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After about four days of intense fighting following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian leaders have agreed to hold "talks" with Russia.

AFP reported the news on the evening of Feb. 27 (Singapore time) with a short statement on Twitter.

It claimed that the talks will take place at the border with Belarus, Ukraine's neighbour to the north, and cited the "Ukraine presidency".

#BREAKING Ukraine agrees to hold talks with Russia at Belarus border: Ukraine presidency pic.twitter.com/rFkKBnp4Bv

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) February 27, 2022

According to New York Times reporter Valerie Hopkins:

"There have been reports all day that Ukraine and Russia would hold talks on the conflict, and now a lawmaker from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s faction, David Arakhamia, confirms that Ukraine “has agreed to meet Russia with no conditions.”

There were no immediate details on who would meet, or where, but Belarus said that Ukraine had agreed to hold talks with Russia on the Belarus-Ukraine border. The head of the Russian delegation, which is already in Belarus, said Ukraine had confirmed that it was prepared for talks."

The Kyiv Independent, a Ukrainian media outlet, gave further details.

It claimed that the meeting was agreed upon after a call between Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky, and the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.

It also claimed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation "without preconditions" on the border between Ukraine and Belarus, near the Pripyat River.

During a phone call with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 27, 2022

The Kyiv Independent also said that Lukashenko has "taken responsibility" that military hardware stationed in Belarus "remain on the ground" for the duration of the delegation's visit, discussions and return.

It also cited Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, who said that Ukraine would not capitulate or surrender territory.

⚡️FM: Ukraine will not capitulate.

“We will be happy if the result of these negotiations is peace,” Dmytro Kuleba said. "But, and I emphasize this again, we will not give up, we will not capitulate, we will not give away a centimeter of our territory.”

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 27, 2022

Background:

Earlier on Feb. 26 (Singapore time), Russia government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Ukraine rebuffed an offer of negotiations, so the Kremlin would resume military operations.

Russian president Vladimir Putin had reportedly been ready to send a delegation to meet with Ukraine officials in Minsk, Belarus, which is a close ally of Russia.

But USA Today reported that the offer of talks was made on the condition that Ukraine forces "stand down". There was no mention of Russian forces doing the same in the report.

On Feb. 27, Zelensky rejected another offer of talks which the Kremlin demanded would take place within Belarus, citing the fact that Belarus had allowed Russian forces to amass within the country before invading Ukraine from the north, according to the New York Times.

Nuclear response while citing "illegal sanctions": Putin

Earlier on Feb. 27, Putin ordered his officials to place Russia's nuclear forces on alert, according to the New York Times.

Putin, speaking on Russian state television, said that the move was in response to the Western allies' "aggressive actions", specifically citing "illegitimate sanctions" on Russia.

In the morning of Feb. 27 (Singapore time), the White House released a joint statement together with Canada, the UK and the European Commission that they would impose potentially crippling financial sanctions on Russia, after days of intense fighting in the Ukraine capital of Kyiv and multiple Ukrainian cities.

These sanctions include cutting off selected Russian banks from SWIFT, the global financial messaging system, and blocking Russia's central bank from deploying its reserves to alleviate pressure from other sanctions.

Russia's central bank has over US$640 billion (S$830 billion) in foreign exchange reserves, but with most of it housed in Western financial centres like New York, London and Frankfurt.

Top image from Volodymyr Zelensky's Twitter account.