MOSCOW/LVIV (Reuters) -A Ukrainian delegation has departed for a second round of talks with Russia, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters on Wednesday.
Earlier Russian news agencies reported that Russia’s negotiators expect Ukrainian officials to arrive in Belarus to kick off the next round of peace negotiations on Thursday morning.
As Russian forces laid siege to major Ukrainian cities on the seventh day of the invasion, Podolyak said he could not confirm the delegation’s route for security reasons.
After nearly a week, Russia has yet to achieve its aim of overthrowing Ukraine’s government, but has, according to the Ukrainian emergency service, killed more than 2,000 civilians and destroyed hospitals, kindergartens and homes.
Moscow denies targeting civilians and says it aims to disarm Ukraine, a country of over 40 million people, in a “special military operation”.
(Reporting by Mark Trevelyan and Moscow newsroom, Natalia Zinets in Lviv, Writing by Alessandra Prentice; editing by Grant McCool)
