ISTANBUL

The third round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine concluded with “small positive” developments in improving humanitarian corridors, a Ukrainian official said on Monday.

After a weekend of aborted efforts to move Ukrainian civilians through corridors, and criticism of a Russian effort to direct such corridors to Russia itself and its ally Belarus, the matter has taken on heightened importance.

"The third round of negotiations has ended. There are small positive subductions in improving the logistics of humanitarian corridors,” Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Twitter.

“Intensive consultations have continued on the basic political bloc of the regulations, along with a cease-fire and security guarantees,” he added.

The latest round of negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv kicked off in the Belarusian city of Brest earlier on Monday.

Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky is at the helm of Moscow's delegation, while Kyiv's is led by Podolyak.

The negotiations are expected to address political and military issues as well as international humanitarian aid.

Positions on both sides

Moscow has various conditions to end the war in Ukraine.

It wants Ukraine to change its Constitution to reject a goal of joining any alliance and for Kyiv to recognize the illegally annexed Crimea as Russian territory.

In February 2019, Ukraine's parliament approved amendments to the Constitution that enshrine Ukraine's desire to join NATO.

Kyiv, meanwhile, wants the war on its territory to end and Russian troops to completely withdraw from Ukrainian lands, including Crimea and Donbas.

The first round of negotiations took place on Feb. 28 in Gomel, Belarus near the border with Ukraine and lasted five hours.

The second was held on March 3 in Brest.

Russia announced early on Monday that it would declare a "temporary" cease-fire in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the cities of Mariupol, Kharkiv, and Sumy from 10 a.m. local time (0700GMT) to ensure the evacuation of civilians.

Since Russia began its war against Ukraine on Feb. 24, it has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global companies from Russia.

At least 406 civilians have been killed and 801 others injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to UN figures.

More than 1.7 million people have also fled to neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said.