RUSSIA and Ukraine have agreed on the need to set up humanitarian corridors and a possible ceasefire around them for fleeing civilians, both sides said after talks on Thursday, in their first sign of progress on any issue since the invasion.

Russian negotiators in talks with Ukraine also said another round of talks will likely be held shortly.

Vladimir Medinsky, Russian president Vladimir Putin’s adviser who led the Russian delegation in the talks in Belarus near the Polish border, said the parties’ “positions are absolutely clear, they are written down point by point”, including issues related to a political settlement of the conflict.

He added without elaboration that “mutual understanding was found on part of them”.

He confirmed that Russia and Ukraine reached a tentative agreement to create safe corridors for civilians to exit besieged cities and observe local ceasefires in areas where they will be created.

Leonid Slutsky, a senior Russian politician who was part of the Russian delegation in talks, said that the details of safe corridors will need to be worked out quickly.

He said that the next round of talks could lead to agreements, some of which would need to be ratified by Russian and Ukrainian parliaments.

More follows.