Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

Russia and Ukraine Agree To Set Up Evacuation Corridors After Second Round Of Talks

According to the United Nations, more than one million civilians have fled Ukraine because of the Russian invasion
March 4, 2022
Evacuation Corridors

During Thursday’s talks, Russia and Ukraine discussed military and humanitarian issues, as well as the future political settlement of the conflict, said Vladimir Medinsky, presidential aide and head of the Russian delegation.

“The only solution was the establishment of humanitarian corridors,” said  Mykhailo Podoliyak, Ukrainian advisor to the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “The positions (of everyone) were expressed very clearly… On some of them, we managed to agree,” he said, noting that the creation of humanitarian corridors was “a progress substantial”.

Russian news agency TASS reported earlier on Thursday that the second round of talks had ended.

Mykhailo Podoliak reported that an agreement has been reached for a temporary ceasefire on humanitarian grounds in Thursday’s negotiations with Russia.

“The parties have reached an understanding on the joint creation of humanitarian corridors with a temporary ceasefire,” he said. “That is, not everywhere, but only in those places where the humanitarian corridors themselves will be located, a ceasefire will be possible during the operation,” he added.

Podoliak added, however, that the Ukrainian negotiating delegation “did not obtain the results it expected and will continue the dialogue in the third round of talks.”

For his part, the chief Russian negotiator, Vladimir Medinski, pointed out that the delegations reached a mutual understanding on some issues. “The positions are absolutely clear. They are broken down by points. In part of them we achieved a mutual understanding,” he said.

The Russian negotiator added, “The main issue that we resolved today is the issue of saving people, civilians who are in the zone of military confrontation.”

He also said that the two countries agreed on a format for the maintenance of humanitarian corridors “for the departure of the civilian population [and] on the possible temporary cessation of hostilities in the humanitarian corridor sector.”

“I think this is significant progress,” he added.

The second round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on the Russian invasion took place in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, in the Belarusian region of Brest, near the Polish border.

“Full control” of Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made this very clear in a call today with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron. If Kyiv does not accept his conditions – a full-fledged surrender – “the worst is yet to come”, as reported by the Elysee. Moscow wants “total control” of Ukraine.

Putin has not moved one millimetre from the stated goals in the speech that marked the beginning of the war: “neutralization, demilitarization and denazification.” In other words, for Ukraine to give up the aspiration to join NATO, for it to dismantle its self-defence capability against the Russian military.