No cease-fire agreement reached in meeting between Ukraine, Russia diplomats

Top Ukrainian and Russian officials failed to agree to a cease-fire on Thursday as Moscow’s invasion enters a third week and the humanitarian crisis worsens. 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said no progress was made on a cease-fire during discussions with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, according to Reuters. He said that Lavrov did not commit to a humanitarian cease-fire in one of the most critical areas, the southern port city of Mariupol.

“I made a simple proposal to Minister Lavrov: I can call my Ukrainian ministers, authorities, president now and give you 100 percent assurances on security guarantees for humanitarian corridors,” he told reporters after their meeting in Turkey.

“I asked him, ‘Can you do the same?’ And he did not respond,” Kuleba added.

While the two sides did not come to an official agreement, Kuleba said they “agreed to continue efforts to seek a solution to the humanitarian issues on the ground,” according to The New York Times.

“I will be ready to meet again in this format if there are prospects for a substantial discussion and for seeking solutions,” he added.

Lavrov, meanwhile, told reporters that Russia was “not planning to attack other countries,” according to the Times. 

“We didn’t attack Ukraine, either,” he added, further pushing Russia’s claims that Moscow needed to conduct a “special military operation” in Ukraine for its security. 

Lavrov also responded to Ukraine’s accusation that Russia bombed a children’s hospital and maternity ward in Mariupol. He said that the building was no longer in use and was occupied by Ukrainian forces, Reuters noted, adding, however, that the Kremlin claimed that the bombing is still being investigated

Lavrov repeated Russian demands that Ukraine disarms and take a neutral status and blames the West for escalating the conflict, the news service noted. He added that Kyiv appears to want meetings for the sake of meetings. 

Moscow has said that it will only end the attack against Ukraine when all of its demands are met.