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UNITED NATIONS –  Elements of diplomatic progress can be seen on several key issues in the situation around Ukraine, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said yesterday.

“From my outreach with various actors, elements of diplomatic progress are coming into view on several key issues,” Antonio Guterres said. According to him, “there is enough on the table to cease hostilities now… and seriously negotiate  now”.

The secretary-general expressed confidence that the conflict could be ended only through negotiations.

“This war is unwinnable. Sooner or later, it will have to move from the battlefield to the peace table. This is inevitable,” he stressed.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aimed to demilitarize and denazify the country, and to defeat nationalist armed units, which are directly responsible for genocide in Donbass.

The first round of Russian-Ukrainian talks was held in Belarus’ Gomel region on February 28. The talks lasted five hours.

The second round of talks was held on March 3 in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, in Belarus.

The delegations met for the third round of talks on March 7, in the Brest region, also in Belarus. The dialogue now continues in the online format.

Meanwhile, Russia has requested a UN Security Council voting on its draft resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky said yesterday.

“Yes, it will be tomorrow. We think that this is the right time,” he said.

Russia’s draft resolution on Ukraine calls for the cessation of fire to evacuate all civilians, ensuring protection for civilians and civilian facilities. It also calls for donating to the United Nations Humanitarian Response Plan.

According to earlier reports, the UN secretariat has received the text of the Western draft resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. The document is based on a draft UN Security Council resolution initiated earlier by France and Mexico.

On Maarch 14, Paris and Mexico City said they were cutting short two-week-long attempts at agreeing a Security Council resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and were submitting it to the United Nations General Assembly. The UN General Assembly session will resume its work on March 23. – Tass News Agency