Ceasefire talks between Ukraine and Russia stall

Talks between Ukraine and Russia have failed to make progress, the Ukrainian foreign minister told reporters on Thursday.

Dmytro Kuleba and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov had met in Turkey, the first high-level talks since Russia invaded its neighbour. A key focus had been on a potential 24-hour ceasefire to get aid to civilians, but Kuleba told reporters that no progress had been made.

According to Reuters, he said the most critical situation regarded the southern port of Mariupol, but Lavrov had been unable to commit to a humanitarian corridor.

“I made a simple proposal to minister Lavrov: I can call my Ukrainian ministers, authorities, president now and give you 100% assurances on security guarantees for humanitarian corridors,” he said.

“I asked him, ‘can you do the same?’ and he did not respond.”

According to Al Jazeera, Kuleba said the talks had been “difficult” and added: “I want to repeat that Ukraine has not surrendered, does not surrender, and will not surrender.”

Meanwhile Lavrov, at a separate news conference, said that president Vladimir Putin would not refuse a meeting with his counterpart Volodymr Zelenskiy to discuss “specific” issues.

Nonetheless, he also said that Russia never wanted to depend on Western states or companies again.