Technical Pause Ends Monday's Meeting, Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks Resume This Tuesday

Ukraine's third round of peace talks with Russia some time ago in Belarus. (Source: Twitter@BelarusMFA)

JAKARTA - Talks between Ukraine and Russia stalled on Monday and will continue on Tuesday, one of Ukraine's negotiators said on Twitter.

"A technical pause has been taken in negotiations until tomorrow. For additional work in the working subgroups and clarification of individual definitions. Negotiations are continuing," negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said.

Held via video link, unlike previous live talks in Belarus, the fourth round of dialogue between Russia and Ukraine on Monday has not announced any new progress.

"Communications are underway, but difficult," said Mykhailo Podolyak, who earlier created some hopes of progress by saying on Sunday that Russia was starting to talk "constructively".

Talks have paused for the day but will resume on Tuesday. Russia "still has the delusion that 19 days of violence against (Ukraine) peaceful cities is the right strategy", he said.

As for Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky posting on social media, Moscow is sticking to the main objective of the invasion which began on February 24.

"We aim to do everything possible for the achievement of the goals set by Vladimir Putin, for Russia's peaceful future," he said.

For information, the first round of Russian-Ukrainian talks was held in the Gomel region of Belarus on February 28. The talks lasted five hours. The second round of talks was held on March 3 in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, in Belarus. The talks resulted in an agreement on a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians.

Delegates meet for the third round of talks on March 7, in the Brest region, also in Belarus. On March 10, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmitry Kuleba on the sidelines of a diplomatic forum in Antalya, Turkey.