ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said no progress was made towards a ceasefire and corridors to evacuate civilians following a meeting with his Russian counterpart in Turkey on Thursday.
Kuleba stated that he put forward the initiative of a 24-hour ceasefire but no progress was made, claiming that “there are other decision-makers for this in Russia,” adding that no major progress was made regarding the formation of more humanitarian corridors either.
The official also emphasized that Ukraine “will not surrender.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Kuleba started talks on the sidelines of a diplomatic forum in Antalya, marking the first meeting between the two officials since Russia’s invasion of its neighboring country began two weeks ago.
Lavrov and Kuleba held separate press conferences following their talks.
Describing the meeting as “difficult,” Kuleba claimed that Lavrov had brought “traditional narratives to the table.”
Lavrov, however, declined to answer any questions regarding the invasion, which he referred to as the “special military operation,” adding that this information lies with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian minister also emphasized that Moscow was willing to continue negotiations with Kyiv as Kuleba stressed Ukraine’s readiness to continue discussions in order to end the war in his country.
An airstrike hit a maternity hospital in Mariupol on Wednesday, killing at least three people, including a child, reported AFP. Lavrov dismissed reports of the Russian strike on the hospital as "pathetic" and added that the hospital had been emptied of civilians and was being used as a military base by Ukrainian nationals.
Russia's Putin launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24. More than two million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries over the past two weeks, marking the largest exodus since World War II.
Russian and Ukrainian delegations have previously held three rounds of talks in Belarus, resulting in the opening of several humanitarian corridors, allowing civilians to evacuate cities besieged by Russian forces.
Some 35,000 civilians are evacuated from other Ukrainian cities during a 12-hour ceasefire, reported AFP on Thursday.
