Talks will commence tomorrow.
QUICK FACTS:
- Another round of talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations are scheduled for March 2, Ukraine’s Zerkalo Nedeli media outlet said on Tuesday, according to The Russian News Agency (TASS).
- The first Russian-Ukrainian talks were held on Monday, lasting five hours.
- Presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said that the Russian delegation was ready to speak with the Ukrainian side as long as it may take to reach agreements.
- He also said that the delegations had preliminarily agreed to hold the next round of talks in Belarus, TASS notes.
WHAT THE TWO SIDES ASKED FOR:
- Russia demanded Ukraine recognize the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in the administrative borders of the corresponding regions
- Russia also told Ukraine to drop its demand that Crimea, a peninsula along the northern coast of the Black Sea, be returned to Ukraine, according to TASS.
- Ukrainian media outlet Glavkom said Ukraine demanded a ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory.
BACKGROUND:
- Many major international companies are cutting off ties to Russia.
- UK-based Shell and French-based Total on Tuesday announced they were severing ties with Russia following sanctions placed on Moscow over its ongoing military conflict with Ukraine.
- Adidas, the world’s second-largest sportswear manufacturer, and payments firms Visa and Mastercard are the latest multinational firms doing the same, Forbes reports.
- Maersk, Youtube, Disney, Netflix, Twitter, Airbnb, Etsy, BP, Meta, and Verizon have taken similar measures against Russia.
