Russia-Ukraine talks begin at Belarusian border

Minsk, Feb 28: A high level Russian and Ukrainian delegations talks have begun at Gomel region at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, as Russian President Putin ordered his country's deterrence forces - including nuclear arms - be placed on high alert.

A video footage purported to show two Ukrainian helicopters arriving in the Gomel region, close to the border.

The office of the country's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kiev's delegation includes the Minister of Defense, Alexey Reznikov, the head of the ruling Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia, and the deputy Foreign Minister Nikolay Tochitskiy, as well as others.

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the Russian delegation is ready for the talks and waiting for their Ukrainian counterparts to arrive.

"As you know, President [of Belarus Alexander] Lukashenko had a phone call with President [of Ukraine Volodymyr] Zelenskyy. After that, president Lukashenko turned to the Russian side, to President [Vladimir] Putin, asking him not to recall the Russian delegation, as Ukraine signaled its willingness to come to the talks in the Gomel region," Peskov said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office said it would demand an immediate cease-fire. It wasn't immediately clear what the Kremlin was ultimately seeking, either in the talks or, more broadly, from its war in Ukraine.