As the Russian special military operation to demilitarize and “de-Nazify” Ukraine continues, it is expected that Russian and Ukrainian delegations will hold a second round of peace negotiations in Belarus on Thursday. The Russian delegation arrived at the talks on Wednesday, while the Ukrainian delegation is set to arrive on Thursday morning.

The first round of negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations were held in the Gomel region of Belarus on Monday. The Russian delegation was headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. Ukrainian President Zelensky’s office had said that “the key issue of the negotiations is an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from the territory of Ukraine”.

Medinsky said on Monday after the talks that the Russian and Ukrainian delegations had agreed to hold a new round of negotiations in Belarus within the next few days.

Since 24 February Russia has been conducting a special military operation in Ukraine to protect civilians in the Donbass People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, whose authorities appealed to Moscow for assistance amid the ongoing shelling of their territories by Ukrainian forces.