Ukraine's president says talks with Russia to continue until result achieved

By Dmitri Chirciu

KYIV, Ukraine (AA) - Ukraine’s president said Tuesday that they will continue negotiations with Russia until a result is achieved.

"We would like to say that the third round of negotiations is the end, but we are realistic," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message on Telegram.

"Therefore, we will talk and persist in the negotiations until we find a way to say to the people 'this way we will reach peace.'"

Noting that he is still in the capital Kyiv, he said: "I’m not hiding. And I'm not afraid of anyone. As much as it takes to win this Patriotic War of ours."

The third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine concluded Monday with "small positive" developments in improving humanitarian corridors, said a Ukrainian official.

After a weekend of aborted efforts to move Ukrainian civilians through the humanitarian corridors and criticism of a Russian effort to direct such corridors to Russia itself and its ally Belarus, the matter has taken on heightened importance.

The latest round of negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv kicked off in the Belarusian city of Brest.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia.

At least 406 civilians have been killed and 801 others injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to UN figures. But the international body has maintained that conditions on the ground have made it "difficult to verify" the true number of civilian casualties.

More than 1.7 million people have also fled to neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said.