Ukraine and Russia are working out a time and place to meet for negotiations, Bloomberg reported Friday.
Kyiv government officials said they are seeking a diplomatic meeting with Moscow amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which continued on Friday with fighting and airstrikes across the country. "Any talks would likely struggle to find common ground on the question of 'neutrality' for Ukraine, which has sought to join NATO and draw closer to Europe," writes Bloomberg, but Belarusian news outlet Nexta reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to mediate.
Russia previously said it was open to negotiating with Ukraine, though the potential settlement Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined came with a number of ultimatums attached.
Attempts to set a meeting for further talks came after the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union all announced they would sanction Putin personally, in addition to the existing sanctions on Russian banks and high-level figures. "While the move is largely symbolic given uncertainty about Putin's assets," writes Bloomberg, "it puts the Russian president in a category of infamous leaders including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and former Libyan strongman Moammar Al Qaddafi."