Negotiations underway: "Feel safe" VIDEO / PHOTO

Negotiations underway: "Feel safe" VIDEO / PHOTO

Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine started today in the Gomel region, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed.

The delegations were welcomed by Vladimir Makei, head of the administration of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

"You can feel completely safe. It is our sacred duty!" Makei said, Ukrainian paper Justice reports.

The paper states that the beginning of the meeting was broadcast online, but that the broadcast was later turned off at the request of the Russian side. The Russian delegation is led by the adviser to the head of state Vladimir Medinsky, and it also includes the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrej Rudenko, the Deputy Minister of Defense Aleksandar Fomin and the Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs of the Duma Leonid Slutsky, according to TASS.

Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alexei Reznikov is the head of the Ukrainian delegation, which includes the adviser to the Chief of Staff Mikhail Podoljak, the leader of the Servant of the People Davyd Arakhamia, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alexei Reznikov, the head of the Ukrainian Trilateral Contact Group Andrei Kostin, MP Rustem Umerov and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolai Tochitsky. According to the Ukrainian agency UNIAN, the key topic of the negotiations will be the immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine.

The meeting of the two delegations is being held near the Pripyat River on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border.

RIA Novosti reports that the Ukrainian delegation arrived in two helicopters. The Ukrainian side previously announced that it would demand an immediate ceasefire and that Russian forces leave the territory of Ukraine.