Russia declares ceasefire for humanitarian corridors in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Mari

Pro-Ukraine protesters demonstrate outside of the Embassy of the Russian Federation on March 07, 2022 in Washington, DC. The group is protesting against Russia`s invasion of Ukraine. Kevin. Pic/AFP

Russia on Tuesday declared a ceasefire amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine from 10 am (Moscow time) to provide humanitarian corridors in the cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said in a statement.

The development comes following the third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Belarus on Monday, which apparently ended up in failure. In the meeting, both sides addressed the issues of civilian evacuation and the Ukrainian side assured Russia that the humanitarian corridor will start working from Tuesday.

"From 10:00 a.m. (Moscow time) on March 8, 2022, the Russian Federation declares a ceasefire and is ready to provide humanitarian corridors," the statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry said, giving further details of the humanitarian corridors to be created in the cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol for the evacuation of civilians.

"The Ukrainian side should also inform, in accordance with the established procedure, about the planned humanitarian operation before 03:00 a.m. (Moscow time) on March 8, 2022," the statement said, while additionally seeking written approvals of the proposed humanitarian corridors from Ukrain and also guarantees of security on the declared routes of humanitarian operations by the Ukrainian authorities.

The Russian and the Ukrainian sides are also expected to be in continuous communication starting 9:30 am (Moscow time) for the mutual exchange of information on the preparation and carrying out the evacuation of civilians and foreign citizens.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has confirmed his plans to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on March 10.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions, Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics followed by the announcement of a "special military operation" to "demilitarize" and "de-nazify" Ukraine.

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