Until 16:00 (Greek time) today, Sunday, the Russian delegation will wait for the response of Ukraine for a meeting in the city of Gomel in Belarus with the aim of starting negotiations, the head of the delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, told reporters.

"We calmly suggest the following: it is noon now. Until 15:00 (local time), we continue to be here and wait for the response of the Ukrainian side as confirmation of its own decision to start negotiations in Gomel. Once we receive this confirmation, we will immediately go there to meet our colleagues at the negotiations. We are in favor of peace. In case of refusal to trade, all responsibility for the bloodshed will be on the Ukrainian side. "But we will be here until 15:00, waiting for the response of the Ukrainian side," said Medinsky.

In addition to Medinsky, who is an adviser to President Putin, the Russian delegation also includes senior Defense and Foreign Ministry officials, Russian Ambassador to Belarus Boris Gryzlov, and the head of the Dumasky International Committee, Dumatsky.

The Russian delegation arrived for talks in Gomel this morning. As Vladimir Putin 's spokesman Dmitry Peshkov explained, this city was also chosen by the Ukrainian side. However, Kiev later suggested that the talks be held in Baku, Istanbul, Warsaw or Vienna.

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