Six countries, including the United Kingdom, France, and the United States, have sought a meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in Ukraine, according to the UK permanent mission to the UN on Wednesday (March 16, 2022).
"The United Kingdom has requested a Security Council meeting on #Ukraine, as have [Albania, France, Ireland, Norway, and the United States]. Russia is waging a war on civilians and committing war crimes. The illegitimate war that Russia is waging on Ukraine is a menace to all of us", According to the mission's Twitter account.
In the midst of this, Russia and Ukraine are continuing their efforts to seek a diplomatic settlement through discussions currently taking place in Belarus.
As the fourth round of discussions in the crisis proceeded on Wednesday, some information surfaced that suggested the talks might be making progress, with a member of the Ukrainian delegation indicating the two sides are now eager to negotiate a compromise.
"The sides' perspectives were very different, and we have just recently begun to find some kind of compromise," Ukrainian delegation member Mykhailo Podolyak told Ukraina 24, adding that Kyiv and Moscow will strike a peace agreement sooner or later, according to Sputnik News Agency.
Later, Podolyak tweeted that a draught peace plan circulating in the media requesting heavy concessions from Ukraine was actually a draught of the Russian request.
"In a nutshell, the Financial Times published a draught that outlines the Russian side's asking position. There's nothing else. The opposing side has its own set of positions. At this time, the only things we can confirm are a cease-fire, Russian force departure, and security guarantees from a number of countries "According to the tweet.
The preservation and growth of Ukraine's neutral status, the country's demilitarization, and issues relating to the size of the Ukrainian army were covered at the talks earlier in the day, according to the head of the Russian delegation, presidential assistant Vladimir Medinsky. "The Austrian, Swedish version of a neutral demilitarised state, yet a state with its own military forces and navy," he remarked, referring to the Ukrainian proposal.
Sputnik News Agency reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said later today that this alternative "may be considered as a true compromise."
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, "[Ukraine's] neutral status is now being seriously addressed in connection with security assurances, of course."
The minister noted that the meetings were conducted in a businesslike manner, giving hope that an agreement on Ukraine's neutral status might be reached.