Russia-Ukraine war: Fourth round of peace talks begins virtually as war enters Day 19

Amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the fourth round of peace negotiations between the two countries has started virtually on Monday. This comes amid the war between the two countries continue to escalate and all three rounds of peace talks failed to yield the desired results. Earlier today, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's aide Mykhailo Podolyak took to Twitter to provide details of the meeting. "Again. Negotiations go non-stop in the format of video conferences. Working groups are constantly functioning. A large number of issues require constant attention. On Monday, March 14, a negotiating session will be held to sum up the preliminary results…[Sic], he stated.  

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani are also holding bilateral talks in Moscow. the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that both leaders are expected to discuss the prevailing situation in Ukraine. Last week, Lavrov also met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and discussed the situation, but no agreement on ceasefire could be reached. 

Russia-Ukraine war

It is worth mentioning here that the Russian troops continue to intensify their attacks in Ukraine's capital city, Kyiv, as the war entered its nineteenth day. The Ukrainian authorities confirmed on Monday that the Russian troops shelled a high-rise building as well as the Antonov Serial Production Plant, an aircraft manufacturing company, in Kyiv. The Ukrainian administration claimed that at least 2 people have died and seven others are injured as a result of the attack.

They further stated that as many as 70 people have been evacuated from the sites of the explosions, and firefighters, medics as well as other services are working at the sites. According to the head of the Kyiv region, Russian soldiers also unleashed artillery strikes on suburbs northwest of Kyiv overnight, and targeted points in the eastern part of the city, the Associated Press reported. The Russian government has often claimed that its forces are not targeting the residential buildings, however, ground reports present different pictures altogether. 

Image: AP