold talks today with a Russian delegation at the Ukraine-Belarus border amid the Russian invasion.
“We agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River,” Zelenskyy said in a statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday accused Ukrainian authorities of wasting “an opportunity” to hold talks after Moscow’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.
The Kremlin said Putin had briefed Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett about “the course of a special military operation to protect Donbas”.
Bennet for his part proposed that Israel act as a mediator in talks between Russia and Ukraine “in order to halt the hostilities”, the Kremlin said.
Bennett’s office said the two men “discussed the situation between Russia and Ukraine”.
The call followed reports that Zelenskyy had asked Israel to play a mediation role following the Russian invasion.
Bennett and Zelenskyy spoke on Friday.
Earlier, the Kremlin said a Russian delegation had arrived in Belarus for talks, but Zelenskyy rejected the move as “propaganda”, as Belarus had allowed Russia to stage an invasion from its land, calling for a more neutral location.
Zelenskyy also announced Ukraine had filed a suit against Russia in the International Court of Justice, with the President saying it “must be held accountable for manipulating the notion of genocide to justify aggression”.
He tweeted: “We request an urgent decision ordering Russia to cease military activity now and expect trials to start next week.”
