Ukraine side playing for time at behest of US, says Russian Foreign Minister ahead of second round of talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Moscow is preparing for the second round of talks with Kyiv but the Ukrainian side is dragging its feet at the behest of Washington.

"We are ready for the second round of the negotiations, but the Ukrainian side is playing for time on the US' orders", Lavrov told Al Jazeera.

Amid Russia's military action in Ukraine, the second round of talks between the Russia and Ukraine delegation is scheduled to be held on Wednesday in Belarus.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Russian delegation will wait for the Ukrainian negotiators at the site of the talks late in the evening on Wednesday, Sputnik reported.

Peskov had confirmed that presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky remains the main Russian negotiator in Russia's talks with Ukraine.

The first round of talks between the two sides was held in the Gomel region of Belarus on Monday. The talks are aimed at finding a way to end the Ukraine conflict.

Vladimir Medinsky told reporters that during the negotiations, the sides managed to find "some common points on which we predict common positions can be found".

Following the talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office said Russia and Ukraine identified some priority topics on which they have outlined certain decisions.

His office had said earlier that the key "issue of the negotiations is an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from the territory of Ukraine".

Before its military action in Ukraine, Russia had on February 24 recognized the independence of Ukraine's breakaway regions. The Western countries have imposed tough sanctions on Russia.

( With inputs from ANI )