Russian delegation in Belarus for peace talks

MOSCOW – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on Sunday that Russia’s delegation for the peace talks with Ukraine arrived in the Belarusian city of Gomel.

Representatives of the presidential administration and foreign and defense ministries were included in the delegation, Peskov told reporters in Moscow.

“In accordance with the agreement reached, a Russian delegation consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense and other departments, including the presidential administration, arrived in Belarus for talks with Ukrainians. We will be ready to start these negotiations in Gomel,” he said.

Responding to the invitation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would agree to hold talks in Belarus if the country “did not take part in hostilities.”

Zelenskyy added that the negotiations can be held on another platform, listing Warsaw, Budapest, Istanbul, or Baku as possible platforms for a meeting.

The number of Ukraine’s military infrastructure disabled by the Russian Armed Forces reached 975 over the past day, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

The ministry said it used high-precision sea- and ground-based cruise missiles to hit the targets.

Among them were 23 control and communication centers, three radar posts, 31 S-300, Buk M-1 and Osa anti-aircraft missile systems, and 48 radar stations.

Also, eight combat aircraft and seven helicopters, 11 unmanned aerial vehicles, two tactical missiles “Tochka-U” were shot down, along with 223 tanks, and other armored fighting vehicles, 39 multiple rocket launchers, 86 field artillery and mortars, and 143 units of special military vehicles.

The cities of Kherson and Berdyansk were “fully blocked,” while the city of Henichesk and Chernobayevka airdrome were taken under control.

The ministry added that 28 fighter jets were destroyed on the ground, probably on the captured Chernobayevka airdrome.

The ministry claimed that the Ukrainian military continued to refuse to lay down arms.

Particularly on Saturday, in the Kharkiv region, the 302nd anti-aircraft missile Regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, equipped with Buk M-1 air defense systems, surrendered voluntarily, the ministry said.

“471 Ukrainian servicemen were detained. All Ukrainian servicemen are treated with respect and assistance. After the paperwork is completed, they will be sent to their families,” it said.

Meanwhile, the forces of Donetsk and Luhansk rebel regions moved forward for 52 kilometers (32 miles) and took under control several settlements, the ministry noted.

It also accused the Ukrainian Armed Forces of using multiple rocket launchers against civilian infrastructure in the city of Mariupol. (Anadolu)