UPDATE - Ukraine to hold talks with Russia 'without preconditions'

UPDATES WITH FURTHER REMARKS BY UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT; MINOR EDITS IN DECK, BODY

By Ali Murat Alhas

ANKARA (AA) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday announced that a delegation representing his country and Russian officials would meet at the border with Belarus.

“We agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat river,” Zelenskyy said on his Telegram account.

Noting that the move came after his conversation with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Zelenskyy said Lukashenko ensured him that aerial element and troops stationed in Belarus would not cross into Ukraine.

“I do not want missiles, planes, helicopters to fly to Ukraine from Belarus. I do not want troops to go to Ukraine from Belarus. And he assured me of that,” he said in a video message.

"I will say frankly, as always: I do not really believe in the result of this meeting, but let them try so that no citizen of Ukraine would have any doubt that I, as president, did not try to stop the war,” he added.

The president added that Ukraine wanted to safeguard its territorial integrity, and the servicemen were fighting for their future.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine on Thursday, days after recognizing two separatist-held enclaves in eastern Ukraine. He claimed that Moscow had no plan to occupy its neighbor, but wanted to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine.

Western powers imposed financial sanctions on Moscow in response, and decided to supply Ukraine with weapons and ammunition. The EU has also announced shutting down its airspace to Russian airlines, and banning Russian state media.