Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is negative about the prospect of holding talks with Russia on Belarusian soil, as he says Belarus is a country hostile to his own.

In fact, he suggested Constantinople, Bratislava, Budapest, Warsaw or Baku.

“We want any other city that does not fire rockets at us. Not, Minsk anyway”, he said.

“Now we say no to Minsk. The meeting place may be in other cities. Of course, we want peace, we want to meet, we want the end of the war. Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Constantinople, Baku – all this we proposed to the Russian side. And any other city suits us. In a country from whose territory no rockets are fired. Only in this way can the negotiations be honest and really end the war. I sincerely hope that Belarus will become as kind and secure as we have known it for some time. Make the right choice, it is the main choice of your life”, he said in a videotaped message.

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Earlier, Russia said it was ready to negotiate a ceasefire with the Ukrainians, with Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peshkov saying Sunday morning that the Russian delegation had arrived in Belarus for that purpose.

“According to the agreement reached, the Russian delegation, consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense and other services, including the presidential administration, arrived in Belarus for negotiations with the Ukrainians”, Peshkov told RIA Novosti.

According to him, the Russian side is ready to start negotiations in the city of Gomel and is waiting for the response of the Ukrainians. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry, for its part, noted that they had prepared everything necessary for the meeting of the delegations and are now working on resolving protocol issues.